By Karen Taylor Gist

THE SPACE: An ‘eco suite,’ designed using sustainable materials, at Hotel Monaco on St. Charles Avenue

THE FAMOUS NAMESAKE: Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson puts his pop-star stamp on the project

THE DESIGNERS: Kevin’s brother Jerald Richardson and Danny Seo

WHY THEY LOVE IT: ‘Everything in it tells a story,’ said Seo. Some of those stories star the singer, Kevin Richardson, and others the green movement that both he and Seo champion.

DEGREES OF SEPARATION: Danny Seo is the eco-designer for the Kimpton hotel chain, which owns Hotel Monaco. He met Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson while both were working for an ecology-minded nonprofit. It just so happens that Kevin’s brother, Jerald Richardson, is a designer, too.

Kimpton has celebrity eco-friendly suites in other cities as well. (Woody Harrelson’s, in San Francisco, is the prototype.) Kevin Richardson reportedly loves New Orleans, which may explain why his suite is here. Then there’s its timing: The Backstreet Boys have put out a new album, “Never Gone,” the group’s first in more than five years. Coincidence? Not a chance.

COMING TOGETHER: The two designers worked together, with New York-based Seo providing the ecological expertise and Kentucky-born Jerald Richardson adding the star appeal by putting in personal touches that reflect his famous brother. The suite is modeled after Kevin Richardson’s Greek Revival Kentucky estate, which Jerald Richardson spent three years restoring and decorating. His main interest, Jerald Richardson says, is in historic preservation. “We’re both (he and Kevin) interested in history. And my father was a construction foreman,” so he learned the renovation business from the ground up.

Even though Kevin Richardson was in L.A. recording while his brother and Seo were planning the suite long distance, the Backstreet Boy OK’d it all. “We have similar taste, so he’s agreed with everything,” Jerald Richardson said.

WHAT’S INSIDE: Neutral walls, splashes of bold earth tones in the geometric carpet, black accent pieces and baby-blue fabrics to soften things. Enrique Gonzales’s painting of race horses galloping into action at the Kentucky Derby adds both a touch of the old Kentucky home and a lively blast of color to the sitting area. There’s also a poster from the musical “Chicago” featuring Kevin Richardson, who used a recent three-year break from the band to star on Broadway and London’s West End.

And there are the bricks — two of them, taken from the Kentucky estate to provide a concrete connection to the pop star. (Guests must sign a waiver agreeing to pony up $1,000 if the bricks disappear, Seo said.)

Light-blue fabrics were inspired by the color in the Kentucky estate’s ballroom, Jerald Richardson said. The fabric is linen blended with hemp, which Seo said is one-and-a-half times stronger than cotton.

The wallpaper from Innovations USA also is made from sustainable material using water-based ink, and is chemical free, Seo said. It’s also gorgeous. The neutral tone keeps the delicate fern print from becoming feminine, instead creating an organic feel for the space. “That wallpaper probably took half our budget,” Seo said.

The 250-thread-count bedding, in shades of white and baby blue, is organic cotton from Viva Terra, and the mahogany bed — “It’s a rainforest wood but it can be cut so that it’s sustainable,” said Seo — is by Vivavi. Stores such as Pier One and Ikea have lines of furniture made from managed forests, too, said Seo, “so it’s not all high end.”

Carpet squares from Interface are made from recycled material, and are recyclable as well.

THE REST: “We’ve been working since October,” Seo said. “I was scanning wallpaper and sending it to Jerald in e-mails. You know how scanning is, but I told him, ‘Just trust me.’ ” The two met in person only as the room was being unveiled last month. Both were pleased with it. Only time and fickle fans, however, will tell how sustainable Kevin Richardson’s new CD, currently No. 30 on Billboard’s Top 200, turns out to be.

Source: The Times Picayune @ NOLA.com