The staircases were gone. For weeks, the only way to reach the upper floors of 2315 Broadway St. — an approximately 9,300-square-foot Queen Anne built in 1897 — was through the back of the building, via a narrow corridor. Inside the home, more than 20 design teams worked tirelessly, simultaneously plastering, papering and painting, trying to meet an impossible deadline.

This is the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, a dream project pressure cooker. Annually since 1977, a standout home has been selected and handed over, room by room, to some of the city’s most talented designers to transform in a matter of weeks. For 2026, the chosen house is a Pacific Heights Victorian with panoramic bay views and inherent magnetism that must have made any designer want to use it as their canvas. It also had enough awkward spaces and logistical issues to make industry vets think twice.

For Alexander Nikban of Studio Alexander, and Matt Bissinger and Briana Tunison of Maker & Moss Design, this year’s Showcase was a first. The way they describe it makes it clear that nothing really prepares you for the experience.

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L’Arrivée by Kendall Wilkinson Design at 2315 Broadway St., a Queen Anne Victorian that was selected for the 2026 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, in San Francisco, on April 22, 2026.

Ishara by Peruri Design Co. at 2315 Broadway St., a Queen Anne Victorian that was selected for the 2026 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, in San Francisco, on April 22, 2026.

Well played: The Game Room by Aly Gay Design at 2315 Broadway St., a Queen Anne Victorian that was selected for the 2026 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, in San Francisco, on April 22, 2026.

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The application process moves fast. Each year the selected home is opened for a walk-through, typically in December, though this round it happened in January. Anyone who received an invite and is interested in applying shows up, notebook in hand, often while the previous owner is still moving out.

The brief is simple yet big: Pick a room and come back in two weeks with a fully fleshed-out proposal. Not just mood boards or sketches — prospective designers are expected to produce fabrics, renderings and material samples, meaning a complete vision.

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Nikban’s team arrived with three different concepts for three different rooms. “We were given limited information on the house,” he wrote in an email to SFGATE,........

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