City Homes
This Luxury House Designed By Ali Budd Practically Vibrates With Her Fab And Fearless Style
Updated on January 29, 2025

Before being named House & Home’s 2024 Designer of the Year, Ali Budd burst onto the design scene in 2021 when she and client Radha Kohly appeared on our January Trends issue cover. The house that was an eclectic expression of Radha’s South Asian heritage for a busy modern family. Since then, we’ve featured more of Ali’s work and tracked her rise to fame. Her own TV series, House of Ali, launched on HGTV Canada this September.
Ali is known for her joyful, boho style that blends exquisite detailing with bold statement lighting and curvy seating. She designs rooms that are both playful and studied. Here’s a look back to the day when we sat down with Ali for a chat about her career, our December cover house and what’s ahead.

Lynda and Ali at the cover shoot.
Lynda Reeves: First, congratulations on being H&H’s 2024 Designer of the Year! I think you represent a new generation of designers with a fresh, fearless approach, and that’s very exciting.
Ali Budd: I think I got very emotional when you called with the news.
LR: You did, but it was very nice to hear that happiness. You know, it’s my favorite call I get to make once a year. You deserve it — it’s your year!
AB: Thank you. I’m going to stay in that young crowd for as long as I can possibly milk that.
LR: To be clear, your success did not happen overnight. You started your firm in 2010, correct?
AB: Yes. And this is the kind of thing you can’t even dream of.

Elaborate plaster mouldings and Versailles French oak flooring give the dining room an old world look.
LR: Your work has grown and matured, but there’s a strong thread to your style that has not changed. How would you define that?
AB: Eclectic, quiet, specific. Diverse. Edgy. I also want to create spaces that people want to live in. I want clients to be comfortable. It’s not a museum. You know, sometimes you go into a house and it almost looks like certain rooms should be roped off.
LR: What about this house? It’s fantastic. Tell us about the ask.
AB: Our client was more traditional than I’m used to doing, which was a fun challenge. I like to be challenged creatively.

In the family room, a sinuous sectional winds around a custom coffee table.
LR: Traditional in what way?
AB: The way she used her home, the elements she gravitated toward — floral prints and things that have a bit more formality, so to speak. But she also wanted things to feel young, different from anyone else’s house, and fresh and cool. She loves color and has four children, and loves to entertain. There are people in and out all the time, so nothing can be precious. And what I think is traditional and what you think is traditional might be different.
LR: What did your client want the house to feel like?
AB: I think she used the word “magical.” A place to sit and feel happy.

Ali designed custom curved sofas and upholstered them in a bold floral fabric for her client’s living room.
LR: This sofa fabric is great.
AB: We went through — no joke — probably 500 florals. This is Designers Guild. I would argue that nobody does a floral quite like Designers Guild. It’s just the perfect color.
LR: And then the walls, which are soft and velvety.
AB: It’s the limewash; it just creates character. In all our homes, we want to have this sense of history, even in a newly built home.
LR: I can see that you added crown mouldings, but the openings seem to be clad in marble. That’s pretty extravagant, but your client went for it, along with the Moncer parquet floors.
AB: She said, “If I’m going to do this, I want you to really do it.” I think it’s this mix again. People talk about styles, and I feel like homes don’t have to be one thing. I like unexpected twists and turns.

Expanses of veined stone is an Ali signature design move. Here, she uses Ijen Blue slabs on the backsplash and counters.
LR: In the kitchen, some of the details are lovely, like the dentil moulding on the counter edging.
AB: The devil’s in the details. I think that what separates good designers from really good designers are the little things. We opened up the whole back of the house. We did those windows on top of the counters, plus a wall of sliding doors because part of the beauty of this house is that it sits on a ravine.
LR: I haven’t seen “moody dark” from you.
AB: We’re working on a few things that are coming up that look different. And that’s forever the quest for me. Creatively, I just want to keep growing and trying new things, and pushing myself and my team.

LR: In 2023, we published a cottage of yours and I remember thinking, Ali can do cottage!”
AB: I love cottages. There are many sides to me! I will sleep in the dirt, I will pitch a tent, but I won’t do it in these shoes.
LR: You’ve got three kids. Is your husband high-maintenance?
AB: My husband is the best! He’s super easy, and it’s chaos from me!

A slab of Palissandro Rosa marble with an inset double-sided fireplace divides the casual eating area from the family room.
LR: Let’s talk about your career for a bit. Your TV series, House of Ali, launched in Canada on September 5th. How’s it doing?
AB: Well, it’s funny because first it was in the U.S., then it was in Asia, then Australia. So, I haven’t really felt it until now, which I think is kind of a blessing. The deal was that they had to follow what we were actually doing or it was never going to work, because I don’t have time to show up to a house and pretend to do this or “pretend design” something. And, also, if I want to put my name on something, I want to feel like we have total ownership of it.

The quartzite vanity looks like a solid piece of stone but has a drawer built in.
LR: So, it worked out and it’s a terrific show. Very high energy. On another topic, who are your design heroes?
AB: I look at a lot of designers who haven’t just done beautiful work but have also been able to build brands. Someone like Kelly Wearstler, who’s built an incredible brand and business and, when you look at something, even though it might be different, you know it’s her. I respect that tremendously. You know, we do a lot of work in the U.S., and Canadians sometimes have to fight harder to get recognition, which is why House & Home is just so important because it’s arguably the best magazine we have in Canada. It’s so iconic. And it’s always been consistent. You’re never going to see a bad house in there.
LR: I hope not!
AB: A lot of other publications pick up from you once it’s been published. So I think that has helped shine a light on so much talent here in Canada.

An oversized headboard and curved cove ceiling create a soft look in the principal bedroom.
LR: What are your go-to places for inspiration?
AB: We just built a house in Costa Rica, and that’s been an amazing experience. Mother Nature always gets it right. It sounds so cliché, but you look at color combinations of rock, stones or greenery and there’s so much, and it’s everywhere. I was walking down the street in New York recently, and there was a sidewalk that almost had a chevron pattern on the side. I took a picture of this dirty sidewalk and sent it to my team. We have a folder called “IDK but something.” That sidewalk ended up becoming a reference for a dining table. And the house we just built in Costa Rica, we couldn’t find tile I wanted, so we smashed marble and put it back together on the floor.
LR: That’s great.

Wallpaper applied to the cabinets creates a one-of-a-kind garden effect in the principal ensuite.
AB: I also get a ton of inspiration from other designers. Looking at how people push boundaries makes me feel inspired to push boundaries. Looking at how people set up spaces that don’t feel typical or how they inject texture and color is so inspiring to me. And, while I would never, ever copy anybody else’s work, sometimes you take one thing.
LR: Have to.
AB: It’s a lie if you say you’re not inspired by other people.
LR: You have to be.
AB: You know, nobody…
LR: …works in a vacuum.
AB: No. Montana Burnett’s limewashing everything right now, and she has Salt by The Caza Project. So, we’re looking at this, and I love the feel and texture. I called her in and said, “We want to do this room.” And we looked at all the samples together. You know, there’s…
LR: …collaboration.
AB: We totally gelled. She’s doing excellent work. And she’s really pushing shapes and tones. Les Ensembliers are the great kings of the eclectic traditional. Montana Labelle is really pushing it in terms of different, almost maximalist shapes. So, all of my designer colleagues inspire me.

An oversized headboard and curved cove ceiling create a soft look in the principal bedroom.
LR: It’s a very small group. What are we going to see from you next that’s going to surprise us?
AB: We’re doing a house on a peninsula in Antigua that’s wild and amazing. We have an Upper East Side apartment project in Manhattan that’s going to be fantastic.
LR: How many are on your team?
AB: We’re 13 women.
LR: Congratulations to you and your whole team! We know it takes all those supporting you and cheering you on to get to this place of success.
Doublespace Photography (interiors)/Stacey Brandford (Lynda and Ali's portrait)
House & Home
Ali Budd