Decorating & Design
Do You Share A Decorating Obsession With A Top Designer?
Updated on March 15, 2018
We all have our decorating obsessions, whether it’s a certain shade of blue or a love of all things rustic. But what does it take to get a designer‘s heart fluttering?
Click through to find out what 10 pros can’t get enough of.
Brian Gluckstein is a huge fan of this stately bed design. “I’ve had a four-poster bed in my own home for 17 years,” he shares. “This bed really makes a statement; modern brass versions are such a great update on classic wood frames.”
“When you use a lot of white, you need to add some texture. Otherwise, everything looks too slick, too polished,” advises designer Michelle Lloyd Bermann. “[My design partner] Christine [Ralphs] and I love raffia. It’s a natural material and adds great texture.” In her own home, a few woven stools impart a breezy, organic vibe.
Sarah Richardson’s kitchen makes a welcoming impression thanks to clean white finishes and plenty of natural light. But the designer’s favorite part has to be the space’s practicality — and that includes its top-shelf cooking tools. “My entertaining style is relaxed, but I like all the perks, including pro-inspired appliances,” she says.
“When it comes to accent pillows, I say the more the merrier!” says designer Richard Ouellette of design firm Les Ensembliers, whose own homes are loaded with pretty patterned upholstery. In this handsome living room, Richard used embroidered velvet and linen throw pillows to bring luxurious texture to the space.
“Black and white is the palette of my life,” says designer Erika Floysvik, whose graphic loft kitchen was featured in the March 2017 issue of House & Home. “While a modern black and white kitchen could have looked austere, since our space is quite streamlined, the materials [we selected] feel rich and warm.”
If there’s one thing designer James Davie doesn’t obsess over, it’s perfection. “There’s more beauty in the ‘imperfections’ of materials — knotted wood, veiny stones, aged metals — than in the classically ‘perfect’ material,” he asserts. Case in point: This dining room he designed, which has a warm, tactile charm.
“I have a huge affection for all things Moroccan,” says West Coast designer Jennifer Scott, who designed this exotic space for her and her daughter to hang out in. “Shortly after I moved in, I took a trip to Morocco, and came home with rugs, vintage wedding blankets and fabrics that I now use to anchor almost every room.”
Bold black accent walls appear in two rooms in Ines Mazzotta’s home. “I love punctuating a white room with a black wall — the contrast creates energy,” the designer (shown with Peter Mazzotta, her husband and business partner) says. “A chalkboard-painted wall can also serve as a nice neutral backdrop in a kids’ room.”
“I adore modern lines, but it’s the old stuff that always speaks to me,” says Samantha Sacks. “Hundred-year-old doors give me goosebumps!” In the designer’s own family home, vintage Egyptian doors lend character to the kitchen, while louvered doors steal the spotlight in the principal bedroom.
While he isn’t a designer by trade, homewares retailer Youssef Hasbani’s homes have been featured many times in H&H thanks to his eclectic, inspiring style. What inspires Youssef? “Ellen [DeGeneres] — I love the way she mixes vintage pieces, and I love her coffee table book, Home. She has a really good eye!”