Decorating & Design
This Rising Design Star Mines The Past To Create Interiors That Transcend Time
Updated on January 9, 2024
Heidi Caillier creates the kinds of homes we all wish we’d grown up in — homes she wishes she’d grown up in. Born in Japan to a military family that was never stationed in one place for more than three years, Heidi has flashes of memories from each house she lived in, but no deep connection to any one place. “Part of my desire to create homes for others is rooted in this experience,” says the designer. “I can see how constantly moving influenced me.” As a young adult, Heidi wasn’t hemmed in by borders, teaching scuba in Australia and studying yoga in India between stints in acupuncture school, nursing and accounting. Obsessively interested in design magazines and blogs, Heidi launched her own, The Rustic Modernist, a blog featuring images of design and decorating that inspired her. She felt that she had found her true calling.
Heidi later joined the online design service Homepolish, but she quickly tired of the boilerplate look her clients clamoured for. She finally landed a client who, armed with pages from 15-year-old copies of Southern Living and Traditional Home, allowed Heidi to express her true style: traditional touchstones crossed with a cool sensibility. “For the first time I thought, I’m just going to go for it.”
We asked for her advice on transforming a passion into a career, and how she creates projects that enthrall her clients — and her 250,000-plus Instagram followers. Scroll down!
Launched this past fall, her first book, Memories of Home, illustrates just how distinctive Heidi’s vision truly is.
Heidi in her dining room, where Morris & Co.’s Fruit wallpaper is a backdrop for her collection of Majolica plates. “I just love color and whimsy,” she says.
House & Home: How did you make the transition from blogging to design?
Heidi Caillier: When I started my blog, I hadn’t yet done any design work; I was just posting things I liked. Designer Alison Davin, the owner of Jute Home in San Francisco, saw my blog, recognized that we shared a similar aesthetic and hired me as an intern. Later, I worked for other designers and the San Francisco Design Center showroom before striking out on my own.
In her kitchen, grey soapstone counters combine with terracotta floors, grey-green cabinets and brass hardware.
H&H: How has Instagram helped you build your design business?
HC: I’ve found a lot of designer friends and clients through Instagram, and I love the community and activism. The day Amber Lewis, who wrote the foreword to my book, posted my kitchen, I got 10,000 new followers, double what I had at the time. It helped propel my career.
A classic 1940s home in the Berkshires is given a traditional spin with chintz upholstery, custom mouldings, coffered panelling and graceful archways.
H&H: You designed more than 500 projects while working for online design service Homepolish. What was that like?
HC: I’ve designed so many $10,000 living rooms! Clients would purchase a package of 10-hour increments. By designing on a smaller scale, I learned how to work with clients and handle projects.
In this bathroom, Heidi designed the vanity to resemble an old dresser, with reclaimed marble tile for the floor.
H&H: You didn’t grow up in houses with traditional decorating. What draws you to the trad aesthetic you’re so famous for?
HC: It’s probably a search for what I didn’t have. We live just outside of Seattle, where my husband grew up. We like returning to his childhood home, where his parents still live. Now that I have my sons, I have a deep desire to give them a place to make memories, a place they want to return to for the rest of their lives.
An attic bedroom has an English vibe, with colorful furniture, a rush headboard and layered rugs.
H&H: With your design firm established, how do you see your style evolving?
HC: As I see more and learn more, my style progresses. Every project is driven by the client’s aesthetic, the architecture and the location. For example, if a client has classic pieces on their Pinterest board, I swing in that direction. Some designers are known for doing exclusively traditional or a solely modern look. I think I fall in the middle and end up working with clients from both ends of the spectrum, and that’s satisfying.
Keep scrolling for more of her fabulous spaces!
This newly built house on Fox Island near Tacoma, Wash., has mid-century style. The dining area is grounded with an antique kilim and live-edge wood table.
To keep this Craftsman living room feeling young, Heidi updated the original fireplace with a new pink tile surround and added a woven pendant.
A custom reeded walnut vanity, marble floor tile, smoky lavender millwork and vintage brass mirror make this Berkshires bathroom one of a kind.
In this Fox Island, Wash., home, Heidi updated the vintage Togo sectional with botanical upholstery in indigo. “Bold florals don’t always read as feminine,” she says.
Heidi’s High Points
Bright Spot: “Apparatus Studio lighting feels modern but not in a cold way, and it melds well with traditional design elements.”
Design Bible: “I love Gil Schafer III’s A Place to Call Home. His rooms feel like places where people actually live.”
Paint Pick: “Farrow & Ball’s Setting Plaster is a soft, slightly peachy pink that doesn’t read too sweet or girly.”
Jet Set: “I enjoy visiting New Orleans. It’s rich in history, the architecture is beautiful, and there’s a very strong culture. I love the way the locals love their city.”
Latest Splurge: “I bought a piece by U.K. artist Ellie Davies for my bedroom. There’s something ethereal about her work, but it also has depth and darkness.”
Flower Power: “I like using a chintz like Clarence House’s handblocked Dahlia print in a more modern way.”
Fave Stay: “The Ludlow Hotel on the Lower East Side is my home away from home when I’m in NYC. It has comfortable rooms and great lighting.”
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Haris Kenjar
House & Home