A client demands input on design decisions. In your view, is this a welcome development? I absolutely welcome input! The best, best, best relationships—and the best results—come when the client, designer, and contractor all work together.
Which local artist or artisan do you most admire? Why? Artist Charley Blood of Charles Blood Artistic. His trompe l’oeil work is second to none. He has never, ever told me, ‘I can’t do that.’ I could ask him to paint me a detailed map of the world on a ceiling, and he’d do it.
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What do you see as the most forgotten or under-decorated room in the house? The guest bedroom—sometimes the powder room, although I often can convince clients that that can be a place to have fun. For guests, though, it’s important to attend to the details, and by those I mean a good place to sit, a good Wi-Fi connection, a convenient place to put luggage. It requires a lot more than just nice blankets and pillows.
What was your biggest design challenge, and what did you learn from it? Every job presents a design challenge in one way or another, and I learn something new from each one. It might be figuring out a home automation system and what that means for the overall design; it might be a construction issue or simply how to work with people—how to work around someone’s patience level, for example, or how to read body language to know if I’ve missed the mark as far as understanding a client’s wishes.
Do you prefer to be hired to design a new build or to create a new design for a historic home? My preference is whichever one I just didn’t do! If you do the same thing all day, every day, it’s so easy to fall into cookie cutter solutions. I want to bounce around and be looking at different stuff all the time. It keeps my creativity and energy level up.
