Ray Booth
photo by Pieter Estersohn
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? As of late I must say I would be happy to just be in my own home! With a book tour, two product lines in development and studios hopping in NYC and Nashville I seem to have been everywhere but HOME! I am already very fortunate to have a second home I have just designed from the ground up on the cape in Provincetown Mass.
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? Wow, I might frighten a lot folks with this answer…as a caveat I must say I inherited the carpet which was a long Rust/orange shag! It was the 70’s after all. That combined with my mother’s love of Ethan Allen furniture begins to paint a pretty suburban picture!
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? My husband John and I were starting to put together our first home in NYC. We came across a great modern walnut double sided bookcase that became a real piece of architecture in our home.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? I know I would have loved to hire Lutchens as an architect, for a designer, perhaps Jean Michelle Frank.
No room is complete without music.
People think of me as quiet but I am funny (once I get to know you).
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: too many types of flowers… give me all one kind.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: raw veggies…ewww.
A bar cabinet: nothing!
A song for:
Dinner at home: Tracy Thorn
Working at your desk: David Guetta (I am king of chair dancing)
Going for a run: Well I don’t run but I work out most every morning. As of late I am loving a Frankie Knuckles playlist “tales from beyond the tone arm”. The perfect mix of Dance and Spiritual/Aspirational music.
Biggest Vice? Vodka! Followed closely by chocolate chip cookies.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? hah! I love this question. However, I refuse to answer! haha
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? I guess they must. I strive to dress in Jeans as a statement of casualness yet a great comfortable fit, top it with a great shirt always a tailored cut, and a beautiful blazer of some amazing textural fabric to show a bit of elegance to balance to the casual.
Who is your star crush? Glenn Close
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? I never detest any creative thought. I feel there is too much to learn and always want to keep my mind open.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? The ability for the work to connect to people on an emotional level. For it to FEEL beautiful as much as look beautiful.
photo by Pieter Estersohn
A Few Favorites
Movie: Harold and Maude still gives me great joy and reminds that you never know where true love or joy can be found. As well as take nothing for granted.
Book: Most any sci-fi novel…I know, strange!
Scent: I won’t say that I am much of a scent person, but I used to love patchouli oil and Egyptian musk mixed ever so slightly…
The fabric you always come back to: Linens…simple.
Dream project: Any project that offers a chance to do both the architecture and the interiors….
Meal: I love a long-cooked batch of short ribs.
Drink: Vodka of most any measure but as of late coupled with a dash of Deep Eddies Ruby Red Grapefruit (for flavor), and a bit of diet tonic (to keep me sober and upright).
Hotel: The Rosewood in London, Or Monte Lambert in Paris.
Travel Destination: Sailing the Greek/ Turkish Islands in the Aegean.
Artist: Brancusi
Thing to collect obsessively: I have met very few Directoire Ratchet back chairs that I can pass by.
Era in the history of design: France in the 1940’s. The perfect amalgam of historical reverence and innovation.
Museum: Victoria and Albert
Paint color that always look great: Benjamin Moore White Dove on the light side and Sherwin Williams Black Fox on the dark side.
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Always will pine for my Siamese cats… but don’t have a schedule that will allow for them right now.
