Jeffrey Bilhuber
photo by Rosenthal Project Photos- Fernando Bngobchea
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? On a plane
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? The ‘defining moment’ came when my mother asked each of her four boys to go with her to the hardware store and select wallpaper for their rooms. Our excitement was quickly diminished after being told we could have just enough for one ‘feature wall’ per room. The other three walls would be painted by our father. I selected a particularly grim textured vinyl flame stitch pattern in moss, mustard, and slate blue.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? Knee-deep in my “Bill Blass period” I purchased a Georgian mahogany tall case cabinet at Christie’s. It was a game changer and I was deeply proud of myself. The cabinet appeared on the outside back cover of my first book, Design Basics, as a testimonial to that momentous occasion.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Someone who does what I can’t do.
No room is complete without the owners.
People think of me as expensive, but I really bring value.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Baby’s Breath
An hors d’oeuvre platter: The ‘platter’ part
A bar cabinet: a gun
A song for:
Dinner at home: “Desafinado” Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
Working at your desk: “Supermodel (You Better Work)” Ru Paul
Going for a run: “Only the Good Die Young” Billy Joel
Biggest Vice? Amazon Prime
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? More Ambien.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Not yet, but they should. Let’s just say I’m desperately trying to work my way out of my Banana Republic ‘Blue Period’.
Who is your star crush? Tilda Swinton, we appeared on Charlie Rose together after my first book, Design Basics, was published and she was promoting Orlando.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Eat. Drink. Sit. Loiter. Relax. Stand. Stretch. Idle. Yawn. Rest.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Vogue’s Book of Houses, Gardens, People- text by Valentine Lawford. forward by Diana Vreeland.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Timelessness
photo by Schuman Project Photos- William Abronovicz
A Few Favorites
Movie: Gone with the Wind (1939)
Book: The Oxford English Dictionary
Scent: Rigaud, Cypres
The fabric you always come back to: Glazed cotton (and linen)
Dream project: A client who lets me slip cover the seats on their plane with cotton mattress ticking.
Meal: Swedish meatballs, buttered egg noodles with parsley, and lingonberries
Drink: Whiskey Sour (with aromatic herbs)
Hotel: Ballyfin
Travel Destination: Ireland
Artist: Van Gogh
Thing to collect obsessively: Imari
Era in the history of design: late 19th Century Edwardian
Museum: Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris
Paint color that always look great: Benjamin Moore: Essex Green
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Candice Bergen - @bergenbags
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? No, no, and no.
