Steele Marcoux
Interior design by Gibbens Dupuy Decoration / Photo by Alison Gootee
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? This is SO hard because my family loves to travel. Telluride, Colorado – we love it just as much in the summer as we do in the winter. But it’s not easy for us to get to, since we live in Alabama. So, perhaps Lake Toxaway, NC. It’s a magical mountain community with a beautiful lake…some have called it the Switzerland of the US and that’s really how it feels. There’s no better place to spend July-August.
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? It had yellow floral wallpaper and was all yellow and white. When I went to the Greenbrier as an adult, I walked into a guestroom with similar wallpaper and thought: I’ve been here before! Then I realized the wallpaper must have been Draper or something close. I am now trying to pull yellow into as many rooms at home as possible. So many happy memories from that room. Yellow floral wallpaper and lots of white wicker.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? A velvet sofa with a bench cushion and beautiful skirt from LEE Industries. We had called it in for a shoot when I was an assistant editor at Cottage Living. My colleagues, and the lovely people at LEE, helped me realize there was no way we could put that thing back on a truck. So I bought it. The best part is the gorgeous color. Is it blue? Is it green? No way to know for sure… I’ll have it forever.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer, who would it be? This is nearly impossible to answer, but I’d have to say Mark Hampton ;) or maybe David Hicks.
No room is complete without art and books.
People think of me as an extrovert, but I am really an introvert.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Orchids or red roses
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Cheese cubes
A bar cabinet: Nothing. Well, maybe Diet Coke or any diet drinks.
A song for:
Dinner at home: Anything by Van Morrison or Chris Stapleton
Working at your desk: Anything classical
Going for a run: Podcasts! I don’t like music when I run?!?
Biggest Vice? Staying up late to binge watch Succession (currently) or other forms of instant gratification, like cookies, impulse purchases on IG, etc.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? How high are we talking? Real estate in Colorado or North Carolina.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Hmmm, I am not sure. Maybe, in that both are tailored, feminine. But, fashion wise I find myself gravitating more towards neutrals and not so much with decorating.
Who is your star crush? Depends on what day it is. But Matt Damon is a pretty consistent one.
What is the one thing you would never decorate your home with, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Blue and white.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Yours, duh (both) but I also love Markham Roberts’ books. They are so fun to read. Same with Charlotte Moss’ books. Another is Thomas Jayne’s Classical Principles in Modern Design.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? For delivering beauty backed with substance, for opening minds (and hearts?) to new ideas, for helping to make beauty matter, for providing rich context for the pretty.
Interior design by Emily Eerdmans / Photo by Kelly Marshall
A Few Favorites:
Movie: The Sound of Music
Book: The Power of One
Scent: Gardenia
The fabric you always come back to: A ticking stripe, Scalamandre tiger velvet, and some batiks from Jasper/Michael Smith
Meal: Honestly? Really good Italian (including authentic pizza)
Drink: Boulevardier, in winter. Aperol Spritz in summer. Champagne always.
Hotel: Saint James in Paris, because it looks so beautiful
Travel Destination: Italy
Artist: Matisse, lately
A cause near and dear to me: Family Promise
Thing to collect obsessively: Duck tureens, baskets, champagne coupes
Era in the history of design: The 1970s, surprisingly? But not sure why
Museum: I love a house museum, so I love the Frick in New York. I LOVE John Soane’s home in London. I also love Winterthur in Delaware. I have never been to Musee Nissim de Camondo but I am dying to and will on my next trip to Paris.
Paint Color that always looks great: Tanner’s Brown from F&B
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Impossible to say!
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? A sweet elderly cockapoo named Sawyer
