Isabel Ladd
photo by katie charlotte
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? Rio de Janeiro, Brazil… it’s where I’m from!
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Saturated
2. Electric
3. Curated Hoarder … kidding, but I LOVE things + compulsively buy all the pretty things I see.
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? The walls were sunshine/school bus yellow with giant hot pink polka dots that I hand painted. All the other rooms in my parents house were Builder’s Basic White. I would also buy unfinished furniture like dressers, chests and nightstands and paint those in vivid patterns and colors. I started a “store” out of my parent’s house called Crazy for Color where I’d sell my furniture to family members.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? 9 yards in the Iconic Le Tigre Fabric to upholster a chair. I literally dipped into my kid’s tuition fund to get this dream chair.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Miles Redd. I’d give carte blanche and literally tell him to make his wildest design dreams come true.
No room is complete without: Wallpaper. Somewhere. Anywhere.
People think of me as maxxxing out on color and pattern, but really I can chill it out.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: The tissue paper from a store-bought arrangement.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Anything Spicy. I can barely do Doritos, as it is.
A bar cabinet: Gin. It tastes like a Christmas Tree.
A song for:
Dinner at home: “Alexa, play music for dinner at home.”
Working at your desk: Silence.
Going for a run: I’m allergic to exercise.
Biggest Vice? Over-Analyzing. It’s such a curse.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? So much self-improvement swag: one of those sauna blankets + a build your own sauna + a classy AF hot tub. I’ll do anything to avoid exercise, so I feel like those are things to make me sweat without having to do extra physical activity.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes!! I dress the way I decorate: pull of pattern + color + statement everything. I’ve actually been hired a few times based on my outfits. I’ve had clients say: I like your style. I want you to decorate my house like the way you dress. A funny thing I do at photoshoots is take a portrait of me dressed to match the room. I call it Designer Camo.
Who is your star crush? JTT. 4 Eva.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
I’d never not wallpaper, but I still love other projects I see that are void of it.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Jonathan Adler's "My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living" is so sentimental to me because it was the first design book I ever bought. I got it when I was a textile designer in college and it really introduced me to the world of design, interiors, and how your surrounds affect your mood.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? For sparking joy.
Photo by katie charlotte
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Titanic. Only because it is so sentimental to my pre-teen years.
Book: Anything from the Self-Improvement aisle.
Scent: My kids after their bath.
The fabric you always come back to: Le Tigre
Dream project: A beach house for Moi.
Meal: Lamb with Mint Jelly.
Drink: Dirty Martini. Like, Xtina Aguleira Dirrrtyyy.
Hotel: 86 Cannon Historic Inn in Charleston
Travel Destination: Anywhere a cruise ship will take me.
Artist: Hunt Slonem. I just bought one of his paintings with a dozen lively parakeets scattered about.
A cause near and dear to me: Kips Bay Boys + Girls Club
Thing to collect obsessively: Chairs. I have 54 places to sit in my modest size home. Not all are comfortable. Some are just the prettiest chairs I’ve ever seen.
Era in the history of design: Now. I love where design is now, and all the freedom and diversity and sources we have today.
Museum: 21C Hotel Museums. I love that every museum at any 21C only has living artists + they are always changing.
Paint Color that always looks great: Palmer Green by Ben Moore. It’s my favorite and most used green. I have it on my bedroom walls, paired with a light pink ceiling.
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @PleaseHateTheseThings It’s the funniest head-scratcher account ever.
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? No Pets. I have a heart of stone when it comes to pets + their hair + their slobber.
