David Kaihoi
photo by thomas loof
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? I’d love to spend more time in our real life second home in upstate NY…but for the fantasy part, please may I add a pool, a greenhouse, and a pottery studio?
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Comfortable
2. Committed
3. Authentic
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? Bunk bed with my younger brother, desk in a window, narrow walk-in closet. Mom always let us paint walls and push furniture however we liked, which is amazing for a kid. I was a jock from early on and my sports obsession ruled the decor…walls were completely covered in a collage of sports magazine cut outs (not pin ups…that was something mom would NOT allow).
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? We bought an enormous 18th century brass and mahogany vitrine from Christies. It’s our library and office in one piece of furniture; glass doors above look properly organized with books, while the covered doors below obscure office nonsense and kids art supplies.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Tough one!…Albert? JMF? Francis Elkins? I'm going with Renzo Mongiardino. But I’m going to push him to go minimal…his interpretation…I’d be curious.
No room is complete without: plants…and a low chair.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Anything but flowers
An hors d’oeuvre: Stacks of meat
A bar cabinet: A lock
A song for:
Dinner at home: Frank Ocean (thank you teenage daughter)
Working at your desk: Lately, almost every day, the boys in the office have been playing the Beyonce Reniassance album beginning to end and I have to say its still getting better
Going for a run: Strokes ‘the adults are talking’ / LCD Soundsystem
Biggest Vice? Peanut M&Ms from a hotel room mini bar…they NEVER survive.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy?https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/az21/arizona/lots/r0087-1971-range-rover-suffix-a-convertible-by-svc/1020250 and a nursery of boxwood.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Definitely. Most things have been altered, mixing new things and old things, and using everything until its dead
Who is your star crush? Issa Rae
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
Never say never! I’m wracking my brain, but I always think there is a time and place for everything,
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Francis Elkins - Interior Design.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? An artistic balance of scale, texture and color…considering the entire volume of the room as an installation.
photo by thomas loof
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Hitchcock - Rear Window
Book: Great Gatsby
Scent: Walking past garden rosemary. Also, I’ve been wearing Tom Ford Noir de Noir for a few years, which my wife loves, so that’s a no brainer.
The fabric you always come back to: Belgian linen
Dream project: Aren’t they all?!
Meal: Dover sole at La Grenoille
Drink: Gin and Tonic
Hotel: Sunset Tower…its the familiarity
Travel Destination: Always the next trip!
Artist: Impossible
A cause near and dear to me: Our office has been involved with Housing Works and their Design on a Dime event for many years. HW is such an important organization.
Thing to collect obsessively: Nothing…obsessively editing
Era in the history of design: Ptolemaic…the brutalist Egyptian grandeur
Museum: The Met
Paint Color that always looks great: Farrow & Ball “teresa green” - a rich deep celadon
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @sophiepinet I don’t personally know her, but the image curation is just so on point. Beautiful, artistic, romantic.
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? The more the merrier! Although we only have one goldfish at the moment; a ring toss prize my son won at the Columbia County Fair.
