Blackberry Farm Design
photo by Ingalls Photography
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? I still have my home in NYC, so I think the third should be an old villa with vineyards and olive trees in the South of France with views of the sea.
What are three words to describe your style?
Here are 6:
1. high/low
2. new/old
3. found/made
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? In Lincoln, Nebraska, I shared a room with my sister Julianne, who is two years younger than me. I taped a line down the middle of the floor that she was forbidden to cross and totally ignored. I had dozens of Barbies and stuffed animals and dress up clothes and Madonna, she had baseball uniforms and a drum set and Mad Magazines and Legos. We played together all the time though and still live together today.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? My first design job was in 1999 at a furniture showroom in San Francisco called Arkitektura. I had a discount so I bought a red Eames LCW Lounge Chair and the three Time Life walnut stools. Still have them and still love them.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Richard Neutra + Dimorestudio for a home on a tropical island.
No room is complete without the people who adore you indescribably and whom you love with total abandon.
People think of me as zany and all over the place, but I am really an obsessive perfectionist.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: anything fake or painted
An hors d’oeuvre platter: errant hairs
A bar cabinet: Drambuie
A song for:
Dinner at home: Didn’t Cha Know, Erykah Badu
Working at your desk: Let It Play, Miguel Migs
Going for a run: Savage Remix, Megan Thee Stallion
Biggest Vice? Largely behind me now but I thoroughly enjoy the nightlife
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Beauty products on Instagram
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes, urbane – a little bit sensual, a little bit hip hop, mostly downtown, sometimes fancy.
Who is your star crush? Barack Obama or Pharrell Williams
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
A completely monochrome room.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Art Through the Ages, Helen Gardner
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Awesomeness
photo by Ingalls Photography
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Apocalypse Now
Book: To Kill A Mockingbird
Scent: orange blossoms
The fabric you always come back to: linen
Dream project: restoring my villa in the south of France
Meal: frisee aux lardons et a l'oeuf poche
Drink: Champagne
Travel Destination: Paris
Artist: Alexander Calder
A cause near and dear to me: reproductive rights
Thing to collect obsessively: memories of incredible joy and uncontrollable laughter
Era in the history of design: Bauhaus
Museum: Le Louvre
Paint Color that always looks great: China White
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @therxckstxr
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Two cats & a dog
