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AN AVANT-GARDE DESIGNER CREATES HOLIDAY TABLES FOR THE TIMES BY GAYLENE SALOMONS
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“I’ve been designing right out of the crib,” says Michael Scott, an interior designer at Clive Daniel Home. Scott grew up on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where he consulted on the interior design of the churches his father built as a Pentecostal minister. In the ’70s and ’80s, Scott designed display windows at the Broadway Department Store in Los Angeles, eventually becoming the visual presentation manager for the San Diego and Los Angeles stores. His work experience also included a position as display director for The May Department Stores Company. It was in 1997, while employed at an Arizona-based Robb & Stucky, that Scott met CEO and owner of the chain, Clive Lubner. Lubner questioned why Scott, whose work was the most photographed in magazines (among all the firm’s designers), was not on his interior design staff. Lubner promptly hired a teacher to spend a year with Scott to assist him with earning the Council for Qualification of Residential Interior Designers designation. Scott has been employed as an interior designer with the company (now named Clive Daniel Home) for the past 25 years. Creating modern, cutting-edge, new, and different designs is Scott’s passion. “I get bored easily,” he explains. “I like to concentrate on designing something that hasn’t been done before or putting something together in a different way.” At his firm, he is considered an “avant-garde designer.” Scott is married to Thomas Riker, who was in the mural painting business when they first met. They have been married for 23 years and for the past 13 years have been designing interiors together. They frequently host dinner parties—usually for between eight to 10 people. When asked about how he would create a holiday table for today’s interiors, Scott says: “we are so cluttered in our lives.” He credits COVID and the current financial situation for changing that. “People are simplifying their lifestyles, preferring less, and choosing items with more function and a cleaner aesthetic.” COURTESY OF CLIVE DANIEL HOME
Michael Scott, an interior designer at Clive Daniel Home, creates two simple and elegant holiday tables where delicious food can be enjoyed with family and friends.
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9/27/23 1:30 PM