Design Minds

“Vintage or custom pieces will never go out of style. My latest vintage find is always my best design find.”

DESIGN MINDS

INTERVIEWS BY SHANNON O’LEARY

Interior design fans love poring through home features in glossy magazines and scouring Instagram and design blogs for ideas. But have you ever wondered where the creative minds who dream up all of these, well, dreamy dwellings find their inspiration? We spoke to five talented designers to get a glimpse behind the scenes.

MAX HUMPHREY | PORTLAND

MAX HUMPHREY INTERIOR DESIGN MAXHUMPHREY.COM @MAXHUMPHREY

I’M A HOMEBODY AND HAD A LIGHTBULB

MOMENT while a young professional working in television production in L.A. I realized what I was doing with all my spare time and my whole paycheck (shopping for vintage furniture and decorating my apartment) could actually be a career. I left my job and begged my way into a boutique design firm as a part-time design assistant. That was 12-plus years ago.

MY STYLE IS PACIFIC NORTHWEST MODERN

AMERICANA with a New England aesthetic sensibility. I grew up in New Hampshire, and my parents had matching blue plaid sofas in our family room. They were built to last and I think plaid and gingham made an impression because I use those patterns in all my designs now. I tend to stick with blues and greens and black and white and light gray and then maybe a pop of a warm color like red, yellow or orange. My design philosophy is a quote I borrowed from Gore Vidal which goes: “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”

EARLIER THIS YEAR, I GOT TO DESIGN THE INTERIORS OF AN AIRSTREAM TRAILER for a corporate client. This was fun and challenging since form and function had to go hand in hand— [and] for the Airstream, I had to make sure everything was nailed down.

MORE AND MORE CLIENTS ARE ASKING FOR

THEIR FORMAL DINING ROOM TO SERVE A DIFFERENT PURPOSE since most people eat at their kitchen table now. For an L.A. client, I put a pool table and sofas in the dining room and turned it in to a grown-up game room. For a recent Portland project, I designed a custom Ping-Pong table for the dining room that gets more action than any [typical] dining table would have.EVERYONE ALWAYS SAYS ‘TRAVEL’ IS THEIR

BIGGEST DESIGN INFLUENCE, BUT FOR ME IT’S THE OPPOSITE. I get more inspiration drivingto the supermarket in my suburb in southwest Portland than I would from any far-flung location. Interior design is autobiography, so I don’t have to go far to be inspired. Also, a design scheme for an entire house can come from a single object, so I go shopping a lot. I love vintage and antique stores, salvage yards, and estate sales.

VINTAGE OR CUSTOM PIECES WILL NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE. My latest vintage find is always my best design find. Last week it was a collection

of antique needlepoint birds with wood frames, next week it will be something totally different.

I LOVE A BIG STATEMENT. Either with a wallto-wall, floor-to-ceiling gallery art wall or a giant metal sign or an old map or just an American (or wherever) flag. People get overwhelmed with a blank wall but I just see opportunity. I like designing any room with bookshelves. Books are my favorite design element and you can never have too many of them. I’ll put bookshelves in a dining room, bedroom, wherever I can.

CORINE MAGGIO | SAN DIEGO

CM NATURAL DESIGNS

CMNATURALDESIGNS.COM@CMNATURALDESIGNSI HAVE PERFECT RECALL OF THE SPACES OF MY YOUTH, including my friends’ homes, hotels we stayed in while traveling, restaurants, etc. I usually remember if the lights were too dim or the wallpaper they had in their bathroom. I’ve always loved how walking into a new space as a child really stimulated my imagination. I feel spaces in a deep way and I find it exciting to create and alter perception through design.

MY FIRST PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE was while I was still in school. I took part in a contest called “America’s Next Top Model Home.” I was given $5,000 and 30 days to design a space in a model home along with other professional designers. It was exhausting since it was in North Carolina and I was still in school in California, so I had to fly back and forth, but it was tremendously exciting and empowering.

I LIKE TO CREATE SPACES THAT ARE BOTH SOPHISTICATED AND PLAYFUL. I rarely design neutral rooms. Color is just too much fun and dynamic. (White kitchens are overrated and ubiquitous, even if they are beautiful.) Lately, I’ve been loving darker more moody tones. I recently put black paneling in my bedroom and painted the trim and doors black as well.

EVERY CLIENT IS DIFFERENT, AND SO EVERY SPACE SHOULD BE, TOO. I have a client in Florida who I’ve never met in person but is very fun to work with and is up for bold ideas. For example, we painted her fireplace a large buffalo plaid pattern and it turned out so amazing. And I was asked to design a house in the Maldives

from the ground up (architecture and all!) for a Supreme Court justice there. My design was “coastal casual” with most of the furnishings made on the island with local materials. That is the most efficient and cost-effective way to do things. So the largest portion of the project was really space planning, which is my favorite thing anyway. I have never gotten to space plan to that degree where I was able to choose where all of the walls go. It was such a treat [and] a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

MY FAVORITE DESIGN FINDS ARE USUALLY ART AND RUGS. I found a portrait on Instagram called Farmer’s Daughter by a young Montana artist named Morgan Irons (it’s actually a portrait of her sister). It just really moved me. She has since really made a name for herself so I feel lucky to have one of her early works.

I LOVE THE INTERIORS IN WES ANDERSON

FILMS. They aren’t always practical given that I’m always working within the parameters of my clients’ needs and taste, but I am working on a woodsy-camp-themed room for my newborn son and using Moonrise Kingdom, and other works, as a jumping-off point.

AMY HANSEN | SALT LAKE CITY

AMES INTERIORSAMES-INTERIORS.COM@AMESINTERIORS

DESIGN HAS ALWAYS JUST BEEN IN ME, a part of me, and I’ve always known I would pursue it as a career. I recall as a child hoarding Pottery Barn Kids magazines in my bedroom.

THERE ARE SO MANY DESIGNERS I’M INSPIRED

BY, I can’t even keep them all straight. DISC Interiors and Amber Interiors [both in Los Angeles] never fail to impress. Thank goodness for Instagram, right?

MOST CLIENTS FIND ME VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. This is how it has been from the beginning and how it continues to go. Instagram has been by far the best business tool for my company. So I can’t thank everyone enough for following along.

I’M STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO EXACTLY DESCRIBE MY DESIGN STYLE, but the words modern, casual, warm, simple, and neutral always seem to describe my palette well. Finding my signature style has been a process, but one that has taught me how to appreciate design in all of its many forms.

THE BEST WAY TO COMPLETE THE LOOK OF A ROOM IS BY ADDING “LAYERS.” Area rugs, window treatments, artwork, pillows and throws, lighting, wall decor, styling accessories,

etc. That’s where a space really gets its character. If you have the ability to include finish work like adding beams to the ceiling or some detailed treatment to your walls, those are highly recommended options too.

I THINK THE MOST OVERRATED DESIGN TREND IS SUBWAY TILE. Do I dare go one further and say white subway tile? Don’t get me wrong, if you’re in need of a quick and inexpensive option, that’s probably your best bet. But as designer, it’s a trend I try to stay clear of.

OUR MOST RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECT is located right on the border of Salt Lake City and Murray, Utah. And the entire home was designed and built in under six months. The builders and I had the crazy idea to complete it just in time to be showcased in the 2018 Salt Lake City Utah Parade of Homes. I pretty much waved goodbye to that half a year of my life, but it was worth every second. The home itself sits very modern, but we warmed it up with lots of fine wood finishes and set it apart from the crowd with unique selections of lighting and tile. And because we needed furniture and decor to stage the house, we ended up opening an online home shop last August. And it’s snowballed from there! Our most popular seller has been The Madelyn Rug. It has thin black-andwhite stripes and is the perfect size for an accent rug in the kitchen, entry, or bath.

OWNERS MAKE IS BUYING SOMETHING NEW to fix a problem instead of re-evaluating the big picture. It’s often best to “design by elimination” as the first step. Evaluate what you already have, what you truly love and what is a better size and configuration for your needs. Another first step is to review images the client is drawn to on online sources like Pinterest or Houzz as a way to start the conversation about preferences and to develop a concept.MICHELLE DIRKSE | SEATTLE

MICHELLE DIRKSE INTERIOR DESIGN MICHELLEDIRKSE.COM @MICHELLEDIRKSE

I ALWAYS WANTED TO CREATE AND

REPURPOSE ITEMS TO GIVE THEM NEWLIFE. I remember being late for kindergarten because I wanted to change the way my curtains were hanging. By fourth grade, I was browsing architectural plan magazines… and making villages of tiny houses from shoe boxes.

MY FIRST DEGREE, AND CAREER, WAS IN PSYCHOLOGY. As a non-profit case manager, I connected children who are at risk and adults with chronic mental illness with resources—healthcare, housing, education— to help them through life. After three years of social work, creativity was calling and I went back to school for interior design. While psychology and design are very different in practice, both require evaluating variables and creating solutions.

I LOVE TO MIX STYLES AND BRING IN A TOUCH OF THE UNEXPECTED. For example, we mixed modern furniture with traditional antiques at one of our downtown condo projects. We mixed Victorian, industrial, and modern elements for a log cabin in the Snoqualmie Pass area. And for the Judge Ronald House in Seattle—a grand 1880 landmark home that needed a major overhaul—my clients asked me to draw upon a “haunted mansion” or the backstage of Moulin Rouge for inspiration. My background in psychology is probably part of why I like to create spaces that have such varied personalities—much like people do.

WHEN LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION, I love visiting reclaimed building supply stores, antique malls and art galleries. As I discover old and new objects, I look at them through the lens of what they could be. What is their potential? How could I turn them into something interesting and beautiful? Through constant questioning I think that I’m able to see new ways of looking at things and create solutions that fit each individual client.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES HOME-

MY FAVORITE PROJECT WAS MY OWN RECENT RENOVATION because I had so much freedom to explore the unexpected. I bought my current home, a mid-century condo, for its location and potential—seeing past the laminate floors, Formica countertops, and drab walls. My home is now a combination of one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and art. I designed my own sofa, chaise, and nightstands from scratch, commissioned a local ceramics artist to make two custom lamps, another artist to make a new large art piece, and yet another artist to make a weaving to upholster an ottoman with. My own home project also gave me the opportunity to test out my own line of fabrics, rugs, and wallpapers that I created with local artists. (In addition to our online inventory, we sell one-of-a-kind pieces at our retail space/design studio.) I love how my new space feels and that the better functionality makes each part of my day easier and more enjoyable. Of course, I love the look, too.

KRISTEN THOMAS | DENVER

STUDIO THOMAS STUDIO-THOMAS.COM @STUDIOTHOMAS

BOTH MY PARENTS WERE REAL ESTATE

AGENTS, and we moved a lot. We were constantly getting our houses ready to sell, so I was always watching my parents setting things up and arranging things throughout the house. I quickly began to understand the importance of restraint and editing. It is something that has really stuck with me and I have truly honed over the years. In my opinion, editing and restraint are some of the most important aspects of interior design.

I LOVE PSYCHOLOGY AND UNDERSTANDINGHOW PEOPLE’S SURROUNDINGS AFFECT

THEM, and how we can change their lives by the way we design their homes. For example, if they aspire to be more calm and present, we’ll design an environment that will encourage that vibe. If they want their home to be a hub for all the friend and family celebrations, we’ll remove formal sitting rooms or a formal dining room and create casual areas that foster fun and entertainment.

OUR STYLE IS BASED ON TIMELESS DESIGN WITH PERSONAL TOUCHES. We focus on the foundation first—the structure of the home, adding interior architecture, such as trims, paneling, moldings, casings, built-ins—to add

character before moving onto furnishing the room with your personality—artwork, antiques, photography. I once created a whole gallery wall centered around a client’s cuckoo clock.

WE TRY TO USE NATURAL MATERIALS AND COLORS INSPIRED BY NATURE—stones, wood, marble—as much as possible. Color in a home should be brought in through the foods you’re preparing in the kitchen, the plants and flowers you bring into your home, the books you like to read, the people who gather in the home—the life you’re living in your home.

I STRUGGLE WITH THE HGTV MENTALITY OF DESIGNING A ROOM IN FOUR DAYS. Design should be more personal than that, and it should

be a process where you’re building a home over time with your things and taking into account who you are and how you want to live in your home. There is a process that we take our clients through, we consider who you are as a family, what your values are, how you want to be living in your home. It’s not just about taking down a wall here and there, choosing paint colors and filling it up with furniture. It is all about how the space makes you feel. For example, I designed a playroom for a little boy named Henry. When he walked into his finished playroom for the first time, he couldn’t express in words how excited he was, but he instantly lit up, put his arms out and started running around the house like an airplane. The joy that we all felt made me realize the impact we can have on everyone we work with.