The Chairish Podcast

The relationship between designer and client is crucial to the success of any project. But how do you know if the chemistry is right? Is there any way to tell if the client/designer matchup will work—or if this is the wrong client for you? Designers Susan Zises Green and Joy Moyler draw on their decades of success to share tips about how to size up clients during initial interviews, what to look a...

Social media has affected design in myriad ways—how designers market their work, gain new clients, discover new vendors, and share ideas and proposals with clients. But social media is constantly evolving and it’s not easy keeping up. Designers Carmeon Hamilton and Caitlin Flemming share how they have navigated social media from the early days of their blogs to their current large Instagram follow...

Few decorators have had the longevity or the impact of Bunny Williams. Ever since her first job at the legendary firm of Parish Hadley, she has been creating rooms that meld beauty with comfort and a sense of welcome. Renowned as a gardener as well as a designer, she was in the vanguard of shaping today’s indoor/outdoor lifestyle. An author and a furniture designer, she has also promoted the caree...

In this age of digital everything, is print becoming the new go-to media? Why are so many design companies, from brick-and-mortar retailers to online behemoths, using print to engage and entice their customers and clients? Three industry leaders who have had major success online—Dara Caponigro of Schumacher, Julia Noran Johnston of Business of Home, and Anna Brockway of Chairish—share why they hav...

The woman who brought high-end fashion online, Lauren Santo Domingo talks about the success of her acclaimed site, Moda Operandi, and explains how she creates a sense of exclusivity and service through her careful curation of designers and brands, how social media changed fashion, why the wives of tech investors are so important, her new role as a Chairish Design Insider, and how caviar became a m...

Staging has become vital to real estate, but what is its relation to design? Is staging a stepchild, a way to break into the design industry, or a lucrative sideline? Three who know the ins-and-outs of the discipline, Lauren White of Ellen W. Interior Concepts, Alessandra Santopietro of Santopietro Interiors, and stager and broker Jason Saft of Compass, discuss what differentiates staging, the imp...

Movies and television have long inspired interiors—from Art Deco fantasies to futuristic, sci-fi visions. Three top Hollywood set decorators, Elizabeth Keenan, Jessica Petrucelli, and Ellen J. Brill, whose work on the screen has ranged from gritty realism to fanciful visions of luxury—and who have garnered multiple Emmy and Academy Award nominations—talk about how they got into showbiz, why charac...

Fashion and home have had a long and complex relationship. Fashion designers are known for creating stunning homes—and have often lent their talents to designs for the home. And decorators have frequently looked to the runways for inspiration. But fashion moves fast, and interior design changes more slowly, so how valid is the connection today? Milan stylesetter and designer JJ Martin and luxury f...

It is often said that a successful marriage takes work. So what happens when your work life and home life are totally entwined? Married principals of three high-powered design firms—Katie and Jason Maine of Maine Design, Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller of Carrier & Co., and Christine and John Gachot of Gachot Studios—talk about the joys and challenges of balancing creativity with...

Small changes can have a big impact, but it isn’t always easy to get small jobs done. In this episode, Elizabeth Calderone, who owns a retail design shop, and designer Michael Tavano and his partner Lloyd Marks, who maintain a to-the- trade workroom, share insights about everything from reupholstery to window treatments to home automation, the difficulty in finding and training skilled craftsmen,...

Long before there were social media influencers, the market editors at top magazines served as major arbiters of taste. Their job was to discover the latest and greatest new products, talents, and trends, and bring them to the world’s attention. It’s never been an easy job, and with the rise of social media, the role is more consuming and more crucial than ever. In this episode, three editors who...

No design show on television has been as influential—or as controversial—as Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators. It changed the way high design was perceived and roiled the industry. A decade after its launch, four of its stars, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Mary McDonald, Jeffrey Alan Marks, and Nathan Turner, reunite to reveal how and why they became involved, how their clients felt about being on TV,...

Who needs trends? And if nobody follows them, why does everyone pay attention to them? In this episode, three top designers and major influencers, Brigette Romanek, Michel Smith Boyd, and Jessica Schuster weigh in on what they see for the year ahead, why clients care about the newest and the latest, and what they love and hate at the moment—everything from accent walls to playful pastels. They als...

The design business has proved surprisingly resilient and buoyant over the past year, but once again, the Coronavirus is surging. How can designers contend with continued supply-chain shutdowns and delays, shortages of materials, manufacturing disruptions, and the pandemic’s effects on colleagues, artisans, craftsmen, and installers? As the pandemic grinds on, designers Barrie Benson, Peti Lau, an...

San Francisco designer Ken Fulk is a force in design. His theatrical sensibility, his passion for history, and his ability to conjure magic atmospheres have resulted in numerous stunning homes across the country, and his designs for hotels and restaurants have set new standards for conviviality and hospitality. His credo that everyone should live with pleasure and beauty has made him both sought a...

No one said running a business was easy, but how do designers make sure that amid all the invoices, purchase orders, and shipping logistics, they still find time to be creative? In this episode, New York designers Ellen Hamilton and Sandra Funk and Nashville-based Lori Paranjape discuss the systems and secrets so they never lose focus on the part of the job they love—designing beautiful rooms. The...

In the crowded field of interior design, how do you get your work seen, and how do potential new clients discover you? Social media can certainly be effective. But that doesn’t mean that other tools—websites, blogs, and especially email marketing—don’t still have power. Marie Burgos, Kati Curtis, and Kevin Isbell, three designers with rising profiles, reveal the marketing efforts that work for the...

In Washington, D.C., politics rules, and the political scene is more partisan than ever. Can design cross the aisle? What is it like to be a designer in DC, and how ready for change is this city with such a historically traditional aesthetic? Two DC-based designers, Kiyonda Powell and Marika Meyer, weigh in on what it is like to bring high style to a city where politics is ubiquitous, how a new ge...

London-based designer Rita Konig is one of today’s most popular and influential tastemakers. Her fresh take on English style, relaxed, colorful, and family friendly, is both pretty and practical, and has made her a star on both sides of the Atlantic. In this episode, Rita talks about her work, growing up with her famous mother, Nina Campbell, how she hopes to demystify and democratize design, and...

Thanks to the pandemic, we have all become used to working, socializing, and learning at a distance. But can beautiful design be created remotely? In this episode, two guests with very different styles, Los Angeles designer Martha Mulholland and Palm Beach- based Danielle Rollins, tell how they got started with e-design, how their virtual business has grown, what they find rewarding—and frustratin...

How do certain designers make the transition to becoming viable brands? Who decides which designers get to put their stamp on everything from rugs to fabrics to apartment towers? Kate Verner, whose firm has been instrumental in the success of numerous designers and brands, and her client, acclaimed designer Alexandra Champalimaud, share their insights on how to expand a designer’s portfolio and vi...

Is attending design school still worth the time, effort, and money it takes? And are the schools teaching the right things? Should the focus be on principles or practicalities? In this episode, the president of the  New York School of Interior Design , David Sprouls, is joined by two of the school’s distinguished alumni, Penny Drue Baird and Drew McGukin, to talk about whether techniques or t...

Powerful and beautiful photographs of your work are more important than ever, now that social media has become such a crucial tool. But how do you turn your three-dimensional spaces into compelling images that will attract attention in the image-saturated world of design? In this episode, two top stylists who have worked with major magazines and top interior photographers around the world, Mieke t...

Now that working from home has become the new normal and home schooling has become mandatory, the home office is more central to domestic happiness than ever before. And with the appeal of working remotely likely to continue long after the pandemic has retreated, the demand for chic and functional home offices is likely only to increase. In this episode, two top designers skilled at meeting the ne...

Grand, exuberant, and exquisitely layered rooms have always had an exalted place in the design world. But are they still relevant in a post-Covid-19 world? Two top interior designers, Michelle Nussbaumer and Timothy Corrigan, argue that their styles—traditional, colorful, and eclectic—are even more valid than before, and share their insights into creating comfort, the importance of fine detailing,...