DESIGNER INSIGHTA Q&A with Design Professionals

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Meet the area’s top interior designers

When it comes to creating beautiful rooms, fi nding a collaborator who understands you—your style, your needs, your timeline—can make all the difference. Turn the page, and meet up with some of the area’s best interior designers; one of them may be just the right fi t to help you transform your space into something fabulous.

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DESIGNER INSIGHTA Q&A with Design Professionals SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Where did you grow up? Louisville, Kentucky

What sets your business apart? Lillian August has an unparalleled selection of home furnishings at four unique locations that offer one-stop shopping. With over thirty in-house interior designers, Lillian August delivers design expertise and service along with a vast selection of merchandise.

What was the best design advice you were ever given? Buying furniture is not decorating.

What is the best way to quickly transform a room? Window treatments dramatically enhance a room, and it’s incredible what well-placed accessories can do to update an interior.

What was the most controversial paint color you ever used? How did

the project turn out? For my dining room we selected a grass cloth wall covering in Hermés orange. The room came out beautifully. It turns out that orange is a very appetizing color.

Where do you � nd inspiration? In nature and in looking at the work of great designers.

Do you prefer to use wallpaper or paint? Paint. It’s easier to change—but I do love wallpaper, and we are using more in our design projects.

What is your signature design trick? Focus on the walls and floors. People respond to artwork and mirrors, while rugs ground a room. When you leave a house, you remember what was on the walls and floors.

What is the most over-the-top request you have ever received? A dining table to comfortably seat twenty-four people. We of course

fulfilled this request.

What is the most common mistake people make when decorating a room? So often people don’t stop to think about how they will actually live in their rooms. A common mistake is to design for special occasions without considering how your family realistically uses a space on a daily basis.

Who are your interior design heroes? Axel Vervoordt and Albert Hadley.

What is your go-to book on design? I turn to European design magazines for inspiration.

Dan Weiss, President & CEOLillian August Furnishings + Design32 Knight Street, Norwalk CT 06851(with additional locations in Greenwich, South Norwalk and NYC)203.847.3314 | lillianaugust.com

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DESIGNER INSIGHTA Q&A with Design Professionals

What sets your business apart? As architects and interior designers we understand and integrate all aspects of designing a home. We have a warm, friendly office and work to make the design process fun, exciting and stress-free.

What was the best design advice you were ever given? Budget and schedule are critical to the success of a project, not just great design. We take that to heart.

What is the best way to quickly transform a room? Choosing the right paint color can dramatically change a room.

Where do you � nd inspiration? We are constantly inspired by color pairings, patterns and the play of materials. Those everyday inspirations are apparent in our work.

What is the most common mistake people make when decorating a room? Sometimes clients want a certain look but have an attachment to something

Susan Alisberg Alisberg Parker Architects222 Sound Beach Avenue Old Greenwich203.637.8730AlisbergParker.com

that doesn’t work. We try to help clients evaluate what to keep and what to part with.

What is your favorite piece in your own home? I recently purchased a dynamic large scale painting which, even with subtle colors, totally transformed my dining room.

What sets your business apart? I offer a suite of services, including custom patina and refinishing, that allow me to work with the client’s existing furniture. It’s amazing what can be done with what you have!

What was the best design advice you were ever given? It was not strictly in design, but when I was a dancer at the Conservatoire in Paris, my teacher said “to always finish my movements with passion.”

What is the best way to quickly transform a room? Construct around one focal piece that gives the “wow” factor, and declutter.

Where do you � nd inspiration? I was lucky enough to grow up on the rugged coast of Brittany and then live in Paris, which is like a museum. These contrasts are a permanent source of inspiration.

What is your signature design trick? Timeless elegance! Create

Anne-Laure MartynCote Est Decor140 White Oak Shade Road, New Canaan, CTCoteEstDecor.com

an evocative living space mixing distinct styles, incorporating vintage decoration with contemporary elements.

Do you prefer to use wallpaper or paint? I actually like to combine them—for example paint three walls in a room and paper the last one to add texture and depth.

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DESIGNER INSIGHTA Q&A with Design Professionals SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

distinctly unique furniture and accessories.

What was the best design advice you were ever given? At the first design firm I worked at in New York, my boss gave me all the must-reads, like Elsie de Wolfe’s The House in Good Taste and Mark Hampton’s On Decorating. She taught me the importance of

learning the history of design—and that it’s not just about making spaces “pretty.” After I would finish each assigned book, she would always ask, “So... do you still want to be an interior designer?” Well, here I am, thirteen years later!

Who is your ideal client? One who respects your craft and vision and trusts you. I’m often reminding my clients that a leap of faith is necessary to get to that end result.

What was the most controversial paint color you ever used? How did the project turn out? In the living room featured here, I was adamant about using a high gloss white on the ceiling to give some glamour to a very long and narrow

Melissa LindsayPimlico Interiors48 Elm St, New Canaan, CT203.972.8166pimlicointeriors.com

room in an antique home. Everyone thought I was crazy to be using such a finish on the ceiling. The painters all kept trying to talk me out of it! Luckily, the client trusted me (it is only paint, after all) and we went for it. I feel like it makes the room. I love how it turned out.

What sets your business apart? We are always striving to offer our clients exceptional customer service, along with continually bringing in

Where did you grow up? New York City

What sets your business apart? I am able to both do projects that require architectural design and renovations along with interior design and decorating.

What was the best design advice you were ever given? “Put your heart and soul into every project.”

What is the best way to quickly transform a room? Paint. Repainting is the quickest way to transform and update a room.

What was the most controversial paint color you ever used? How did the project turn out? Orange lacquer on the ceiling of my client’s office. It turned out fabulous and very striking.

Where do you � nd inspiration? Through traveling.

Do you prefer to use wallpaper or paint? Both. I love to mix wallpaper and paint in rooms, either on the ceiling or walls.

Susan GlickSusan Glick Interiors11 Meeker RoadWestport, CT 203.984.4112SusanGlickInteriors.com

What is your signature design trick? To always work with subtle neutral colors and then carefully add the accent colors in.

What is your favorite piece in your own home? My custom-designed mohair bed.

Who are your interior design heroes? Mary McDonald, Kelly Wearstler, David Hicks

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DESIGNER INSIGHTA Q&A with Design Professionals

Kathleen Bivona DesignsTrumbull, CT203.258.3566KathleenBivona.com

What distinctive talent do you bring to the industry? Like all closet designers, I transform closet and storage areas into spaces of optimal functionality. Unique to me is my ability to edit and stage those spaces so that upon completion, my clients have their own personal boutique.

What is the best way to quickly transform a room? Edit its contents. Take a step back and see your room with a new set of eyes. Ask yourself, “What would guests see when they walk into this room?”

What is your favorite piece in your own home? Any piece I’ve inherited from relatives. An old piece of furniture or objet d’art adds to the soul of a home.

Valerie LynnValerie Lynn DesignTurning the Elegant into the ExtraordinaryStamford, CT | 203.329.0550ValerieLynnDesign.com

What sets your business apart? I customize my clients’ fine furnishings and furniture with my hand-painted technique that has no limitations as to size, placement, color or imagination.

What is the best way to quickly transform a room?

Incorporate a personal, exciting art element as a showcase piece into your décor.

Where do you � nd inspiration? From everywhere and everything. From day-to-day details to exotic places, past and present.

Incorporate a personal, exciting

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