What impressed your inside design profession?
I by no means thought that I might go into this area, however when my husband and I began our household, I knew that I wished to proceed working. I take pleasure in working, and my mother is an inside designer. I feel I absorbed much more than I spotted. So, I made a decision to make a profession change, considerably spontaneously, as a result of I wished one thing extra versatile, and I wished to be my very own boss. It type of occurred organically, and that was 20 years in the past now. I’m actually blessed and grateful to have nice jobs and nice purchasers.
I feel my background in training and my expertise within the area actually helped me do that job higher. I wouldn’t commerce it or do it every other manner. I inform the younger women who work for me that we do “individuals first,” and we do particulars. I’ve to work with all sorts of individuals, and I’ve to show, lead and information my purchasers and the women that work for me. I most likely must be extra organized than I might be had I come from a whole arts background, so we’re extremely organized and really structured. I’m actually grateful for the way in which the careers are blended.
What’s your design aesthetic?
My type — and I say this so sincerely — is shopper and job-by-job-driven. Mainly, the shopper’s persona, the household, the life-style, and the architectural area — whether or not it’s one thing that’s going to be constructed from the bottom up or that’s already current — these components come earlier than my aesthetic. I actually worth that we’ve got a wide range of purchasers and that their kinds are actually distinctive. I feel there’s sometimes a typical thread that’s recognizable from job to job, however I’m actually not considering duplicating from one venture to the subsequent. The truth is, I’m going to fairly nice lengths to not duplicate materials or items or ideas. I’m fairly explicit about that as a result of I wouldn’t need my area replicated, and I don’t assume my purchasers are paying us to copy another person’s work or another person’s area.
A plethora of pure daylight floods this lounge in Dallas’ Bluffview neighborhood. Architectural parts corresponding to an arched entryway lend character to assist Shannon’s design particulars, corresponding to a settee from Roche Bobois and Modo Chandelier from Scott + Cooner. Picture: Nathan Schroder
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This white-on-white kitchen is a stunner, with open shelving, painted brick, loads of cabinetry, and walnut stools from Design Within Reach. Picture: Nathan Schroder
Pure wooden parts stand out on this eating room, with a reclaimed desk from Brendan Bass and an vintage door from Chateau Domingue, accented by an vintage chandelier from Skelton Culver. The Cassina Cab chairs by Mario Bellini add a recent contact. Picture: Nathan Schroder
With that in thoughts, what type are you essentially the most drawn to?
It’s actually difficult for me if somebody isn’t drawn to utilizing antiques and weird finds or one-of-a-kind objects. I can often speak purchasers into infusing just a few antiques or one-of-a-kind objects right into a venture. If we don’t, it lacks heat and depth and character and class, in my thoughts. The opposite factor is that I don’t need to just do half of a home. I’ve turned down a job or two prior to now yr when somebody mentioned, “I’d love for us to simply give attention to the downstairs, and I’ll deal with my youngsters’ rooms.” I like doing youngsters’s areas, and I like for the youngsters’s areas to have the identical character, parts and elegance as the remainder of the home. So, when you’ve got antiques and artwork in the home, then the youngsters’s rooms ought to have that as properly. It’s simpler for me to reply what sorts of jobs I can’t do as a result of I actually love doing every part. I like doing new tasks, and I like a superb problem!
What’s your favourite venture so far?
Considered one of my favourite tasks so far is a household dwelling that I did with Jeremy Corkern out of Birmingham. That was my first venture with him, and it was a ground-up, however we created a house that seemed prefer it had been there perpetually, which is what the purchasers wished. It was right here in Dallas, and he got here in for it. Now we’re doing one other one. We’re restoring an attractive Tudor right here in Dallas. I like working with him; he’s fantastic.
Are there any traits that you just’re obsessed with? Alternately, are there any timeless points of design that you just cling to?
I attempt to keep away from traits, and I err towards something timeless, however often, something that’s a present pattern got here from someplace, so it’s timeless on the similar time. I actually love a mixture of pure supplies, wealthy textures and a impartial background. That’s the place I’m most comfy. That’s my completely happy place. I’m excited that extra designers and extra persons are being drawn to that. That’s one aspect, after which the opposite aspect is a extra layered, lived-in feeling — interiors which are actual and never for present. Interiors which are made for individuals to stay in.
This Hillcrest Estates eating room affords classic attraction combined with a contemporary sensibility. It encompasses a plaster chandler from trans-LUXE, a classic pink Anatolian rug from Carol Piper, and an vintage Chinese language console from Oliver Gustav. Picture: Peter Vitale
This gorgeous little vignette offers life to a small nook. Picture: Peter Vitale
Whereas floor-to-ceiling home windows provide an architectural focus on this main bedroom hallway, we’re unable to tear our eyes away from Shannon’s completely positioned Nineteenth-century Rococo Italian mirror from Artwork & Vintage Hunter. The Saarinen Womb Chair and Ottoman from Scott + Cooner and a Fifties wall sconce from Carmen Tonen usher in subtle simplicity. Picture: Peter Vitale
Shannon infuses heat into this white kitchen, using numerous wooden grains and thoughtfully positioned shelf ornamentation. A pair of French lanterns from Foxglove Antiques hold overhead, whereas a classic Moroccan Kilim rug from Carol Piper rests beneath the eating set. Chinese language Stools from Oliver Gustav lend an off-the-cuff class. Picture: Peter Vitale
What’s your favourite area or design component in your personal dwelling, and why?
My kitchen. I’m a prepare dinner, so I like being within the kitchen … or in a snug chair studying! These are my two favourite issues to do. I’ve a membership chair by the hearth with job lighting.
In case you may select an inside designer to revamp your house, who wouldn’t it be?
I feel it must be Darryl Carter, but it surely is determined by the architectural type.
The place do you discover your inspiration and your curated items?
Invoice Gardner, who owns W. Gardner Antiques in Houston, is my favourite vendor. We like to purchase from California, New York and Europe — we actually purchase throughout. And I wish to proceed to do repeat enterprise with distributors I belief. I’m grateful for these relationships, particularly now that most individuals are working from their desks. Invoice, for instance, is just working with distributors that he trusts as a result of once you buy antiques, and so they’re costly, you need to be certain they’re genuine, properly made and meet the worth tag. I need to proceed working with distributors I do know have good high quality items — particularly once I’m shopping for off the [computer] display, which I don’t like to do. I have to know that I can belief the product.
“I feel with shelter-in-place and the present scenario that we’re dealing with, individuals need their houses to be extra comfy and extra reflective of them,” Shannon says. “They need their areas to be extra genuine versus wanting like a catalog or showroom.” Such is the case on this lounge, which contrasts distinctive classic items — such because the Swedish tilt-top desk and English vintage couch from W. Gardner — with fashionable touches. Picture: Peter Vitale
To peruse “old-world glam and distinctive treasures” from Shannon’s private stash, take a look at the inspiration at her SBD Shop. Picture: Peter Vitale
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What’s one piece of recommendation you could provide for individuals to raise their very own houses?
Be true to your self and take a while to consider how you reside, and don’t underestimate the results of your environment on your loved ones. Do your youngsters want construction to counteract issue focusing? Does your loved ones want a gathering place that attracts youngsters collectively, making them need to be downstairs and never upstairs of their rooms? Your house is de facto about your loved ones. It’s not about your neighbors or what your pals assume; it’s a mirrored image of you, your type, and your loved ones’s wants. In case you can’t create one thing like that your self, then it’s necessary to discover a skilled who will hearken to you and worth your loved ones. They want to have the ability to obtain what it’s you’re actually asking them for — not what they assume you must have.
Previous to [COVID], it was “go, go, go.” Generally individuals don’t know the right way to be nonetheless and be at dwelling, so it’s virtually as if the shelter-in-place skilled us all to cease and pay higher consideration to our houses. It makes us take into consideration what we have to do to make it an inviting place for our youngsters and their pals. I all the time need to have a home the place my youngsters say, “Can so-and-so come over?” We now have lovely issues, and I’ve a whole lot of white furnishings, however I don’t care. I feel this time gave everybody an opportunity to mirror on what’s necessary, and relationships are a very powerful each inside and out of doors of your house.
There is no such thing as a age restrict to timeless type as this cozy bed room in Greenway Park, that includes vintage beds from W. Gardner, reveals. Picture: Peter Vitale
This serene, sunlit piano space is each dreamy and stylish. Picture: Peter Vitale
What design traits and inspiration do you anticipate for this yr?
I feel persons are being extra considerate about their purchases. I imply, they’re all “issues,” and it’s all fleeting, however I feel persons are extra long-term with their purchases. Hopefully, they’re shopping for high quality issues, even when it’s fewer issues. It’s higher to purchase what you like, even when you need to wait and save for it. Catch your breath a minute, and don’t simply purchase to fill an area. Hopefully, persons are shopping for fewer knickknacks and foolish issues that they find yourself eliminating later … like a bunch of image frames or throw blankets. It’s about being extra considerate and cautious and never so shortsighted in purchases.
Are you able to describe your design philosophy in 5 phrases?
Considerate, curated, sudden, joyful, timeless.
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