This week we are joined by the very talented Katie Lydon. Originally from London, Katie founded her downtown New York interior design firm in 2002. Katie has been featured in House Beautiful, Elle Decor, The New York Times, and Metropolitan Home. We talk with Katie about her love of color, her recent work with longtime client, author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin, and plans for the renovation of her home. We also speak with Katie about her favorite part of the design process, and ways to inject personality whether you are going for a contemporary, modern or classic look.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE:

• How Katie got into the design field
• Katie’s work with longtime client Gretchen Rubin, featured in the April issue of House Beautiful
• Her love for Gretchen’s design confidence and bold yet elegant choices
• The return of purple in editorial, and how to use the color purple to create a certain mood in the home
• The similarities between her work in Gretchen’s home and an English countryside room in decor, molding, bookcases, and abundance of seating
• Some practical tips and tricks of furniture arrangement, seating options and creating intimacy in a large space
• Katie’s editing and simplicity in both contemporary and traditional spaces, and her method of letting the people bring the majority of the character and personality into the space
• Katie’s plans to renovate her own home, including updating the loft with central AC, new kitchen area and mud room
• How to pick fixtures and finishes in your kitchen that will stand the test of time and last through trends
• How to cover the basics yet push the envelope when designing a home for a family
• The importance of living in a space before renovating it
• Katie’s design pet peeves, and why she may move tables at your home while you aren’t looking
• The differences between English design and American design, and where Katie draws her inspiration from within each of them

In this episode we are joined with Tori Mellott, Senior Design and Markets Editor for Traditional Home Magazine. We talk trends with Tori from her recent trip at High Point Market, her background and where her love of design emerged from, some fun behind the scenes stories from her career in magazines, the roles and responsibilities of a Markets Editor and why we all feel that it’s impossible to have too many chairs.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

• How Tori has had the energy and stamina to move (and decorate) 26 times.

• A trends recap from Tori’s recent High Point Market Trip from all of the latest in designers and furniture manufacturers. Tori mentions the resurgence of canopy beds, traditional stylings, groovy 1970’s lighting, millennial pink, delicate silhouettes, and things just being pretty.

• Tori’s love for auction shopping, specifically for occasional chairs for both herself and her loved ones.

• Tori’s travel tips for roaming unencumbered.

• The growing trend of bright yellow in home decor, and Tori’s closet.

• The responsibilities and duties of a Markets Editor.

• When Tori sees something that she wants, she waits on it. If she is still wanting it after one year, she knows it’s the real deal.

• Why it’s important to know your audience when pitching a magazine editor.

• Tori’s very own real life personal version of The Devil Wears Prada during an internship at NYU, and how it led to an internship at HomeStyle Magazine.

• Caroline’s amazing memory when it comes to designer and pictorials.

• Her personal side project of helping her sister decorate.

• How to know when to splurge, and when to save, on interior design.

This week we travel to New York to catch up with interior designer Philip Mitchell and his very cute dogs.  Philip is based in New York and Toronto, and has been featured in Traditional Home, House and Home Magazine and Canada’s Style at Home Magazine. We talk with him about his beautiful captain’s house in Nova Scotia, his  approach to restoration, fun and affordable ways to add texture and details, and the art of mixing historic with contemporary and modern comfort.

What You'll Hear on This Episode:

• How he and his husband ended up falling in love with Nova Scotia, and purchasing and restoring  a 1795 captain’s house in a beautiful Seaside Village
• His love and respect for historic homes, and inspiration to maintain the integrity and sentiment of the original home during the restoration process
• How they found an  incredible contractor to renovate their home with an artisan yet liveable approach.
• The differences between current New York and Canada interior design trends and lifestyles
• A fun “this or that” word game where we put Philip to the test of some of his favorite things including textures, finishings, patterns, panel molding and storage options
• Why you shouldn’t be afraid to reuse what you already have, and take your drapery with you when moving out
• In interior design - if you love it, you can incorporate it
• Philip’s attitude towards furniture and pieces is to not focus on perfection, but comfort and the beauty within the story.
• What Philip means when he says he is “big on appropriateness”
• How to have the big talk with your partner about painting the wood in a room
• Philip’s journey into interior design through growing up surrounded by women that appreciated a beautifully furnished home and environment
• His participation with the 2018 Kips Bay Show House to benefit the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club charity
• What Philip personally collects throughout his own travels and personal experiences