I met interior designer Amy Meier during a tour of Italian artisans earlier this year. With 10 designers, we started in Lecce in Puglia, then worked out way north to Polignano A Mare, and west to Perugia, Spoleto and eventually to Rome. She struck me as sophisticated and stylish, but no-nonsense too. She’s also someone who knows how to ask the right questions – and apply the right touch to make her spaces seem traditional but fresh. Amy recently opened her own shop in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., so I thought that this might be the perfect time for an email interview:
How do you describe your signature style?
Intentional, authentic, sculptural, edited and refined.
Your background?
I was trained in fine arts at Boulder, and then fashion at Parsons in New York. After a few years working in the fashion industry, I heard my true calling and moved to Boston to become a partner in an interior design firm. And then, nine years ago, I decided to go out on my own and founded Amy Meier Deign.
The perfect client?
First and foremost, the perfect clients are open, willing to take chances, and honest in their communication. Ideally, they already have a good understanding of who they are as people and their own personal style. We don’t have to agree on everything, but shared vision and values are the key to a successful relationship.
The intent of your designs?
To create spaces that are unique and special to the people who are going to live in them, that speak to and about them, and not about me.
Your inspiration?
I draw inspiration from nature, from my peers, from seeing the world and from antiquing. Really, it’s about experiencing what’s out there, what has been done in the past, what is happening now, and what has not yet become.
The challenges of your work?
Each and every client is unique, and therefore it is important to us that each home design be bespoke, totally and completely designed for the specific client and reflective of their style, taste and life. The challenge then is the challenge of all creative work, the search for new ideas, the time and inclination and determination it takes to create and innovate.
Why create a new shop?
I thrive on personal interaction, and there are only so many clients I can take on. With a shop I can reach and speak to so many more people and share with them my ideas for home, for living that I never would have been able to do with just private clients. And it’s not just clients or customers, it’s the artists and artisans with whom I collaborate. With a shop, I can work with those who move me, when they move me, and not have to wait for the perfect client to match what I want to do with the artists.
What’s in it?
We fill it with exclusive Amy Meier collections and one-of-a-kind pieces. The idea was to create a destination, and a compelling reason to visit that destination. These days, it’s so easy to find stuff on your phone or computer, so a shop only made sense if we had things in it that you could not find anywhere else. Therefore, I sourced internationally for the rare and unknown, and collaborated with artists, artisans and craftsman to create exclusive Amy Meier collections, all so we could create a truly unique shopping experience and bring it to this small village in southern California.
For more, go here.
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