A simple or budget-friendly design move you wish you’d known sooner?
We do this now but wish we had done more earlier: Make small cuts of extra countertop stone for powder room backsplash or other little spots. It’s sustainable, a cost savings, and a fun chance to play with unique shapes with extra stone.
My favorite sheets are…
Morrow Soft Goods Organic Matte Sateen in the limon color.
My favorite paint color for the bedroom is…
Skimming Stone by Farrow & Ball.
My unpopular design opinion is…
There is no right or wrong.
I also have an aversion to most standard kitchen island and bathroom vanities on the market.
Your design pet peeve?
Fear or paralysis: clients feeling they need to see certified perfection instead of following an emotive momentum and throwing a little excitement and openness for improvisation into the wind.
My go-to kitchen utensil is…
My amazing studio director Victoria raves about the Thermomix and I wish I had one! She is a pro in the kitchen, so I’ll trust anything she says!
Three words that describe my design style:
Conversation Of Contrasts.
First design love?
In college studying for my BFA in modern dance and ballet, all the rule-breaking collaborators of the Ballet Russes period. Pablo Picasso’s Cubist sets and costumes of Parade (1917, choreography: Léonide Massine), Le Tricorne (The Three-Cornered Hat) (1919, choreography: Massine), Coco Chanel’s costumes for Le Train Bleu 1924, Bronislava Nijinska’s austere choreography and stage design of the long, long braids of Les Noces 1923.
What is the last thing you purchased for your house?
Art Deco glass candle holders and a naive-studio-pottery piece from a thrift store. Finally getting some window treatments made out of Howe fabric.
Something you’re coveting?
Italian Art Deco nightstands, Swedish Romance Lights, and a Gustavian dresser.
Favorite design shop to visit (online or in person)?
There are so many lovely curated brick &andmortars that present collections for you, but I love the thrill of the hunt, so local NJ thrift stores and estate sales are the best over here. The usual 1stDibs and Chairish and eBay and Etsy for a wider global marketplace never to let down, and flea markets like Brimfields and Roundtop. Nickey Kehoe, Gem Home, Giancarlo Valle showroom….all written about and photographed on Remodelista!
What item from your closet do you have on repeat?
Loafers.
Thanks so much, Hollie! Follow her work @spacesbyhollievelten and hollievelten.com.
N.B.: Featured photograph of Hollie in her studio by Danielle St Laurent.
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