“I recall meeting Seema in LA for LCDQ festivities. She gave us a lesson in hand block printing and we all got to make a napkin to take home. I want to make a set of eight next time! Seema was so happy and lovely.”

How did you get your start in interior design, and how have you seen the industry evolve around you?

I was a fashion merchandising major in college with a passion for textiles and style. I worked for several years in the retail industry (while I was having my three children).

When I was 30, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a legendary interior designer, Jane Moore in Houston and she hired me to be her assistant. She was really great because she allowed me to work on many of the room schemes and layouts instead of just running mindless errands. 

When she retired I started to do small jobs on my own for friends and family. I was also moving, remodeling and flipping my own homes every few years. Back then there was not a huge and my business took off. I have spent the last 25 years trying to learn more about design and fulfilling my passion for designing while delving into the plethora of wonderful fabrics and furniture that are available to me.

I have been amazed at the incredible growth of the industry. So many young and talented people are coming into the fray and the range of fabric selections has become so much more personal and varied. Obviously, as in every industry, technology has made some aspects of our work much more efficient. In other ways the emergence of Pinterest and other social platforms has placed some of us more experienced, but less technological designers, on our back foot. Speaking for myself, the pressure to keep up with the posts can be a little daunting! 

What influences inform your design aesthetic?

Traveling has kept my aesthetic ever evolving. I have been fortunate to travel to many places and experience different ways of life and living.

I have learned that there is so much more to creating a home than some furniture and fabric, even more so as I have gotten older.

In Copenhagen, where I have spent a lot of time, the people there have an innate sense of style and access to some of the most iconic furniture there is. As such, they are highly educated in the world of furniture and art, yet their homes are that of a cozy, family first and relaxed aesthetic. 

Many fine works of art are hung a bit askew and the frames are worn and mismatched. Family heirlooms are on full display. Rugs of all different varieties adorn the white-washed floors and nature is everywhere. I would say that many homes in Europe tend to lean that way more than you find here in the finer homes in the southern US. 

I like to think that I leave the homes I create for my clients with a warm and homey feel that invites them to continue to collect the art and accessories that appeal to them, without fear of “messing up” what I have done. So yes, I am more relaxed about my design and invite people to keep the cherished things that have been handed down to them, instead of creating the “perfect” instagrammable moment.

What is your most treasured design related object?

A ‘Japanned’ black secretary that I have dragged around to every home I have had.  It is on the smaller side so it has been used in the entry, as a bedside table, and, as intended, a desk!

Excited to share that we have a fun collaboration with C2A, a sustainable, slow fashion swimwear company based in Boston.

Jill Palese, founder of C2A, has reinterpreted our pattern ‘Clarendon’ as gorgeous bathing suits for men and women. Check out their Instagram to view their new Summer Collection, and shop for our collaboration here!

Please tell us your background and how you started your brand, C2A.

My background has always circulated around clothing design.

Working in a creative field for 25+ years means thinking deeply about color, pattern, proportion, textile innovation, etc. As a professional clothing designer, helping women to feel comfortable in their clothing is particularly challenging, especially when the area of
expertise is swimwear. I have always loved art and design, clothing, textile, landscape, interior, jewelry, and architecture. Falling into a creative career required no soul- searching or major shifts; it was an obvious pathway for me.   

Call To Action® began as an idea but quickly evolved into a reality.  After many years in the fashion industry, I felt compelled to create innovations on behalf of the environment and to work toward making a difference in the apparel market.  Early in the process, I met Dan Rakauskas, who spent his career in software, and together we decided to partner on the launch of Call To Action, with sustainability and innovation at the brand’s
core.

Tell us about the innovation/ patent that you have created.

Bits Blocker® is the patent-pending technology that permanently welds a thin modesty
panel to the inside of the bra.  It eliminates the need for polyurethane foam cups that
change a woman’s natural shape and eventually wind up in landfill.  

How did the collaboration with Seema Krish evolve?

I first met Seema while sharing studio space with several makers in Boston.  Seema was beginning her company’s launch, and I worked as a swimwear designer for a brand based in Tel Aviv.  I was impressed by Seema’s work ethic, design aesthetic, and commitment to slow fashion, along with her prints and exquisite textile designs.

Years later, during Covid, Seema sent me some of her prints for face masks. I could easily see how well her patterns would work for women’s swimwear based on the size, shape, and color of her block prints.  We were thrilled when she agreed to the collaboration!

What is your personal design aesthetic, and what patterns do you gravitate towards?

My design aesthetic is modern and contemporary, gravitating toward clean lines and minimal silhouettes.  I am not interested in “trendy fashion,” but prefer style that delivers a story attached.  Style should have a long, timeless lifespan rather than quick, frantic, and “tragically hip.”  

What is your favorite Seema Krish Pattern? 

Clarendon, of course!

We are pleased to announce that Seema Krish is now represented by Nusom Collective in London!

We’re excited to work with Lucy Pye, the founder of the showroom –

Scroll down to learn more about her and how to get in contact.

1. Please tell us about your background and how you got started in the Interior Design industry?

It was a happy accident, which came after years in the South of France and my work with a graphic design agency delivering design services to businesses in the local area. As if in a fairytale, I was on one of my walks to work around the marina and between the sparkle of the morning Sun in the Cote d’Azur’s turquoise ocean, these beautiful metallic beasts appeared bobbing away gently, it suddenly dawned on me “we have so many businesses right here on our doorstep”. It was then that I embarked on creating the Superyacht industry wing of our business that included all elements of branding from logo design and brochures through to leather goods and accessories. It was our ever-expanding branding offering that connected me to the interior design industry where bigger projects required trips to London to visit producers, manufacturers and also designers that we were collaborating with.

In 2013 I made the move to London full time. Since then, I have been fortunate to have worked with and alongside some of the biggest UK and International brands – be it artisans, interior designers, and suppliers, educating and assisting to create a true sense of luxury.

With a plethora of experience and successful delivery of multiple brands to the UK from the US (SA Baxter, McKinnon & Harris, and Urban Electric) and abroad, I was in a position where I wanted to push myself and explore the idea of my own business early in 2020.

I started Nusom wanting to bring something different to the design industry and have followed my passion of working with prestigious artists and makers. 

The name Nusom is a play on the French term “We are” this coupled with Collective – “We are Collective” – this is at the heart of the business, creating a sense of connection through shared desires and most importantly human connection. It is this human connection that I am most passionate about and one of the key pillars in the business, whilst we present exquisite collections these are all conceived and brought to life through the actions of people and we strive to ensure that the makers and artists behind them receive the credit they deserve. Equally, with so much of our work being bespoke we work extremely closely and collaboratively with our clients to deliver a service that matches the end product.

2. What are some of the lines that you represent in addition to ours?

We are delighted to curate and represent the work of some of the world’s best and most talented artists, craftspeople and boutique artisanal makers. We are firm believers that irrespective of the size of a business the quality, creativity, craftsmanship and attention to detail is what matters – “The diamond is not always as big as the stone it is enclosed in”.

We hold an eclectic range of lines; from textiles, wall-coverings and boutique leather through to fine furniture, sculpture, rugs, lighting and artisans that specialize in the art of drapery and artistic lacquer – quite the variety!

There is however a thread that runs through each of the people we represent be it maker, artist or artisan which is that they are the direct designer, manufacturer or in most cases both. This means that every creation is a piece of art in its own right and each has a distinct heritage of the original hand that created it – this is why we love Seema’s textiles and wallcoverings, you can see that they are more than just fabrics or wallpapers they are born through creativity and made with purpose that reaches beyond exquisite product but gives back as well through supporting local communities and initiatives.

Examples of our other lines we represent include: And Objects, Unit 89, Atelier Midavaine, Jallu, Ferrick Mason, and more. 

3. Which are your favorite patterns of ours  – textiles & wallcoverings?

Without wishing to sound cliché, that is actually a tough question as I fall for things on different days, in different moods, for use in different spaces or a particular colour way might lead me to another…However, my current “flavour of the months” would be Chatham, Sonoma, Tanjore, Alta, Empire Stripe, Altamont and of course, Bandra…an eclectic mix! I’m really quite obsessed with two of the new wallpapers; Nandi & Lalbagh. Oh and Juhu – Hudson Indigo, it’s the depth to that blue. I could go on…

To get in touch with Lucy – please visit her website nusom.co or email hello@nusom.co

Our collection, in collaboration with Hunter Douglas, launched earlier this week.

We are pleased to have connected with Ron Rubinoff, President of Hunter Douglas, to learn more about him and get an insight into the artist-driven Design Studio collections. Read on…

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To listen to the complete conversation, tune into our IGTV here. Read an excerpt of our conversation below:

1- What has been your journey in getting involved in the interior design industry? And how did this
lead you to your current role of President of Hunter Douglas?

I began my career many years ago at a company, which Hunter Douglas eventually acquired. Our strategy back then was growth through acquisition. It was a textile company that did all its weaving, finishing, and textile conversion. The exciting thing was that their distribution mode was the same as Hunter Douglas: manufacturer, wholesaler, retail dealer to the consumer.

That’s where I learned the textile business; and about yarns, weaving, and textile converting and being a creative individual with an appreciation for art and color, it married my interests with my skills. This knowledge has helped as we deal with mills around the world; it allows that I can speak their language. At Hunter Douglas, I have combined my knowledge of textiles production and design with my marketing skills. Ultimately, we are reaching our end consumer with writing, photography, and materials that our consumer enjoys living with in their homes.

It has changed over the years. One area I’ve noticed change is in distribution. In the earlier days, there were tens of thousands of retail dealers in our business; there also was this phenomenon called the retail fabricator because some of the product categories that existed were relatively simple to produce.
Distribution networks were very localized and regional. As technology came into the business, so did reach for wholesale distributors. They were able to expand their territory because of technology. At the same time, retailers began to shrink, which has provided our wholesale partners more of a presence.

Another area of change is the competitive landscape. Previously there were more competitors, like Hunter Douglas and going to market the same way through wholesale fabrication to the retail dealer to the consumer. The real advantage we have today as Hunter Douglas is because of the whole shift in dynamics of the distribution channels of wholesaler to retail dealer. Previously, wholesale distributors and wholesale fabricators were independent.

Fast forward to today, as a consumer products company, we are much more B2B. Back then the term B2B did not exist! Our role as a manufacturer was to drive the product to the wholesale fabricator, who in turn went it to the dealer. And we depended on the dealer to communicate to the consumer. Today, we are a consumer product company, directing our advertising, our focus, our customer expectation, and satisfaction level, right to the consumer. We are creating and controlling the complete experience, the introduction, the messaging, and the learning. We are in control of the experience we provide to our customers.

Towards the future, we will remain to be a very tactile business. As a consumer, you could have the biggest screen on your desk, but you still need to touch, feel and hold a textile up to the wall and to the light, to appreciate it fully. I don’t see that part changing in a digital world. Like so many businesses, digital will continue to play a role, but it’s not going to drive changes as dramatically as it has in other businesses. For example, furniture is now selling direct. Custom drapery and shades are a purchase lasts for a long time. Clients need to know and touch and feel what they are getting. The area of home automation will continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Almost everything today in a consumer’s home, from the front door lock to the lighting to the air conditioning to window coverings, can be controlled by a touch on their phones, remote control, or voice-activation. This will continue to grow at a very fast pace. Hunter Douglas continues to take a leadership role in this area and we are known for our product innovation. Even though this may not resonate within the design industry as much as new designs and colors, all of our mechanisms and innovation in our shades, makes life a little bit easier for the consumer.

3- Please would you talk about the artist-driven Design Studio area and the thinking behind this introduction and addition to your line? It was an honor and pleasure collaborating with you and your team on this collection!

Designers love style, color, and trends. They love the sizzle. Home automation that enables the shades to go up and down mechanically doesn’t provide the same excitement. We wanted to create a program that would bring color, style, pattern and inspire designers by being fashion-forward. We have the expertise and the platform to provide this to our clients- with all the mills that we deal with around the world, and one of the largest drapery work rooms in North America as well.

We decided to offer this under our Hunter Douglas brand and make it turnkey, simplified, and sophisticated. When you look at some of our competitors in the retail business, not the jobber converters, but truly in the retail business, their selection of product is very limited. For us, we wanted to curate this to coordinate with all our product lines, and our core line. We have a wide range from performance fabrics, to prints, jacquards and embroideries. By adding the guest artists collection, we maintain the cadence of bringing new fresh looks to the marketplace, with exciting colors and designs. And by adding individuals such as yourself, it gives us a little bit more of a story to tell, we want to add personality in everything that we do. And that’s exactly what you did. You lent personality to our collection together.

4- What is your favorite pattern from our collaborative collection?

I love the ‘Woodlands’ embroidery pattern. Every time I look at it, aside from the texture, it makes me
smile because it’s simple, yet elegant. And it makes me feel like the outdoors. We don’t evoke the same type of emotion with some of our products because, they’re very functional. They’re, you know they’re aesthetically pleasing. But they don’t have that same little bit of story behind them. We are very selective as you know. And limited with our releases.. We want to ensure that they will uniquely different, but with our ‘Hunter Douglas point of view’.

My personal favorite though is ‘Reflections’. It’s fresh, it’s contemporary, it’s modern and transitions from side panels or drapery to roller shades or roman shades. I love the versatility of the pattern. And the colors are so fresh. So that happens to be one of my favorites along with the ‘Woodlands.’

What is amazing about Hunter Douglas is that the quality really stands behind the product. Every product that you introduce, there’s so much thought and so much testing that happens before bringing a product to market. Even though I’ve been in the industry for more than twenty years, I’ve learned so much from working with you.

This month we checked in with our friend and client, Annsley McAleer of
Boston-based interior design firm, Annsley Interiors.

Annsley is known for her lively and upbeat style, and we adore her use of
bright colors and patterns in the residences that she designs.

We have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Annsley since the
founding of our line in 2012.

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To listen to the complete conversation, tune into our IGTV here. Read an excerpt of our conversation below:

1 – How did you get your start in interior design, and how have you seen the industry evolve around you?

I graduated from Vanderbilt College in Nashville, and I moved to San Francisco with friends out of school and started working in commercial real estate. I did not have a planned career path out of college. After a couple of years, I took the opportunity to move to New York and was always excited about the energy in the city. A friend worked with the designer, Ralph Harvard, and alerted me of a job opening. I interviewed for the role of junior designer and was hired!

That was back when there wasn’t quite as much emphasis on having had to have studied design, per se. It was a little bit of trial by fire, and anyone who has worked in New York knows that it’s fast-paced, and you have exposure to clients with a lot of money. Most clients have a lot of experience, even in the design world, because they often have several homes. It was a great place to get my start because I had immense exposure to a higher-end clientele that was very exciting.

And then I met my husband in Nantucket, but he lived in Boston, and so shortly after, I moved to Boston. I worked with the designer Michael Carter for a couple of years. At that point, I was planning on having children; I started thinking ahead and started my own business in 2004. It took off by word of mouth. Although to would-be designers, I highly recommend getting a degree in design. The education is invaluable. I now have almost three employees, and I lean on them a lot for the technical aspect. So much so that sometimes I feel that maybe I will go back to design school. I feel fortunate to have fallen into an occupation that I love and that I’ve had people in my path who’ve been willing to take a chance on me and hire me. And so here I am.

2 – I am drawn to your colorful and optimistic sense of color and design. What has been your most favorite project to date?

That is a tricky question because every project is different and is terrific for various reasons. Although, I have a client who is my age and, like myself, has two daughters who are precisely the same age as mine. We worked together on her first home. And then she moved on to her second home in Weston, in the suburbs of Boston. Her home is probably my favorite project because it’s a manageable size built in the 20s or the 30s and is a classic traditional home. My client was willing to take some risks with the fabrics we selected, and she had several antiques from her family, which was nice to be able toad to the mix. I have a soft spot for DeGournay wallpaper, and we could use that in her dining room. The whole process of collaboration and customization with DeGournay and with the client was extraordinary.

3/4- What is your personal design aesthetic? And what are some of the things that you treasure the most in your own home?

I treasure my home. I am fortunate to live in Beacon Hill, and it has always been a dream for me to live in a traditional brick home with high ceilings and great architecture. I am lucky to have this house in my life and the fact that it dates back to 1830. I cannot help thinking about the people who lived here and how they used the house. It’s fascinating, but it’s also a fantastic backdrop because the high ceilings are excellent, and they make the rooms feel more significant than they are. And I can mix some traditional pieces of furniture with some fascinating colorful, and less conventional patterns. And then also, I love contemporary art. So, to be able to add that into the mix is fun.

There are a couple of things that I treasure in my home. Andrew Spindler is a beautiful antique dealer in Essex, and my husband and I bought a few things from him soon after we were married. I randomly bought these little green and white decorative dishes. They are hand-painted with little gold details. In every home, I’ve lived in since, they fit perfectly on the mantel in my living room. And I cannot imagine my life without them! It’s objects like these that make our homes personal.

5 – Lastly, I have to ask, what is your favorite pattern from our textiles and wallcoverings collection?

Oh, that’s, that’s an easy one. I love Breach Candy. It’s always been my favorite. And it still is, even though I have to say, all of your new fabrics, and mainly your recent wallpapers, are outstanding. But I always go back to Breach Candy. We love how your fabrics have such a unique handmade quality. I don’t know of anybody else who is integrating the thread and embroidery in the same way.

Breach Candy – Mughal Blue upholstered on slipper chairs

We are excited to share the news that we have recently joined the Holland & Sherry, San Francisco showroom.

Bay area friends & clients, please visit the showroom and reach out to Micah Spaniel and his team to interact with our complete line of textiles and wallcoverings that are artfully displayed.

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To learn more about Micah, listen in to our Friday Five conversation or read an excerpt from the conversation:

1 – How did you get your start working with Holland and Sherry and interior design sales?

I went to school for interior design; it was my passion growing up. My dad is a Baptist preacher in a small town in Texas, and I would be the one doing the wedding decorating for the church, and I had a Christmas light business for everyone in town. Design was something I always wanted to do.

After design school, I had a retail job. And it propelled me into being the next thing for me for the next eight years. I learned about managing people and how people shop, which is a valuable tool in my current role. I made my foray into sales for home in Houston at Holland & Sherry when the job kind of fell into my lap.  A friend recommended me for the position, and it was my dream job. It was my experience in retail mixed with my interest in interior design, meeting in the middle. That was seven years ago!

2 – Your passion and enthusiasm for your work show through. It amazes me that you and your team built out your new expanded showroom yourselves. Can you tell me about the expansion from the smaller showroom you were in when you first arrived in San Francisco to the beautiful large space you currently occupy?

A lot of people would probably call me crazy, but I am super ambitious. Especially here in San Francisco, I knew there was a lot of business to be had and many great clients. I knew the expansion would pay off. We doubled our showroom’s size, and the timing ended up being a month before the pandemic hit. Our launch party was two weeks before San Francisco shut down!

3 – How your showroom has handled dealing with the challenges of the pandemic?

It has been challenging. But now, more than ever, it’s been essential to connect and finding different ways to communicate with our clients. It’s necessary to recognize that we are not working in the usual ways we were used to, and neither are the design firms. Most people are working remotely, so we’re not sending a scheme to one person, often we are sending samples to 3 or 5 team members, and we are shopping for them.

We have found successful ways to navigate and have had many clients visiting us in the showroom. In an average week, we would probably have 50 clients coming into the showroom. We have found our way through it. Sylvia is our outside salesperson in the Peninsula. And she’s fantastic; she’s devised a system of dropping off a road kit, with all of our new products and some of our best-selling items: a bag of rug samples, a bag of wallpaper samples & textiles, and just leaving it at a client’s office for three days. And then she goes back to pick it up with a sample request. And we deliver the samples within a week. This has been successful because it allows our clients to view the product on their own time.

4 – What do you enjoy the most about your job?

The thing I enjoy the most is connecting with clients in the showroom. Sometimes, our jobs can be a lot of paperwork, follow up, or sitting behind the computer, and when designers come in and ask if I have the time to help them- that is precisely what I want to be doing. The emails and follow-up can wait; I’m happy to help them to scheme their project. That is my passion. One of the significant differences between clients in San Francisco compared to Houston is the variety of the design projects, budgets, and aesthetics. Our San Francisco- Bay Area clients could be doing a historical 10- bedroom home that requires super-specific rugs to another that could be modern, to French country. It’s enjoyable to see all these products and projects come to life. We do a lot of custom here at Holland & Sherry, and it’s gratifying to do custom things for clients and create something unique for them and their projects. This is one of my favorite parts of my job.

5 – What do you think he would be doing, if not Interior Design Sales?

I have not thought about this until you asked me this question! It’s not anything that I have considered in a long time. Since I moved to California and experienced my first earthquake, I’ve been incredibly interested in Geology, which is the total opposite of interior design! I watch videos every night about geology, and I follow a professor who does all these classes online. And that’s my side passion now, which sounds crazy. But I think it’s fascinating.

And what is something that you cannot live without?

I would say my team here at Holland & Sherry. They are really, really impressive. Sounds cliché’, but we have a fun time at work and every day is enjoyable. We get along very well, and each of us brings something different to the table. They do something that’s better than anything that I could do, which helps fill in the gaps, which I think is essential when you’re creating a team. As you know, you hire someone that’s better than you in certain areas and let them do what they’re good and make a combination of each our strong points.

What is your favorite pattern in our collection?

As we were putting the wings and ironing the displays, I could see the line’s evolution from going through the pattern numbers from where you started to where you are now. I have a few favorites, and I love the wallpapers.

I think they’re really- some of them are versions of your fabric patterns, and some are new. And I think they look authentic. Because they’re coming from a place of pattern making and printmaking. We’ve had a great response from clients, as they fill a gap like no other line is doing.

And my favorite textile pattern would be Chatham in sunflower. I’m really into yellow right now. The color is really happy but not too happy, and the embroidery is beautiful.