Beauty...
Be your own
kind of beautiful
Be your own
kind of beautiful
By Mollysims.com
Amber Lewis got her start in interiors when she was a sales associate doing the window installments at a local LA home decor store. Since, she has become a verb in the interior design space, and millions flock to her channels for inspiration and guidance in the design space. Amber is the founder and principal designer of the iconic Amber Interiors. She is known for her ability to seamlessly layer eclectic and vintage furniture pieces, found textiles, and natural design elements that result in elevated yet approachable environments. Amber’s aesthetic transcends the boundaries of traditional design and achieves a timeless look. Today, she joins Molly and Emese to discuss what is trending now in interior design, her foolproof decorating tips and tricks (did you know there is an art to laying a rug), where to start when building out your furniture collection, and so much more!
“I want to think that my style is approachable and elevated but casual at the same time. I never want anything to feel pretentious. I want people to look at it [decor] and think that it’s really beautiful, but don’t want it to feel like you can’t touch it. I want it to just be traditional, approachable, chic, elevated, and cozy. Interiors are often a lot of pinks, nudes, beiges, browns but you can add in any color from the rainbow and it works. It blends in seamlessly because again, it’s approachable. It’s not a certain style you have to have for it to look good in your home. It’s all very much of a one-size-fits-all.”
“I think if you can live in it for a little while, that’s really helpful because you can decide exactly what it is that you want your space to feel like. If your home doesn’t evoke a feeling when you literally open your eyes in the morning, then what’s the point? If you hate a thing and you’re just trying to make it work, just don’t. Let go of things that don’t make sense to you and take the time to spend the money on the things that you’re going to love for a long time. If you loved it last year and you think you’re going to love it in a year, then that’s the right piece for you. And I know that sometimes it seems like waiting for a year is a super long time and maybe you can’t always do that, but a classic piece will never go out of style. It means that you’re going to continue to like it, which is the dictionary definition of how you should be designing your home anyway. You should just like whatever it is that you purchase. Who cares if anybody else likes it?”
“Fancy napkins. I know that sounds crazy, but the number of people who don’t use cloth, washable napkins is a lot. Fancy napkins are a great gift to give and receive. It’s not something you’d always buy for yourself, but if you’re given it, and you can use them, I think that’s wonderful. Nice utensils and beautiful salad servers are great gifts, too. I like a little bedside carafe. I think that if you have a water carafe at your bedside, it’s very elevated and chic. It’s an underrated accessory that everyone should have. Books are also a great thing to bring to somebody. Everyone could use a book. I love books. Obviously, candles are great gifts, too.”
“Remember that you hired a designer for a reason. You should trust your designer. This is my full-time job and you have your full -time job. If you’re paying for someone to agree with you, you’re screwed. Fire them and just do it yourself. I say this all the time, if you’re not going to trust that I have the bigger picture in mind, do it yourself. It’s not that I don’t trust that you have good taste, but if you throw in a piece that’s not on theme, you’re going to get irritated at the whole design. In the end, you’re not going to love it and you’re going to be asking, why did you let me pick this? So just trust your designer and trust that they are going to do the best thing holistically for the entire look. And remember, you hired that person to tell you not what you want them to say, but what makes sense to the design.”
“You can do a lot with a really good upholstery piece. So, upholstery to me is one of those number one things that you should be spending the lion’s share of your budget on. If you get an incredibly built sofa, that sofa is going to look amazing if you recover it. And that same sofa is still going to look amazing, two or three years down the road, whatever it is. If it’s a good quality piece, be willing to invest in upholstery. Sometimes it’s more expensive or as expensive to recover than it is to get a new sofa. But if you love the shape of it and you pick something classic, don’t be wasteful. Redo it. I think your next thing is probably going to be things like a dining table and dining chairs. The rest you should collect. Go look for vintage coffee tables. Rugs are a big one. They’re huge and can make or break a space. In my opinion, more often than not, it will break a space.”
