Interior Design Q&A: Mixing Styles, Open Layouts & Timeless Looks

Summary

Dear Alice | Interior Design

Episode: Interior Design Q&A: Mixing Styles, Open Layouts & Timeless Looks

Hosts: Jessica Bennett, Suzanne (Sue) Hall, Corey
Date: September 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively Q&A episode, the Dear Alice team dives into listeners' questions about mixing design styles, maximizing small spaces, the evolving trends around open floor plans, timeless style, furniture placement, and their ultimate celebrity dream clients. Packed with wit and practical insights, Jessica, Sue, and Corey share specific design strategies and reveal the reasoning, stories, and emotion behind their best advice—all through the lens of real projects and personal anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mixing Design Styles (Modern + Rustic, Art Deco + Modern)

[01:06–06:10]

• Mixing Styles: The Dear Alice team considers themselves "mix masters," thriving on blending different styles—particularly when clients have contrasting tastes.
  • Sue’s Example: She recently blended modern and rustic styles for a ranch project in Idaho where the architecture felt modern, but the location and client favored rustic, earthen materials.
  • Key Principles:
    • Combine clean, modern lines with rustic, natural materials.
    • Use foundational architectural elements (e.g., limestone floors in modern patterns) to marry the two.
    • Focus on the essence of each style (e.g., repetition in Art Deco or relaxed comfort in rustic) and dilute elements to their purest forms.
    • Layer references to both styles in building materials and furnishings.

Quote:
"When you start to combine these two—when you see it, it'll just start to sing. You don’t have to be so literal; pull what you like from each style and blend them in a way that fits the home."
— Sue [03:40]

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2. Tricks to Make a Small Room Look Bigger

[06:13–10:01]

• Diagonal Lines: Install flooring or tiles on a diagonal to expand visual space.
• Large Rugs: Choose the biggest rug that will fit; smaller rugs shrink the perceived size.
• Overscale Art: Big art stretches the eye—makes ceilings seem taller, rooms wider.
• Drapes and Mirrors:
  • Hang drapery rods high; use tall mirrors to stretch sightlines.
  • Glossy ceilings reflect light and create the illusion of height.
  • Mirrors bounce light and create depth.
• Color Drenching: Paint walls and ceilings the same color to obscure edges and create continuity.

Memorable Moment:
Jessica jokingly quotes Air Supply about creating something from nothing, relating it to transforming a small entry with mirrors.
"It's like Air Supply says—she made love out of nothing at all."
— Jessica [09:38]

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3. Open Floor Plan vs. Closed Plan—Which Is Better?

[10:05–14:49]

• Jessica’s Stance: Prefers a dynamic "compression and release" effect—transitioning through small, cozy spaces into expansive ones creates drama and interest.
• Designing Individuality: Open plans force uniformity; closed spaces provide opportunities for varied moods and color schemes.
• Current Trends: The team predicts fatigue with all-open spaces and a re-emergence of defined, unique rooms—with kitchen and family being open, but retaining nooks and pantries for intimacy and privacy.

Quote:
"A big open floor plan...it's going to be a big, huge run-on sentence of a room where you can't create identity for each space. I think you'll start to see floor plans with more identity in each scene.”
— Jessica [11:41]

Anecdote:
Jessica shares a sweet client text:
"She texted me…her and her sisters from the neck down in their pajamas...they're all in the pantry…and she's like, 'You're right! This is the room we come in to tell secrets.'”
[13:22]

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4. Furniture Placement: Floating vs. Against the Wall

[14:49–20:13]

• Don’t Push Everything to the Edge: Floating a few furniture pieces (especially chairs) is a designer's secret to making a space look intentional and inviting, even in tight urban apartments like those in New York.
• Chair Selection:
  • Choose interesting, sculptural chairs that look good from every angle—make them the “characters” in your room.
  • Use round cocktail tables to encourage angled, floating arrangements.
• Layering:
  • Slip a slim console behind a sofa for added depth.
  • Pieces with legs (as opposed to solid bases) keep the space feeling open.
• Subtlety:
  • Even pieces near walls should have a few inches’ breathing room for sophistication.

Quote:
"The most interesting characters in an empty room are the chairs. So your chairs' job is to be interesting."
— Jessica [17:10]

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5. Timeless Style: What Will Always Work?

[21:51–26:29]

• Traditional with a Twist (“New Traditional”): Classic shapes/look redeployed in youthful, unexpected ways (think English rolled arms in pistachio green or chintz with updated colors).
• Personal Collection:
  • Build your home around pieces and art you deeply love and have a story or meaning—those are inherently timeless.
  • Avoid dated patterns or ‘time-stamped’ details on classic frames; frame can be reupholstered to refresh.
• Heirloom and History:
  • European antiques or elements with rich heritage age beautifully and transcend trends, especially when made “your own” with color and placement.

Quote:
"You're going to develop a point of view that feels like you, and that's going to feel timeless...those pieces that you're going to keep are part of your timeless collection."
— Sue [22:48]

Example:
Sue’s “golden rocker” transformed by reupholstery:
"As soon as I put that yellow, like, velvet on it...it totally made it something to talk about that I'll have in my collection forever."
— Sue [25:50]

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6. Is There a Style You Don’t Like?

[26:29–30:38]

• Professional Growth: Early on, Sue had style aversions (e.g., against chintz or postmodern). Over 20 years, she’s learned there’s something redeemable in every style or decade.
• Design for the Client: The best designers find and elevate what clients love about any style.
• Style "Filters":
  • Sometimes it’s not the style itself but a poorly executed version that’s off-putting.
  • Educating oneself about the best examples in any style is key.

Anecdote:
Sue tells a story where her professor "fired" students who refused to work with a challenging fabric:
"You have to figure out—what is it about this pattern the client loves? That’s your job."
— Sue [28:12]

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7. Dream Celebrity Clients

[30:40–35:45]

• Top picks:
  • Benson Boone: Musician; team is collectively eager to work with him due to his fun, stylish outfits.
  • Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce: “Characters” would be all-in on personal expression.
  • Lenny Kravitz: Known for bold homes; team admires his risk-taking.
  • Emma Stone, Amy Poehler, Pedro Pascal, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz (whose Kelly Wearstler-designed kitchen is legendary).
  • Corey’s pick: CeeDee Lamb (Dallas Cowboys)—noted for coordinated, risk-taking style and fashion-forward closet.

Quote:
"People that love fashion, love interiors. So, yeah, they're gonna be all in with wanting, caring about, expressing themselves. And you know his closet is going to be a blast."
— Jessica [35:14]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Great Design:
  • “Design like you give a damn.” — Sue [33:45]
• On Room Layout:
  • “Angles are space expanding...Optimal angles.” — Jessica [18:29]
• On Timelessness:
  • “Focus on the frame, because you can always reupholster that thing...and now reimagined, feels so fresh and interesting.” — Jessica [25:15]
• On Falling in Love with Styles:
  • “There’s sort of this love story that happens between a designer and a client...You come to love every style because it reminds you of them.” — Jessica [29:24]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Time | |----------------------------------------------------------|-----------| | Mixing Styles Q&A | 01:06-06:10| | Small Room Tricks | 06:13-10:01| | Open vs. Closed Floor Plans | 10:05-14:49| | Furniture Placement—Floating vs. Against the Wall | 14:49-20:13| | Timeless Design—What Endures? | 21:51-26:29| | Styles the Designers Don't Like | 26:29-30:38| | Dream Celebrity Clients | 30:40-35:45|

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Memorable Moments

• Air Supply Reference: Jessica uses the song lyric "she made love out of nothing at all" to describe transforming small, seemingly featureless spaces. [09:38]
• Sue’s Professorial Firing: A formative lesson in respecting every client’s taste, even the challenging ones. [28:12]
• Cameron Diaz's Kitchen: Still legendary among the designers, exemplifying distinctive celebrity style. [33:06]

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Tone and Takeaways

The episode is accessible, energetic, and full of genuine camaraderie. The hosts encourage risk-taking, personal taste, and intentionality in every aspect of home design. Their stories—whether from client projects or their personal lives—emphasize joy, agency, and discovery in creating truly memorable interiors.

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For listeners: If you’re considering mixing styles, maximizing your space, designing for timelessness, or simply want to feel more confident trying something “out of the box,” this episode is an inspiring and practical guide. The Dear Alice team breaks down design mystique into actionable, human, and even playful advice.

Transcript

[Jessica]

I learned this from Sue. The most interesting characters in an empty room are the chairs. So your chair's job are to be interesting.

[Sue]

I think that's the beautiful thing about Alid and what we do is that we design for the client. I think we all can design in any style and, like, pull out the best aspects.

[Jessica]

That's the opportunity. That's what we want to do, is designers want to design, you know. Yeah. So, like sue always says, design like you give a damn. We want to do that. Hi, guys. Welcome to Dear Alice. Today we're going to be answering your questions. This is one of our favorite podcasts that we do, like, usually about once a month, ish, where we answer just all your questions. So thank you for sending those in. And if you guys have questions for us, you just send them to Dear [e-mail] and we will either answer them like we're going to do today, sort of rapid fire a whole bunch in a podcast, or maybe they'll just become their own episode. So whatever topics we haven't covered or something specific that you want us to really solve for here, we're happy to do it. So that's today's episode.

[Corey]

Should we just jump into it?

[Jessica]

Let's do it.

[Sue]

Let's do it.

[Jessica]

Let's go.

[Corey]

The first question is from Jeremy from California, and he wrote in and said, hi, big fan of the podcast. I was wondering if you could talk about the rules for mixing design styles like modern with rustic or art deco with modern.

[Sue]

Thanks.

[Jessica]

Well, hi, Jeremy from California, and thanks for listening to the podcast. We like to think of ourselves as mix masters.

[Sue]

Yes.

[Jessica]

Yeah, we love a mix, and usually the mix comes from the two people that occupy the home. They don't have the same taste. So we usually get to figure out what makes each of them really excited about a certain style, and then we get to start blending those. So, sue, you just came out of a consultation where you did this very thing. Do you want to tell us how we do it?

[Sue]

Yes.

[Jessica]

This was for the rules for it.

[Sue]

This is kind of a modern rustic. So when I saw those two things from. Ms. You said modern with rustic. We just barely did a North Star, which is kind of like giving them ideas on how to kind of mix these two things. It's for a home and kind of like a Yellowstone type of space. It's called the Ranch in Idaho. So you kind of have like, the demographic. Right. That does feel a bit more rustic. It's natural, all those things. But the home that the architect drew Was more on the modern side. And so trying to even, like, just architecturally with demographics is also a mix of trying to figure out how to do it and then taking the client's style into that all becomes, like, this really a mix that can feel overwhelming. But I was really excited with some of the things that we did, because in trying to keep things modern, like, in a modern house, like, everything stayed clean in their lines, but the materials that we're using feel a little bit more earthen and rustic. So I'm like, anytime you can like, take elements from both of them and figure out what is, like, the correct way to blend these for this home, Having just, like, kind of an, like, earthen limestone, like, all along the floor that feels like it was born there in that landscape feel felt really, really good. But doing it in a pattern that felt a little bit more like modern. Paying attention to the lines in which we're laying things, that's what makes it talk back to the architecture. So if we're talking more topically, we say this all the time, that we love the, like, the contrast, intention. When you have a historic, you know, Louis. Louis the 16th, chess and burl walnut with a really modern piece of art, Same kind of thing. When you start to combine these two, like, and when you see it, it'll just start to sing. I don't know. How else would you describe this for, like, the combination of the two of old and new. Yeah. And it's. It's usually just kind of like diluting it to, like, what is its purest form? Art Deco. Like, we know that there's, like, a really nice repetition and, like, there's, like, a linear geometry to it. You're gonna pull. But it doesn't mean that you're gonna take it so literal to be, like, it has to be pure art deco. With pure this, it's saying, what do I like about art deco? I like the repetition. That's really interesting to my eye. And now I'm going to combine that with Parisian, French, you know, and have some of those things start to combine. So. Yeah. Does that help?

[Jessica]

Did that help? I think so. For sure, yeah. Just the organizing of the materials, like, you're saying, I love that thought and. And a lot of things. It is in the building of the home where you can make these references and then the furnishing of the home where you can also start to make these references. But if you can do both, it's easier to do it, don't you think, with rather than just with furnishing. So especially in this. This Idaho space that you're talking about, I think that that's really nice to be able to get those foundational layers along with the topical layers. They both do a part in telling the story.

[Sue]

Yeah. And they. Both of these styles, like modern and rustic, both give different things. And so, like, really understanding what is it that I'm trying to get, what do I like about that style? For the rustic, for them, it was like, the ease of living and it felt relaxed. So, like, they want that, but they want to be cleaned up. And so you're like, I want to be relaxed. And that becomes kind of your North Star in saying, does this make me feel relaxed? But does it make. Am I getting too complicated? Is it getting away from the modern? So. So once you have, like, those kind of key words and feelings, then you can start to really make, I think, decisions confidently because you're like, it's relaxed and it's clean.

[Jessica]

I feel like we get to see great examples of this here in our own territory as well. Obviously, Idaho and Utah being so close together. But for us, it's going to be in the mountains where you do a lot of mountain modern, which gives that mo. That sort of really natural or what we're calling rustic, but in a cleaned up, organized way. We see it in California a lot, too, these organic, modern homes. So that combination of things feels really cool together because you don't usually think of these natural materials being so tightly organized. You. You usually think of them as having texture and. Right. And like, the hand on them is. Is rough or like a dry branch or something like that, but being able to see it tight and modern and stacked, but still be coming from the earth. I just think that combination is so pretty and. And actually really quite popular in the west in the Western United States right now. So. Yeah, I love that combo. Love that.

[Sue]

Hopefully that helps. Jeremy and the combination of styles.

[Corey]

Awesome. The next question is from Jacqueline 3734, and she asks, loved your room redesigned, Jess. I was just curious if you guys could talk about sometime in the future, tricks to making a small room look bigger.

[Jessica]

Yes, Great question. Yeah, for sure. I think these are, like, foundational things for interior designers. Is space expanding tricks number one, I will say, if you are. Are. If you're lucky enough to get to build a home, diagonal lines are going to make your space feel infinitely bigger. So you can lay your hardwood floors on an angle, or you can use parquetry. You can do herringbone. You can do tile in a bathroom on an Angle on a diagonal or using small mosaics confuse the eye and they make it feel infinitely bigger because you're not counting those 12 by 12 tiles and seeing that the room is really only 3 by 5. You know what I mean? It just feels, it also feels foundational. In European design, these mosaics do so little tiny tiles or diagonal tiles or diagonal lines. If you get to build now, if you're already in a home that's completed, then you can apply those same tricks with the rugs that you're pulling. Maybe they have more wandering lines that take you on a trip rather than being on a grid. What else are you going to say?

[Sue]

Just on the subject of rugs going bigger, like, the larger you can get that footprint to be, the larger your room will, will appear. Like, don't get like a dollhouse sofa for your room. Get a normal size sofa. And then when you experience it and scale things appropriately around it, but you experience like really comfortable things in a small room. You're like, this is like this room is giant. It's. It's sounds contradictory, but like it will stretch the eye and make it appear to be larger.

[Jessica]

Most people that don't know better are going to buy an 8 by 10 rug online and it's going to show up in their room and they should have bought a 10 by 14 or 9 by 12. The smaller the rug then the smaller the room's going to look because that's really bordering and identifying the size of that room and where all the furniture is going to be placed. So you're going to really want to measure your room and get the largest rug possible for that space. So the bigger, the bigger rug. Same thing is going to be for art. If you can do really big art. It's going to also expand the eye and make you feel like your ceilings are taller, your room's wider and. And it's going to feel really cool in there. Right.

[Sue]

Taking things to the ceiling, like your drapery, that rod needs to sit up high. And again, I'll just like, it'll just stretch for days.

[Jessica]

So.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

I also have to say when I painted my ceiling high gloss, a glossy ceiling makes your room feel taller, bigger. It's like, it's like a river up there.

[Sue]

It's reflecting everything in the mic. It probably goes like 10ft beyond there. It feels so deep.

[Jessica]

Is that water? It feels so infinite. Yeah. It's like reflecting the chandelier back on itself. It's a magic trick. So I think loss, I think loss is also expanding. Yeah. So Mirrors will often get mirrors in there. That's going to make your space feel bigger. It's going to bounce light around.

[Sue]

We love tall mirrors too. I feel like my entry looks bigger than it is because I have a really tall mirror above my entry chest.

[Jessica]

Yeah.

[Sue]

I don't even have an entry. All of a sudden I have a mirror there and people are like, I love your entry.

[Jessica]

I actually do love your entry. Yeah, it's so great.

[Corey]

Exactly.

[Jessica]

It's like Air supply says she made love out of nothing at all.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

Ye. It's really great.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

Yeah. Bigger art, bigger rugs. Getting that ceiling high lacquer, stretching those drapes up to the ceiling using mirrors and color drenching.

[Sue]

Yeah, color drenching takes the line away, y'. All. Like, it just keeps on going. So that's really. It's infinite.

[Jessica]

It is, yeah.

[Sue]

Tension lines be gone.

[Jessica]

Those are our favorite tricks, Jaclyn, for space expanding tricks.

[Corey]

Awesome. The next question is from Hillary Riley, 28. She wrote in and asked. Hi, team Love. The show was so pumped to learn. We could send questions. I'm working on a new home a year or two out till it is finished and I'm trying to plan some stuff. One of the biggest things is going for an open floor plan for the main living room, kitchen, et cetera, versus more of a closed plan. Was curious if you had any preferences, why this is.

[Jessica]

I think we're kind of passionate about this right now. Here's what I love about a floor plan. I love when you get this sort of squeeze and then like release this, like hold down, right. You're in a small space and you go into a big space. So if you come in and the whole thing is open floor plan, then you feel small in a big space and you don't get that dynamic of smaller space to a bigger space to a smaller space. That's what I think makes for a really dynamic floor plan. So I'll just use my own home, for instance. So when we come in my entry, we have like, we have like a 12 foot ceiling right in the entryway. And then you go into a 10 foot hallway, 10 foot high hallway. You and then you take that hallway all the way back to the back of the house. There's rooms off to the left and right. But when you get back there, we all of a sudden open up to a 17 foot ceiling and great big windows where my views are and you're like, you get that effect because you had this held in effect from going down the hallway to oh my gosh the view corridor back here and the high ceilings and the beautiful finish work up there. And if you just walked in and the whole thing felt grand like that, then you wouldn't get that dynamic. You know what I mean?

[Corey]

Yeah. It feels like a gymnasium kind of just like, I don't know, just.

[Jessica]

And I do think that we're going to start to see that open floor plan feeling really fatigued. I think that having individual spaces, especially Hillary, I'm guessing that you love design which is why you're listening to the podcast. So I think having individual rooms is way more fun to design. You can have these different personalities, you can try different things, different people can occupy these spaces with personalities. A big open floor plan is probably going to mean that you're going to use a really neutral color and it's going to be a big huge run on sentence of a room where you can't create a whole lot of identity for each space. It has been the most popular thing for the last, I'd say 20 years. And so I think you'll start to see these floor plans where you can have more identity in each scene. So I think there, I do think what you're saying that you have an open floor plan off the main living room and kitchen that is very common where those two spaces combine. In the old days they used to put a kitchen in its own room and mom doesn't want to be put off in detention to cook by herself and then to have to serve the family in the living or in a dining room. Today I think the kitchen and family being in an open space makes a ton of sense. And I still would love that on any floor plan in any decade. I love that kitchens aren't their own little room anymore. So that to me is a fantastic plan. I wouldn't change anything about that.

[Sue]

Yeah, but then to have like the little tuck aways from the kitchen into like a little butler's pantry that like then goes into an actual dining room or even a dining nook that has a different ceiling height too. So you can have an experience there, you know, and just having all these shoot offs, I think, I think it's magic. I really do think I'm so excited that like that's like the direction that we're trending right now because it's long overdue.

[Jessica]

There's something too about little bit smaller spaces that make you feel safe. And we'll often say on a floor plan that we're working on with a couple or the wife or whatnot, we'll be like this little tiny pantry off of your great big open floor plan room. This is the place where you're going to go tell secrets to your sister. This is where you're going to whisper, I'm pregnant. You know what I mean? You can't say that in a big open floor plan room. It's not intimate enough. Right.

[Corey]

Everyone's hearing it.

[Jessica]

Yeah, everybody.

[Corey]

No secrets in the great room.

[Jessica]

Have a bad day in that great big open floor plan. You want those intimate spaces to go tuck away and tell a secret or I don't know, I just feel like it's a place for girls to sort of gather around in their pajamas and sit and talk. And I remember getting a text around Thanksgiving time from our clients. She'd been in her home a year and she texted me and it was like her and sisters from the neck down, they're all in their pajamas, all four of them are in the pantry. And she's like, you're right. This is the room we come in to tell secrets. They weren't out in the kitchen. They could all have been on bar stools. There was plenty of room to entertain. But they want to go have an intimate, quiet conversation where not everybody. Where the kids couldn't overhear them talking. And you know what I mean. So make sure if you are in an open floor plan that you're giving yourself some of those private spaces to tuck away because that's where you are at human scale. And you can feel cozy and you can feel safe telling a secret. I love that.

[Sue]

Yeah, I love that. Mic drop.

[Corey]

The next question is from Ruth from New York. She wrote in and said, hi, team. Just got a new apartment and starting to plan for furniture placement. I am trying to figure out if it is all right to put the couches and other stuff against the wall or if it is a better to give it space. I worry about limiting my space by bringing out the furniture, but want it to look nice since I will have clients visiting. Any thoughts?

[Jessica]

First of all, congratulations, Ruth, that you got a new apartment in New York. I always just feel like those people living in New York deserve a standing ovation. Yeah. Because it's. I know it's a hard place to be able to get your own space. And look how fun you get to fill this up with furniture. We certainly will always say that people don't. That don't know what they're doing. Push all their furniture up against the walls. Now we know that space is a premium in New York. In fact, nothing is more expensive per square foot. So we definitely want to use space wisely here. Floating a few things in the room is definitely a trick of a designer. So we're going to try and figure out how to float a few things. I wish I had your floor plan, because then we could really speak to it. Sue, do you have any rules about what pieces are good to float?

[Sue]

Yes, I. I'm going to speak personally, because this is, like, not very large, and when I was, like, laying stuff out on cad, I was just like, gosh, like, if I want to fit this, like, large sofa, all these things, it's going to start to get really pinched. Like, you're saying, if I do, because I know to float things off the wall. But I'm like, I think I need to push my sofa up against this wall by the window. But then I have. It was important that all the other pieces. I have a lot of interesting chairs. You know, we're on angles, and that's the stuff that you should float. If, like, you're trying to save, like, actual footprint. You're going to get a really, really large rug that's going to sit underneath all the pieces. But then some of your bigger pieces that aren't as sculptural on, like, the whole 360, those are the pieces that you can kind of tuck closer to the wall, and then you're going to float everything in front of it and around. So my sofas against the window, but then I have, like, a round cocktail table that I can really feel the air kind of go in and around. I have a lot of sculptural chairs that are fun to experience at an angle, you know, as you walk by. And, like, when you see those, it's sculpture. So you don't even notice. Like, you don't even notice that my sofa's pushed up against the wall because there's so many other interesting things floating around it.

[Jessica]

So here's what I want to say, too. I learned this from Sue. The most interesting characters in an empty room are the chairs. So your chair's job are to be interesting. Your sofa is going to be, like, the biggest piece of furniture in the room. Your rug's job is going to bring in a lot of color and interest or pattern, and that's, like, the biggest piece of art in the room.

[Sue]

Grand mediator.

[Jessica]

It is the grand mediator. Yes. And it's going to also tell you, like, what other upholstery you can pull in. So when you're choosing chairs, Jessica, this is the important designer trick. You're going to Want to look at those chairs from 360 degrees. You want to make sure it looks good from the back. Good. I really love a three quarter shot of a chair too. So you're going to float those chairs and if you'll use a round cocktail table instead of a square, then those angle chairs look really beautiful and intentional going around a circle. So that's, that's I guess our best designer tip. We were just helping my daughter move into her apartment and we brought some old chairs that were in my basement into her bedroom. She had room, lucky her, for a lounge chair and a small occasional chair. Those were the two pieces that I didn't push up against the wall. I pulled those out of the corner of the room and then I put one on a three quarter angle near a floor mirror. And just having those things float out and show angles. Angles are space expanding. So those diagonal lines somehow make the space feel not only more interesting and they give those chairs those better angles. Optimal angles.

[Sue]

Right angles, children.

[Jessica]

Yes. I just think that it looks and feels more designer. So work really hard on those chairs and make sure and use a round cocktail table so you can throw those on angles.

[Sue]

Yep. Great answer.

[Corey]

I even think like the stuff that is up against the wall, just give it like three or four inches. Yeah. Like space planning. My, my wife's like new salon, we put a chair for her clients and stuff like that and with a side table next to it. And we had it. I mean she pushed it up against the wall just to kind of like have more room and I mean just yeah. Pulling it out and seeing it, getting a shadow behind it is it. It makes it feel more lived in, real and yeah. More design, more thoughtful. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I would say even the stuff that is going to be up against the wall, bringing it a little bit totally definitely helps.

[Jessica]

A slim console behind a sofa that's pushed against the wall will give you room to layer in collections. Big stacks of books or art or I love ginger jars, a collection of blue and whites or whatever. But you can have a pottery collection back there anyway. So yeah, just. It could even be like a little 8 inch deep console back there. Just that little bit of room to breathe gives the illusion of more space. The other thing is if things are up on legs.

[Sue]

Oh yeah.

[Jessica]

So if your sofa is sitting really. Let's just say your sofa is on a plinth base and it sits really solid to the ground, then your chair's jobs are not to sit solid to the ground. Do not buy that matching chair to that sofa, you leave that at the furniture store. You're only buying the sofa, you're not buying the set. And then your chair's job is to be leggy because you want to see underneath the chair. And that will create the illusion of the bigger space.

[Sue]

It's sculpture.

[Jessica]

Yep.

[Corey]

Yep.

[Jessica]

Cozy Earth's pajamas and blankets are so soft and breathable and good looking. I actually started planning my evenings around them. Right when I get home from work, I'm jumping in my bamboo stretch knit pajamas and I'm running for that bubble cuddle blanket. Now we've seen faux fur blankets before, folks. This is different. This is faux fur on the front and back. And the way that they've married or matched the bubbles, you're getting this dimensional blanket both front and back. So it's not like just the top of your body is having fun. The outer part, it's like the inside is experiencing it too. I don't know how they do it. It was this distinctly textured bubble design that's intricately woven from ultra soft fibers. And it is so beautiful. I want it on my bed, but I also want it in my living room. It's divine. You guys are going to die over it. I cannot recommend it enough. And indeed, my mom is getting one of these for Christmas.

[Corey]

Just so you know, Cozy Earth stands by their quality. Their blankets come with a 100 night sleep trial and a 10 year warranty. That's crazy. And their apparel, it's backed by a lifetime guarantee. So go to cozyearth.com and use code Dear Alice at checkout for up to 40% off your new favorite pajama set and blanket. That's cozyearth.com code Dear Alice. And if you get a post purchase survey, let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Elevate your downtime with Cozy Earth. The next question is from Jessica Ruiz. She asks if you guys could recommend one style aspect for a home that will always be timeless. What would you recommend?

[Jessica]

I mean, the my, my go to answer on this would be traditional. Traditional is kind of one of those styles that's just sort of everlasting. However, I would make it new traditional because the old traditional feels like I'm at my grandma's house. So think Tory Burch. I don't know if you've seen like one of her showrooms. It feels traditional, but it's in these really acidic colors. So it's going to be pistachio green on the English rolled arm sofa, like.

[Sue]

Mango chutney with a fringe edge or Something like it's so cool.

[Jessica]

Yeah. So if you do it, you've got to do it a young way so that it will feel like you. But those silhouettes, like those English rolled arm sofas or those Chippendale chairs covered in an animal print or do you know what I mean? Like, you've got to be a fashion designer when you're dressing these pieces or you're gonna look like your grandma. Yeah. So not a cute look. That's my thought. On traditional or on. I guess her question was which style would be the most timeless?

[Sue]

To that. Yeah, to that. As far as just like you're going to develop a point of view that feels like you and that's going to feel timeless as you continue to do that throughout the evolution of a home, throughout your life, you're going to collect things and those are the things that you're not going to. Are irreplaceable from your collection. The art that you love, that you're like emotional about, the pieces that remind you of something, like the fabric that you like, convince your husband finally because you like were just so passionate about it. Those are things that like, I will keep in my collection and those are timeless. And I think the more people can like actually get to that point where they're like unapologetically like defining who they are, what they love, grabbing it, keeping in their collection, like you'll, you'll notice what you can like you'll want to donate to Goodwill and the stuff that you're going to keep and those pieces that you're going to keep are part of your timeless collection. And they're. And it's not the same as your neighbor. That I think is timeless design.

[Jessica]

I think things that are steeped in history, like European design, because that's been around for centuries. Right. So that to me never really feels new. It always feels steeped in something important and studied.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

And timeless, if you will. So getting those occasional pieces that really interesting, you know, Italian looking chair from the 18th century, or that French, English, that French chair with the carved wood on it, something with an inlay, things like that are always just going to feel like you inherited some precious antique. It's heirloom pieces. It is, it's heirloom pieces. And then you've just got to find a way to put it in with things that feel like you and doing it in your own take, whatever your favorite colors are, but having your own take on it so it doesn't feel dusty from a museum. Yeah, yeah. It's got to Feel like you don't.

[Corey]

You guys feel when, like, styles kind of, like, come back around, there's a new element to it, like a new aspect to it that is. That kind of ties it to that specific time period. So I would say, yeah, like, if you want it to be time, you know, I. I think of, like, a traditional frame sofa, but, like in the 90s, when, like, the potpourri looking like flower print, you know, like, maybe the frame is traditional and that's itself is, you know, somewhat timeless. But it's that. That pattern fabric that was on it that dates it. So maybe staying away from those things, like the aspects of the style that are time stamping it. Staying away from those things is probably key if you're looking for timeless.

[Jessica]

Yeah. Yep. Focus on the frame, because you can always reupholster that thing. And. And you'll have this most original thing that's so you. And you couldn't see it before because it was like we. A weird Halloween costume from the 80s. And now reimagined. Feels so fresh and interesting. And they're like, where'd you get that chair? The golden rocker.

[Sue]

Yes.

[Corey]

Yes.

[Sue]

The golden rocker had a terror. Well, as far as just. It was a very, very dated. And it felt like it was like, from the East Lake generation, like, in 1800s. But as soon as I put that yellow, like, velvet on it, like mustard, like, it totally effed it up.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Sue]

Like, it totally made it something to talk about that I'll have in my collection forever.

[Corey]

And that frame is historic. Yeah.

[Sue]

You know, as far as, like, figure out what bit of history you love and then, like, pull that into the collection.

[Jessica]

Yes. If you guys don't remember that episode. Suzanne hall had a third baby during the pandemic. She had two babies during the pandemic. The last baby, which is her third child, she found the most amazing vintage rocker, and she reupholstered it, and that's what we're referencing. It's a piece in her nursery, and it's so fantastic, and we all want it. Now that she's recovered it, we're like, we see what you saw.

[Sue]

I see you.

[Jessica]

Yeah. Suicide. Even with the bad fabric on it. Yeah.

[Sue]

Timeless design.

[Jessica]

That can be you.

[Corey]

Exactly. The next question we have is from Nicole from California, and she said, love hearing these episodes. I enjoyed you guys going over the interior design styles prevalent in 2025. I liked every style except maybe postmodern. It's just not my style. I was curious if there was a style you personally do not like.

[Sue]

Nicole from California. The thing I'll say I'm like, when I was probably, like, just graduating or, like, early in my, like, design education, I probably had more strong opinions. So I'm just like, I'll never do that. I'll never design in this style. But having done this for the last 20 years, there's something good from every decade. I. I will say I'm like, there. There are good pieces there. There might be pieces that, like, aren't my favorite or just need to be spun in a blender in a refreshed way. But I. I do think I'm like. And I think that's the beautiful thing about Alid and what we do is that we design for the client. And if the client loves postmodern, shoot, I'm gonna find the best parts that she loves about postmodern. And the things through my filter, they're really gonna make that look. It's ideal. Best in her home. Same thing with, like, honestly, any style I feel like I can design. I think we all can design an A style and, like, pull out the best aspects of it and kind of leave behind the stuff that, like, won't shine in its. In their best light.

[Corey]

So, I mean, yeah, that's your job as a designer. To find what is awesome about that style or. Yeah.

[Sue]

I had a professor, and we, like, were like. This was maybe like my sophomore year, and he had the whole class gathered in this, like, room that was, like, full of this, like, really, like, it was like a mob and navy, like, chintz or something that at that time felt very, like, 80s 90s. And. And he sat us on. He's just like, okay, I'm your client, and I'm saying, you have to use this pattern. I'm bringing you this fabric, and you have to use this fabric. Do you want the job? And he said, anybody that will not use this fabric, stand up. And majority, probably, like 80% of the class, including myself, stood up. Because I was just like, ew. You know?

[Corey]

Yeah, I'm better than that.

[Sue]

Not interested. And he immediately said, you're all fired. You're all fired. Because, like, you have to, like, figure out, like, what is it about the chance that the client loves? And then you learn about Mario Boda, Prince of Chance, and you start to, like, research all these. I'm like, if you went down the postmodern, like, hole, and I gave you a book on postmodern, I bet you there's some elements there that you might be able to thread out that you, like, you don't have to you don't like to. You don't have to like postmodern. That's not what this is about. But what I'm saying is that there are things I think, to be. To educate yourself on every design decade, and that I think are really, as far as you start to admire just the genius of every decade. And I think that that's why we can design in any style, because there's something good to be had.

[Jessica]

I also feel like there's sort of this love story that happens between a designer and a client where you start loving it because they love it, and you see what they see in it, and they're taught telling you all about the history and why they love it. And it's part of my English upbringing. And, you know, we designed for this client, and she had an English home, and you. You just only start seeing English things and. And then you want to know more about her story. Oh, more about this color. And pretty soon, you just love it so much because you're carrying that on your back for them. And you really do just come to love every style because it reminds you of them and you love what they love. And that's your job as a designer is. Is to be able to take that in, to sponge it in so that you can then filter it and then give them the purest thing back. So I agree. I don't think that there's a bad style. I don't like certain people's filter on. On styles. That's where I get. That's where I start to start to get itchy is because I'm like, oh, you know, there's. There's a different way that could have been great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. And I think that's maybe what you're looking at, Nicole, is maybe you don't like. Like the way that maybe some people have filtered postmodern, but I'll bet if you researched it, you'd find the things that you do like, that you could take from it.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

Yeah.

[Sue]

Okay. Great question, though.

[Corey]

Okay, one last question. And it is from Martha and home. 9, 8, 7, 6, 3. Great question. I think. So whose celebrity's house you guys gonna tackle? I would love to know who is on your most wanted list.

[Sue]

I'm so glad you asked.

[Corey]

Great question.

[Sue]

Benson Boone.

[Corey]

Yeah, I think that's. I mean, collectively as a whole at Alice Lane, right? We're like, hey, yeah, at some point we're doing this dude's home, so totally give us a call.

[Jessica]

You know, it's so funny. A couple months ago, we were like, we've got to do this house. Look at his outfits. I. I think musicians and entertainers in general, they're just so fun. They're characters. They're so fun to look at their outfits. And we often take, like, clues and cues of what they're wearing into what they love and what lights them up. And his outfits are so fun that we were like, we've got to create a house for this character. It'd be so fantastic. So, yeah. Yep.

[Sue]

It is definitely in our bucket list to design Benson Boone's house.

[Corey]

So we're ready outside of that, though, like, individually, if. Yeah. Do you have a. Do you have a celebrity?

[Jessica]

Like, I mean, I will say along those lines. I was talking to the designers and I was asking them what's. What's. What's a celebrity that you would love to do? And one of them shouted out, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey.

[Sue]

Kelsey's homeless. I love it.

[Jessica]

That would be so fun. You know, just think of the characters.

[Corey]

Because both of them together, too, and the love story.

[Jessica]

And I really like it when people want to be all in on something and because they are that way in their own life, you know, that they're going to want to express themselves, you know, that they're not just going to phone it in and be like, like, I don't know, beige sectional. And. You know what I mean? So I think whenever the opportunity to just really design for a character, I think it's why we get so excited when Lenny Kravitz has another home on Arc Digest. We know it's going to be loud. We know it's going to be interesting. And we're like, I can't believe we have a front row seat at the way he lives his life, you know?

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

That's just so fun. I love that.

[Sue]

I would totally design your house, Lenny, if you want. I mean, you obviously don't need me, but I would. I would, like, may have had a crush on you for a long time. It could be fun, I think. Emma Stone.

[Jessica]

Yes.

[Corey]

That's a great. Yeah.

[Sue]

Just like, what actress would I buy? I'm just like. Because again, like, what girl do you have, like, a girl crush on, celebrity wise? I'm like, I think she's so funny and so great.

[Jessica]

Yes. She would be such Amy Polar.

[Sue]

We'd have such a good time.

[Jessica]

Yeah.

[Sue]

Who else?

[Jessica]

You know, when I think of celebrity homes, I think one of my earliest impressions was that kitchen of Cameron Diaz's. Yep. She kept coming to my mind. Yeah. Kelly Werstler. Did this space. I don't even know. Early 2000s probably. It was a dark green kitchen with brass countertops for. For Cameron Diaz. And I was like, she has such cool style.

[Corey]

That kitchen's still cool.

[Jessica]

It's still lives in our minds rent free. It's so great. And so I'm like, you know, Cameron Diaz would. Is down for design. That's what I mean, that's the opportunity. That's what we want to do is, is designers want to design, you know.

[Corey]

Yep.

[Jessica]

Yeah. So like, sue always says design, like you give a damn. We want to do that. So. So these are the characters that are coming to my mind.

[Sue]

I can like, keep going.

[Jessica]

Who was the one that Amanda said, make sure and say Pedro Pascal.

[Corey]

Oh, yeah. Great, Great. Yeah.

[Sue]

Javier Bardem, please.

[Jessica]

That's Suzanne's crush.

[Sue]

Such a crush.

[Corey]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Sue]

I love. I see you. So cute.

[Jessica]

How about you, Corey? Do you have a favorite?

[Corey]

Yeah. Do you guys know who CD Lamb is? No. Okay. He's. He's the wide receiver, the number one right. Wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. And he's just, he's just such a rad dude. He. For like the last 10 years, I feel like it's been a thing for especially like the stars of teams for pre game outfits. And you see him walk in the tunnel to get, you know. Yeah. And, and yeah, CD has just like a, A, A really cool, defined style. He probably has a stylist, but each like, outfit that he wears is cohesive. So I'm, I just feel like he has a cool, defined style. He's not afraid to take risks. And. Yeah. Like, I just think it would be amazing hair. It'd be fun. Yeah. Yeah. Super rad hair.

[Jessica]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Type in, type in pre game outfits. Yeah.

[Sue]

A pre game outfit.

[Jessica]

Yeah. Anybody that wears a pre game outfit, we want to design for them.

[Corey]

Yeah, yeah. He just has, he just has rad style. Right? Yeah.

[Sue]

Look at his arms.

[Jessica]

Here's what I think.

[Corey]

He's my dude too. Yeah. He's a rad guy.

[Jessica]

People that love fashion love, love interiors. So, yeah, they're gonna be all in with wanting, care about, express themselves. And, you know, his closet is going to be a blast.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

And it's going to smell good and it's going to be well organized. Things can have a lot of shoes.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

I mean, like, and man, jewelry.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Cool hair. He's seems like a really, really, like, rad guy too. Funny dude. Yeah, exactly.

[Jessica]

Now I'm a Cowboys fan too.

[Corey]

Yeah. Right?

[Jessica]

Handsome.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jessica]

Yeah. That's so fun. What a fun question. Thanks Martha. You guys, thanks so much for listening. Please comment and review. Every little bit helps us grow the podcast and we're in the middle of our very best sale. So b make sure and go to Alice Lane home dot com. You're going to get up 25% off site wide right now and we're nearing the end. So go check it out right now and we will catch you guys next time. Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave comment. A A five star rating.