Kelly Wearstler is often hailed as contemporary interior design's most recognisable name. In this interview, she tells Dezeen about crafting her textured and eclectic style.
American interior designer Wearstler has been dressing rooms since her mid-twenties, rising to become one of the discipline's most significant names.
"I'm obsessed with nuance," she told Dezeen. "I view design as boundless and undefined, but if I had to choose a single word to describe my approach it would be 'mixology'."
Top: Kelly Wearstler designed the interiors for the Austin Proper hotel. Photo by Ingalls Photography. Above: she started her eponymous studio in 1995. Photo by Joyce Park
High-end interior design has been dominated by minimalism and sleekness in recent years, but Wearstler's projects are known for their eclectic grandeur. Her studio is responsible for the interiors at a slew of luxury hotels, including four locations across North America for the Proper Hotel Group.
For example, she created an Austin branch with a sculptural oak staircase that doubles as a ziggurat of plinths for individual ceramic pots. Meanwhile, The Downtown LA Proper features 136 unique types of vintage or custom-made tile.
"Luxury is more of a feeling than a specific quality"
"To me, luxury is more of a feeling than a specific, tangible quality," Wearstler said. "It's all about texture and sensation, but also storytelling and considered curation."
"The most lu...