Johnson Hartig
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? Marrakech
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? Taupe walls with matching mini blinds and a large Ficus tree with uplighting- it was the 70s , but would still be chic today
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? A very classic very well made sofa - I’ve had it re-covered 3 times and looks great each new time
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer, who would it be? David Hicks, Ashley Hicks, David Fowler, Renzo Mongiardino, Mario Buatta, Mark Hampton, Madeleine Castaing, Kate Brodsky, Billy Baldwin, Nicky Haslem, Jean Cocteau and Alidad - all of us over for a weekend doing anything beautiful and wild that comes to our minds- can you imagine what we’d create?!
No room is complete without good lamps and a foundation well patinated case piece.
People think of me as beyond, but I am really beyond beyond.
Things you omit from:
1) A flower arrangement: Yellow Lilies, in fact, make that all Lillies
2) An hors d’oeuvre platter: nothing really, pile it on
3) A bar cabinet: don’t have a strong opinion about this
A song for:
1) Dinner at home: Jazz Mediterranee by Henri Salvador
2) Working at your desk: Bach’s Goldberg Variations – all of them
3) Going for a run: Your Song by Billy Paul – so uplifting and energizing to me
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Anything from the Ann and Gordon Getty collection- absolutely anything
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? No more than anybody else’s I imagine.
Who is your star crush? Jean Cocteau
What is the one thing you would never decorate your home with, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Never say never
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Johnson Hartig/Libertine - The Creative Beauty, Humor, and Inspiration Behind the Cult Label- by Rizzoli
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Smart, sophisticated, original, but doesn’t take itself too seriously
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Harold and Maude
Book: In Youth is Pleasure by Denton Welch
Scent: Eau d’orange verte
The fabric you always come back to: 18th century French Toile
Dream project: Chanel creative director
Meal: Pot Roast
Drink: Date Shake
Hotel: no favorite- I never think any of them get it right- there’s always something- for instance updating my favorite room at Claridge’s and taking away every ounce of its charm
Travel Destination: Morocco, India, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Egypt….I could go on and on
Artist: jillions of them , jillions and jillions
A cause near and dear to me: Women’s rights
Thing to collect obsessively: everything and anything that makes your heart skip a beat
Era in the history of design: love bits of every era
Museum: Victoria and Albert
Paint Color that always looks great: Brown
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: officiallibertine
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? dogs- rescues - any of them- but for me funny Chihuahua/Terrier mixes- if you want to laugh ten thousand times a day get one
