Islyn Studio
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? Only a second? Just kidding. Every time I visit Palm Springs, I find myself on Zillow looking for open houses, so let’s start with a historic mid-century modern home there. And while we’re dreaming, a Kyoto machiya house to restore, a chateau on the coast of the South of France, a brutalist beach house in Puerto Escondido, and a cabin in Upstate New York. I could go on.
What are three words to describe your style? Timeless, Layered, Aspirational
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? I’ve wanted to be an interior designer since I was about twelve. My house was where all my friends came to hang out, and I wanted my room to feel like something out of a Nickelodeon hangout, very Clarissa Explains It All. It was painted a deep teal with a big mosquito net over the bed, a clear blue Apple computer on the desk, and one of those oversized barrel chairs from Pier 1 Imports that made me feel very sophisticated for a pre-teen.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? After visiting Noma in Copenhagen, I couldn’t stop thinking about the beauty of their custom and found tabletop pieces. When we returned home, our first investment was a set of Zalto wine glasses that we loved during our meal. Now, our dinnerware has become a kind of travel diary, filled with pieces collected from Japan, Mexico, and everywhere in between, and I’ve learned to always leave space in my luggage (or bring an extra carry on) for whatever I fall in love with next.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? John Lautner to design the architecture of my second home in Palm Springs, ha.
No room is complete without: Natural light or a candle.
People think of me as an interior designer, but I am really a storyteller using space as my language.
Things you omit from
A flower arrangement: Flowers with a short shelf life.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Anything that causes bad breath or gets stuck in your teeth.
A bar cabinet: Vodka.
A song for
Dinner at home: In a Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.
Working at your desk: This really depends on the project, since we create a playlist for each one. This summer, it was Sketch for Summer by The Durutti Column and Sweet Danger by Obongjayar.
Going for a run: Well, I hate running, but when I do, honestly nothing is more motivating and has the right beat than Britney Spears Work Bitch.
Biggest Vice? A deep tissue massage or a bathhouse-style spa. I have zero willpower when it comes to either. I love the Shibui Spa’s forest bathing treatment at the Greenwich Hotel, the Tierra Santa Healing House at the Faena Miami (and can’t wait for their NYC opening), the Garden Club at Palm Heights, and the spa at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, the rooftop onsen at the Hoshinoya Tokyo, the hot springs at Ojo Caliente in New Mexico… Can you tell I have a problem yet?
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? If we are pretending not to have a budget, a really nice hotel suite somewhere on the beach with a balcony pool and a lay flat business class seat to get there, all non refundable so I cant have buyers remorse and cancel later. Whoopsie!
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? In a way, yes. My clothes reflect a sense of timelessness and restraint, but my design sensibility moves more freely. It shifts with place and purpose, always guided by context rather than a fixed aesthetic.
Who is your star crush? Colman Domingo. His Last Meals episode says everything about why I admire him. He brings kindness, curiosity, humor and honesty to every detail, the way only someone who truly sees people can. There’s a calm confidence to him, a sense of style that’s more about grace than fashion, and a deep compassion that feels rare. Watching him talk about nearly joining a cult in Mexico City and laughing at himself made me love him even more. He’s creative, thoughtful, and completely himself, the kind of person who turns any conversation into something you don’t forget.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Leave the final decisions until install day. I know designers who bring fifteen rugs to a single room, trying each one until the space clicks. I always admire their results, and there is a certain magic in that level of spontaneity, but it’s not how I work. I need clarity and conviction before the first piece even arrives.
What design book do you find yourself going back to again and again? To be honest, outside travel, I find more inspiration in film than anything. Wong Kar Wai In the Mood for Love, The Palm Royale, The Lover, La Piscine, Interview with a Vampire, Mad Men… So much to draw from in film and history.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? For designing spaces that leave people feeling more connected to themselves, to others, and to the places they inhabit. I want the work to reflect how thoughtful design can quietly improve the way we live.
Your Favorite:
Movie: Tom Ford’s A Single Man
Book: All for very different reasons. Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O’Hara for its honesty and rhythm, A Moveable Feast by Hemingway for its sense of time and appetite, and Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara for the reminder that generosity is its own form of design.
Scent: My husband’s leather watch band that has collected all his fragrances over time.
The fabric you always come back to: Washed linen. Suede. Waxed leather
Dream project: A small boutique hotel by the sea, in a place still unspoiled by tourism. Rich in culture, where the food tells the story of the people and the discovery of a new place leaves you with something more than you came with. The kind of place that feels honest, alive, and worth finding.
Meal: Clemente Bar, The Studio Omakase. Even as a non-vegan, it was one of the most memorable and innovative meals I’ve ever had, and I hope it sets the tone for the future of dining. It was inventive, soulful, and beautifully unexpected, pushing the boundaries of what fine dining can be. They blur the lines between guest and chef, creating an intimate, conversational, and joyful experience that stays with you long after the meal ends. It is one of my top recommendations for people visiting New York to experience.
Drink: Old Fashioned with Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon
Hotel: Palm Heights Cayman
Travel Destination: Japan
Artist: Rothko
A cause near and dear to me: I care deeply about human rights, standing for reproductive freedom, marriage equality, access to education, and fair treatment for immigrants, believing everyone deserves dignity, opportunity, and belonging.
Thing to collect obsessively: Life-changing moments, the kind you don’t plan for; a dish that scares you a little, the intense fragrance of a hinoki forest after rain, a conversation with a stranger, drinking mezcal in an unmarked bottle in the backstreets of Oaxaca… the sudden realization that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
Era in the history of design: Modernism / Bauhaus
Museum: The Met
Benjamin Moore Paint Color: White Dove has been my go to white for 16 years.
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Yolanda Edwards from Yolo Journal
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Cats. My sweet 13 year old Tonkinese cat, Luna, is our unofficial team member.
