Still Johnson Interiors

photo by C.W. Newell

If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live?

Marguerite - Maine or anywhere on the Hudson River.

Anna - A lakeside cabin built before 1980 in any peaceful location.

What are three words to describe your style?

• Intentional

• Layered

• Collected

Tell us about your childhood bedroom?

Marguerite - I was dying for lime green walls with purple and zebra bedding. My mom overruled my choice and surprised me with lavender walls paired with a quilt and shams embroidered with lavender flowers.

Anna - I really did have a lime green bedroom growing up! The walls were painted (by me) lime green, and the room was filled with as many Delia’s accessories my Christmas wish list could deliver. I also tackled tons of DIY decorating projects in my room, mostly inspired by TLC’s Trading Spaces.

What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house?

Marguerite - A custom headboard in off-white linen. I saved up to have it made by a great local upholsterer, and it still feels like a timeless, worthwhile piece.

Anna - 1950s rope dining chairs by Adrien Audoux and Frida Minet for Vibo Vesoul. I had my eye on these for years before finally splurging.

In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be?

Marguerite - Lake home (Robert Kime), beach home (Valle de Valle), mountain home (Studio Mellone), primary residence (Fabrizio Casiraghi or Billy Cotton), countryside home (Beata Heuman).

Anna - Sophie Ashby, David Netto, Beata Heuman, Delphine Krakoff, Amelia Handegan, Atelier AM, Isabel Lopez Quesada, Rita Koenig, Ben Pentreath, Billy Cotton, Betsy Brown. 

No room is complete without Books and florals (Marguerite)/good lighting (Anna).

 People think of me as productive, but I am really motivated by snacks and deadlines. (Marguerite)

 People think of me as stand-offish, but I am really an introvert (Anna)

 Things you omit from

• A flower arrangement: feathery branches / stamen, we’ve made too many irreversible messes

•  An hors d’oeuvre platter: gluten / gluten

• A bar cabinet: Vermouth / empty bottles

 A song for:

• Dinner at home:
Marguerite: Outstanding by The Gap Band, Aguas De Marco by Elis Regina, Let ‘Em In by Wings, All You Got is a Song by Amos Lee, or Hardlytown by Hiss Golden Messenger, Oh Honey by Delegation /
Anna: Zou bisou bisou by Gillian Hills or any other similar retro jazzy French music

•Working at your desk:
Marguerite: Complicated by Mac Miller, Now and Then by The Beatles
Anna: Mixed playlist with Lucius, Neko Case, First Aid Kit, Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls.

• Going for a run:
Marguerite: MILLION DOLLAR BABY by Tommy Richmond, Know You Better or Mrs. Postman by Black Pumas, Blue World by Mac Miller, Outstanding by The Gap Band
Anna: Maneater by Nelly Furtado, Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks, Thunderstruck by AC/DC, Bitch by Meredith Brooks, Diamonds by Rihanna.

Biggest Vice?

Marguerite: Speciality dark chocolate

Anna: Specialty milk chocolate and sour gummies

If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy?

Marguerite: Wegner Papa Bear Chair and ottoman and then some fun fabric to recover it in.

Anna: Jewelry from Poshmark, The RealReal, 1stDibs, Chairish. I don't shop a lot for clothes, but I do impulse buy vintage jewelry.

Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how?

Marguerite: No, I need to work on my personal style, but my favorite items are always tailored with modern lines.

Anna: Unless I’m meeting a client, I wear the same black outfit daily. It’s confusing for me to do design work when I'm distracted by colors or patterns that aren't necessarily in the project at hand.

Who is your star crush?

Marguerite: Colin Firth

Anna: Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightley version), Harry Styles

What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? 

Marguerite: I love the look of a fully coordinated space where the same fabric is used on every surface and the furniture pieces are all in the same style, but I enjoy the quirky and unexpected too much to commit to it.

Anna: I would never work in stages or piece-meal a project. However, I think that approach to design creates a really layered, soulful home. That said, our business isn’t set up for piecemeal design.

What design book do you find yourself going back to again and again?

Marguerite: How do I choose?? Life Along the Hudson, American Originals, More Decorating, Shamshiri, One Man’s Folly, Billy Cotton, Past Perfect.

Anna: Rooms by Amelia Handegan, older Elle Decor books by Margaret Russell such as Style and Substance and So Chic, Domino: The Book of Decorating, both Atelier AM books, Houses We Dreamt Of by Delphine and Reed Krakoff, all the Gil Schafer books. The Impossible Collection of Design from Assouline is a must-read for learning about the history of 20th century furniture design. The New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration by Norma Skurka (1976) is a random vintage book we often reference in the office.

 For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for?  Design that outlasts trends

photo by Mary Rooks

A Few Favorites:

Movie:  

Marguerite: The Sound of Music, Pride and Prejudice, and I want to finish Elis & Tom

Anna: Call Me by Your Name and Pride and Prejudice

Book:

Marguerite: Any coffee table book

Anna: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Scent:

Marguerite: Holy Smoke candle by Hazeltine and Dauphine by Goest Perfumes

Anna: Cowboy Grass by D.S. & Durga

The fabric you always come back to:

Marguerite: Zak + Fox Madhuban in all colors

Anna: Zak + Fox Mi in all colors

Dream project:

Marguerite: Project on the Hudson River

Anna: Any project with a great architect. Architects make the projects.

 Meal:

Marguerite: Steak frites, but I run off of chicken salad and kettle chips.

Anna: The Bottega Bowl with the Bottega Bar for dessert, both from my all-time favorite restaurant called Bottega. I feel lucky that this incredible spot happens to be right in our hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

 Drink:

Marguerite: Whole Foods Blueberry Lemon Italian Sparkling Water

Anna: A creative and not-too-sweet mocktail

 Hotel:

Marguerite: Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans. We recently stayed at Nine Orchard in New York, and it was great!! I also want to visit Hotel La Poncho.

Anna: Ditto Hotel Saint Vincent.

 Travel Destination:

Marguerite: London

Anna: New York, always.

 Artist:

Marguerite: Brice Marden, Mona Kuhn, Tom Hammick, Lucian Freud, Theora Hamblett, Lucian Freud.

Anna: Could go on for days. Morris Louis, Egon Schiele, Helen Frankenthaler, Georgia O’Keefe, Gerhard Richter, Lucien Freud, Anselm Keifer, quilters of Gee’s Bend, Hilma af Klint, Alice Neel, Tom Hammick.

 A cause near and dear to me:

Marguerite: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Anna: Studio by the Tracks in Birmingham, Alabama

 Thing to collect obsessively:

Marguerite: Vintage design books

Anna: Art

 Era in the history of design:

Marguerite: Arts and Crafts (late 19th century - early 20th century), Mid-century

Anna: Frank Lloyd Wright’s era and influence around 1890s to 1950s.

 Museum:

Marguerite: Dia Beacon

Anna: The High Museum in Atlanta, Neue Galerie New York, The Noguchi Museum, The Menil Collection in Houston, The Rothko Chapel in Houston.

 Benjamin Moore Paint Color:

Marguerite: We just painted our office Georgian Green (HC-115), and I have to say if Benjamin Moore labels a color as part of their Historical Collection, I’m sold!

Anna: Glacier White OC-37 and Black Beauty 2128-10

 Favorite person to follow on Instagram:

Marguerite: Remy Renzullo

Anna: Michael Diaz-Griffith

 Dogs, Cats, or No Pets?

Marguerite: No Pets

Anna: No Pets