A Lifetime of Style
Interior Designer Bunny Williams at Nantucket By Design
Interview by Brian Bushard
Photography courtesy of Bunny Williams Home
In her career, Bunny Williams has become a design legend, putting her mark on homes from Nantucket to the West Coast. She has received recognition by Architectural Digest’s Hall of Fame and Elle Decor’s A-List. Williams has published nine books on interior design, gardening and lifestyle, and is releasing her latest book, Decoration, this fall. In July, she headlines the Nantucket Historical Association’s Nantucket by Design, bringing her trademark design sensibilities to an island that seems tailor made for her aesthetic.
What brings you back to Nantucket?
I was at the first Nantucket by Design, and what they’ve accomplished in 10 years has made it the buzz of the design world. Everybody loves to show up. It’s really extraordinary.
From a design perspective, what stands out to you about the island?
It’s filled with so much history. I always like to go [to the island]. Luckily, I work on projects, so I get to go when there are fewer people and just walk around the streets and really soak in the history, the architecture, the cobblestones, the whole thing. It’s so beautiful, but it gets a little more crowded in the summer.
Do you prefer Nantucket in the offseason?
I like a lot of places in the offseason, just because I think you can wander and experience it in a different way that is special. I always like to go a little bit before the season or a little bit after, when things are still open, but there are just fewer people.
What has been your experience working on Nantucket?
One [project] was a new build, which was two houses on one property. Being a new construction, it’s always interesting—like trying to do anything on an island—because you have to get things there. Every project faces the same thing. On the other hand, what’s really wonderful to me about Nantucket is the skill of the craftsmen. It’s limited, and you hope they can work on your project, but there are so many artisans and craftsmen available. Obviously, there’s a lot of construction going on, but it’s a wonderful place to work in that way. The harder part is getting all the furniture and getting it on the island, getting the trucks there, and often you’re not doing this in the season, so you have to worry about the weather and can the ferries leave—it makes the installations much more complicated.
You’ve compared new projects to new romances. What exactly does that mean?
Well, I think the most important thing is you have to have a bond with your client. You have to court each other. The client and the decorator need to spend time together to understand what you’re trying to accomplish: How are they going to live? How do they want this house to feel? I always say that it’s not my house, it’s their house. It takes some time to get clients comfortable enough to try to explain this to you. Do they lie down on the sofa to watch television? You need to know how they’re going to live in a house; it’s not just how they’re going to have a dinner party, but how they’re actually going to live.
There can be ups and downs. I understand interiors really well. Sometimes the architects might be more worried about where the windows are outside, but not so much about how the interior functions. That can be a thing where you have to build confidence and have each person respect the other and work together. There are always these relationships, whether it’s the clients, the architects or the contractors—everybody is needed in the project, and it’s just how they all work together.
What is the most helpful thing a client can do when they’re working with you?
Be honest.
You have also said you design furniture for a lifetime and not for a moment. How can furniture stand the test of time and not feel passé in a matter of years?
If a piece of furniture has quality, is well made and has an interesting design to it. I’m not worried that it’s going to go with something else. It’s the same mentality I have when I’m shopping for one-of-a-kind older pieces. I’m always looking for something with some character that you fall in love with. I’ve been buying for a long time, and the pieces of furniture that I have loved and bought, I’ve kept with me. I’ve moved them from an apartment to a house, even in my house in the country. I may get something else, but that piece goes to another room, because I don’t like to get rid of the things that I’ve chosen, because they’re interesting and they have character to them. Everything we have designed for Bunny Williams Home has to have some sense of character. You see so much of what I call “flat furniture,” just a hunk of wood, which I think can get tiring and boring.
You have also said in interviews that you don’t take on historic houses.
I take on historic houses, but I won’t do a period room. I love old houses, but if somebody wants it to look like a fishing captain’s house from the 1800s, that’s not the person for me. If they’re going to collect period furniture, I’m probably not going to do that. Most of my clients who buy historic houses want them to look like it’s today. They want upholstered sofas, they want the television, they want a study with their computer. I’m trying to make even a historic house function for today.
Is it hard to strike the balance between traditional charm and modernity?
No, not at all. I personally live in an old house, and I have pieces of furniture that were of the period of the house, but then I’ve got a big comfortable sofa and comfortable chairs. I have lamps that have lamp shades on them, which you would not have had as a period house. I think if you walk into my house, you would say it’s traditional, but it’s certainly not period. I also have contemporary art. I love a house that spans some time, and I think if you work in a historic house, for me it’s fun to find a few things that are of the period, but then move on and make it look like somebody’s lived there for four generations. That’s what is interesting. Then you walk in and you don’t know when it was done.
Some interior designers compare design to storytelling. Do you agree with that sentiment?
No, I don’t think of it as just a story. I think of it as I’m creating a home for people to live in. I look at wherever it is I’m working. I look at the site. Obviously, if you’re working on Nantucket, most people today want a more casual lifestyle. They’re in their dark shoes, they’re on the water, they’re hiking, so the houses have to feel that way. Families need big kitchens so that everybody can have breakfast together. That’s the kind of thing that I think about, and I don’t know that it’s a story as much as it’s the story of trying to make the house be the place that will function for their life, and in the meantime is also interesting and beautiful.
Are there any trends that are inspiring, or do you avoid trends?
I hate trends. People ask, “What’s the trend?” and I say that a house should not be trendy. You’re going to have it for a long time. You can buy trendy clothes. I can buy barrel jeans this year and get rid of them next year, but to me, the investment of what you have in your home8 should not be trendy. That’s why I like to mix things up. That’s why I like antiques; I like modern art; I like contemporary things mixed with antiques. I also think one has to be careful not to overdecorate, particularly when you’re in Nantucket. Sometimes you can overdecorate a house, and then you miss the views out of the window and you miss the island, because you come in and it’s almost too confusing.
What does overdecorating look like?
It’s very busy and a little contrived. Everything matches. There isn’t anything that doesn’t match, whereas I like things to blend. There’s a big difference between blending and matching.
Who are the interior designers today that you admire?
There are a lot of people who I think do fabulous work. There are so many of us who came out of Parish-Hadley who I think do great work. We did a book on it. I like Tom Scheerer’s work, I like Stephen Sills’ work and I like Brian McCarthy [and] David Kleinberg. I could go on and on. I think there are a lot of good designers in the whole design world.
Latest Stories
