Her interiors have been described as ‘cerebral’ and ‘influential’. Her fabric and furniture line, refined and sophisticated. Love her.
New York-based Interior Designer Victoria Hagan was trained at the famed Parsons School of Design in New York and has earned her deserved accolades over the last 20 years. A working mum of twin boys, I relate intimately and immediately to her need to never make any interior too precious for life.
“I don’t want my kids to remember me as the mom who worried constantly about the furniture,” says Hagan in a recent Style at Home feature. “I think you have to make a conscious effort to change the dial to “relaxed.” That means making practical choices.”
But practical does not spell boring for Hagan. Her approach to materials and finishes is consciously realistic – using cottons for larger pieces in place of more lux fabrics for their cleanability and saving the ‘oh so special’ for a replaceable toss cushion.
Although her interiors are complex and sophisticated, they evoke a livability that can translate as simple. How?
“(Simple) means beautiful things with ample space around them,” she suggests. “You gain serenity from organizing a room with lots of breathing space. That means creating an easy floor plan that you can move around in. I always walk through a room after I’ve placed the furniture to make sure I don’t walk into anything or have to squeeze around something.” Makes perfect sense to me.
And Hagan leans on architecture in a way I have seen so few designers do so successfully. It is a very conscious part of the delicious whole.
Hagan’s Rules:
Keep it simple: design around the way you live not the way you someday might. Kids and spills and life happen.
Plan it: Understand how a space is used, how traffic flows through it and then start to place furniture. And easier to add than subtract – get yourself set with the bare minimum and then add as required or necessary.
Acquire, don’t just buy: We all want our spaces complete but be thoughtful in your process. Choose pieces carefully and you will only choose once. Do it right the first time which means staying away from the impulse buy. Tough, I know.
Keep it in the family: Her palettes are consciously simple. She explores a colour throughout a home in its various shades and hues. It makes for a quiet interior. Easy to live with. Sounds familiar. Maybe I was on to something…