Ep. 71: designer Brian McCarthy

Brian McCarthy is an A-List designer with experience on projects all over the globe. His design projects are clean yet bold, traditional and contemporary with a fantastic eye for picking incredibly gorgeous art. Today, he shares how to create compositions that embrace the bespoke nature of the project, how we can shop for art on a budget, and what to consider when designing a boat. Brian is also the author of Luminous Interiors and Parish-Hadley Tree of Life, which he co-authored with Bunny Williams.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

Taryn’s trial which includes Atlanta’s shocking ratistic (rat statistic) and how she and her husband are working to solve it

Caroline’s trial when breaking down her beautiful Christmas tree, leading to possibly the biggest LED light knot, mess and spilled paste mixture in history

Karen’s trial (but she owns being a 60%’er at least) of upholstering the doors in her guest bedroom. However, she made up for it with the best Christmas gift ever to her husband thanks to artist Lacy Freeman

How the idea for Parish-Hadley: Tree of Life came about, which lead to him first writing Luminous Interiors

How he handles clients that “ghost” him, and the reasons why he would possibly turn potential clients down

How Brian’s design creates a joyful scrapbook in people’s lives, to cover the beauty and art that makes up their personal lives

How working with Parish-Hadley informed the unique way he lays out a room

Brian’s tips for creating a composition that works, including why you should never leave home without a folding ruler

The glamorous makeover Brian gave to a storied New York apartment, and his tips to deviating from the expected path of design

How we can shop for art on a budget, and where Brian finds art for his clients

How designing for a yacht differs from designing for a home

The importance of finding a mentor when developing an understanding of cost, and honing in on what art and pieces speak to you

Simple easy ways to refresh your space and continue with maintenance that won’t break the bank