POINT OF VIEW: FRESH TAKE ON CLASSIC DESIGN

Ok, you all are in for a serious treat! This is my very first interview post, which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I’m calling this series Point of View because the tastemakers I’m talking to have unique take on design & I think we need inspiration more than ever these days. Francoise Murphy is an American interior designer who has lived all over the world - from Saudi Arabia to Austria to now Kentucky! A mom of two young kids, she has a beautiful aesthetic sense that is also very livable & down to earth….let’s go meet her now!

LEE: I adore your style, Francoise, because it has a layered, collected feel vs. “all brand new.” Did you grow up with antiques or vintage pieces? How did your aesthetic develop to craft such a perfect mix of traditional/classic with up to date, more modern pieces?

FRANCOISE: You're so sweet! I honestly believe growing up in Europe and having a European mother helped influence my idea of “design/beauty” (although this realization didn't dawn on me until I actually started designing and seeing it all come to fruition). When you live in a European city you are continually surrounded by beautiful things. For example, architecture - everywhere you go you see classic and timeless architecture. When I design, I like to take the traditional and classical pieces, but make it more relevant by pairing them with fresh or current design elements. This mix helps create the collected or layered feel.

Glimpse of design by Francoise Murphy Interiors

LEE: Did you always want to work in design or was that a later career path? I see you got a Master’s degree from Columbia University - what was it in?

FRANCOISE: My Master’s from Columbia was in Organizational Psychology, which I pursued while working for Deutsche Bank in Manhattan. At Deutsche, I worked on their global organization and leadership development team implementing talent development initiatives; the Master’s was incredibly helpful in adding to my expertise. So, yes, design was a later career path after I got married and moved into my husband's Cape in Connecticut. I remember wanting to change the look of our home immediately and feeling very inspired by it all. It fed my creative soul and I haven't looked back.

Detail of a client’s bedroom designed by Francoise Murphy Interiors

Beautiful dining room designed by Francoise

LEE: What is the biggest mistake you see people make when they work on their own vs. with a designer? Is there something simple/doable you’d recommend they can do to achieve big impact in their space?

FRANCOISE: The biggest mistake I see people make when decorating is trying to match everything whether it's in color or style. It's really important to mix it up (hues of one color as opposed to all the exact same color) or pairing two different styles of furniture - an antique secretary with a mid-century stool.

I think rearranging furniture is a very easy and quick way to have an immediate impact and help change the feel of a room. And, it's free (as long as you can solicit the help from a family member or two)! I recently had this experience with a client, where we simply moved her king size bed to another wall which was longer, but had a window. We layered the bed in front of the window and it immediately gave a new feel to the room that she instantly loved. No longer were you walking into the room and being greeted by the side of her bed.

Francoise has incredible flair with textiles - as you can see in this melange she posted on Instagram!!

LEE: Is your house pretty much the way you want it - or is it the case of the "shoemaker’s children” where you are busy working on clients’ houses & have a make-do approach to your own? (My mom was a decorator & freely admitted she used our house as her “lab”, with fabrics pinned on sofas & constant rearrangement of furniture to adjust for items she was selling to clients!:)

FRANCOISE: My house definitely falls under the category of the "shoemaker's children", however, similar to your mother, I like treating it as a laboratory of sorts trying new ideas, switching things up, and having countless fabric swatches draped over pieces of furniture. I think it is so important to flex your creative muscles and try new things and I love doing that in my own home. Although, that usually means rooms are always in flux and never finished which sometimes can be frustrating. And, since client work comes first and foremost, it often means my home is the last thing to get attention.

LEE: Do you have any suggestions for people who are weighed down with silver, china, etc. from their parents or grandparents? You weave in beautiful heirlooms it seems in your spaces & they look great! I think a lot of us are worried about those pieces making our rooms look too stuffy, formal or fussy….

FRANCOISE: I have a lot of clients who fall into this category and I think this is where a pair of 'fresh eyes' can be really helpful. I love taking my client's perhaps abundant china collection and displaying it in creative ways like hanging a trio of plates above a door/passageway or hanging a few pieces on the wall with wall brackets to showcase them. Try to think about how you can display your heirloom or collections in an attractive way. Take silver flatware, for example, and store it in a pretty wicker basket or in a beautiful vessel. I once had a client who had a beautiful collection of vintage linens (mostly napkins). I recommended she place them on a pretty blue and white platter and style it into her dining room hutch. Moreover, maybe you are just starting a new collection or have only been handed down a few pieces, you can still display it, but mix in other pieces as well that complement the collection. That way you still get to enjoy the beauty of it while slowly growing your collection. We did this with a young family's starter collection of jadeite milk glass.

FRANCOISE - continued: If you have a furniture piece that was handed down from family, but perhaps it's not truly an antique or the stain/finish is not right, then consider painting it. I actually do this quite a bit with clients and it is always great to see them fall in love with their piece again. We did this for my client's 20 year old secretary desk and we painted it a beautiful custom olive green color in a flat finish and installed antique brass ring pulls. It's now a piece she absolutely adores!

A peek at the repainted piece described above

To see more of Francoise’s work, go to her website or follow her lovely Instagram feed - @francoisemurphyinteriors. She is constantly sharing new work-in-progress or glimpses of her own house — I love the care & integrity she puts into everything…no slap dash fads or pretension ever! Just pleasing, well-chosen & clearly much loved elements that make a house a home. And given where we’re all at, having a home that is personal & really works for you is clearly something to strive for and appreciate now more than ever.

Hope you all are doing okay and staying as healthy as you can!

Lee