Built in 1865, the Greek Revival house in New Orleans that interior designer Michelle R. Smith calls home is a beacon of ease and refinement. Designed by the society architect Myrlin McCullar, the home's well-preserved period rooms were a draw for Smith when she decided to relocate from New York City with her young family. And when it comes to impressive architecture, she's in good company. "All the houses on this street are different,"
Smith observes of her neighbors in the city's Garden District. "Every time I take a walk, I notice a new detail." Smith grew up in Berwick, Louisiana, where her parents still live, about an hour and a half outside New Orleans. She moved to New York City 15 years ago for law school, then, after a year as a practicing litigator, pursued a graduate degree in tax law. "It was really just an excuse to come to New York," she says of that period in her life. "I worked long enough at a law firm to understand what that future looked like, and I couldn't see it for me."
So Smith went in an entirely new direction. Determined to pursue her growing interest in interiors, she interned with Daniel Romualdez, learning everything she could before starting her own design firm, Studio MRS, in Brooklyn in 2013. Since then, she has built a reputation for timeless interiors that are as livable as they are interesting. "Her work is comfortable and approachable, but in nearly every space there is something curious, something remarkable," says Shane Robuck, the Atlanta antiques dealer who is one of Smith's go-tos.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Elle Decor US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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MORE, PLEASE
Eric Hughes joins forces with Standard Architecture to transform two neighboring homes into a sprawling family compound.
SIZED TO FIT
Designer Nannette Brown reimagines a new-build apartment with unexpected depth, character, and texture.
Play It Cool
In balmy Texas, Ashe Leandro brings urbane style and a chill vibe to a home in a historic district.
Mic Drop
For former talk radio star Tom Joyner, Studio Roda creates an oceanfront pleasure pad with out-of-sight views and disco-era glamour.
EYE IN THE SKY
How do you cozy up a Manhattan high-rise? Call designers Hendricks Churchill.
THE JOY OF KØKKEN
In Brooklyn, a writer transforms her kitchen into a space of warmth and connection, blending personal memories with Scandinavian design.
CURTAIN RAISER
ELLE DECOR partners with designers Christine and John Gachot to refresh an iconic lounge at a New York institution, the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Empire Strikes Back - A 19th-century gem in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gets a tour-de-force restoration thanks to Frances Merrill of Reath Design.
Is it possible to simultaneously go back in time and leap forward? This was the challenge a couple set for themselves upon purchasing a salmon-pink 1869 house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Longfellow House, the National Historic Site that served as George Washington's headquarters during the revolution. We loved all the beautiful old details of this house, the homeowner says.
Just Like That, But Cheaper. -One writer tried to replicate a classic ELLE DECOR interior in his apartment. Could he do it for $500?
It was all about the green curtains. In 2008, to my great surprise, I was offered a ninemonth fellowship based in New York City. I had lived there twice before, both times unsuccessfully, meaning I had failed to create any kind of significant social life, and so this was a chance not only to do research for my new novel, but also an opportunity to get things right. I swore I wouldn't let the city break me a third time.
And How! - Decorator Nick Olsen transforms a Sag Harbor home into a Hamptons retreat with an irreverent humor.
If you must go to the Hamptons, however-because it is devilishly good fun, after all-you may notice an apparently modest, low-slung cottage on Sag Harbor's Main Street and think, with a comfortable sort of feeling, Now that is how a house should look. Nestled amid the Botox bars, helipads, and club-staurants, it could almost set the sordid world aright both a rebuke and a solution to the chaos that surrounds it. A real home.
