Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Bio: Rebecca Gardner, founder and creative director of Houses & Parties
Hometown: South Texas
Studio Location: Savannah, Georgia
Describe what you make: Houses & Parties is a three ring circus. 1. I design parties. 2. I design interiors. 3. I have an ecommerce shop that sells style, wit, and treasure for memorable occasions. Puiforcat to Party Hats.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: My first book, A Screaming Blast, is a collection of parties I’ve designed and executed over the past decade. It was written with a tender heart as I am so grateful to my clients who have allowed me to make fleeting magical worlds for their special memories. I am grateful to the uber talented Adam Kuehl for his photography and Celia Fuller who designed the pages.
Describe the problem your work solves: I strongly believe in the positive power of parties. We must mark occasions by gathering friends and making special efforts. Otherwise, life can lean beige. So, the problem is beige and I bring the color.
Describe the project that you are working on now: I am designing the interiors for a family getaway in Lake Wales, Florida. My clients have a large family that entertains often. It has several unexpected places to gather—sunny and shady—and plenty of cozy guest rooms for big lively house parties. Bories & Shearron Architects are designing the new addition and I am pinching myself while working with them.
I just finished plans for a fortieth birthday at a Georgian estate with a working farm in Somerset. The long weekend culminates in a black tie affair with a “Byron or Bashful” costume directive.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: A Screaming Blast launched on September 2 at bookstores worldwide. I am shooting out of this canon of excitement into an active book tour all fall and winter. Catch me if you can!
What you absolutely have to have in your studio: Music, snacks, art, vibes, etc. I have to have green glass bottles with Mountain Valley Spring water so big they require two hands to pour. I also like Blue Sky spiral calendar notebooks and highlighters in yellow (for deliverables), green (for events and installs) and hot pink (for joy). Oh, and pools of soft light. I despise overhead lights.
What you do when you’re not working: When I’m not working for a client, I’m working for myself. I love to play house and cook dinner and plan parties and book trips but, sometimes, I stay in bed all day with a book.
Sources of creative envy (dead or alive): Tim Walker, Sofia Coppola, Alessandro Michele.
The distraction you want to eliminate: I wish I could vanquish text messaging. My life is peppered with pings. It’s so distracting.
Concrete or marble? Marble
High-Rise or Townhouse? Townhouse
Remember or Forget? Remember
Aliens or Ghosts? Both
Dark or Light? Light
