Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Name: Amanda Powell Walker
Occupation: Interior Designer
Instagram: @amandapowelldesign
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Studio Location: Chelsea, Manhattan, NYC
Describe what you make: I design original bespoke interiors for residential clients. My approach is to create homes that reflect a client’s ideal vision of living. My range is pretty wide, as I like doing something different for all my clients. That approach can make the creative process exhausting but I love it. Getting to really know a client and creating a design that reflects who they are instead of handing them a pre-baked design is very satisfying (even if the road can be a bit twisty).
Describe the problem your work solves: Very practically, I give people a place to function in their daily lives. I think that’s really important at the moment in a world that is increasingly chaotic and unpredictable. For people to wakeup everyday in a place that makes them happy, allows them to manage the chaos and noise outside. Especially true for New York City.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: My mom’s kitchen.
Describe the project you are working on now: I’m working on a wide range of projects at the moment—a full-floor duplex penthouse industrial loft in SoHo, a few classic pre-wars on the Upper East Side, an Anglo-Italianate townhouse in Greenwich Village, and a house in Marfa, Texas.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: In addition to my interiors projects for clients, I’m developing a lighting collection. I consider lighting and hardware to be the jewelry of a home and I love good jewelry. This collection in development speaks directly to that.
What you absolutely have to have in your studio: Coffee and books. Lots of books. The older and weirder the better. I’m always searching for sources of inspiration that are not images circulating online.
What you do when you’re not working: Travel and explore the world to learn more and be inspired. Always while having a good time and preferably with friends. I’m always looking for that source of inspiration that hasn’t yet proliferated through social media platforms. Or experiencing something in person to spark an idea. Seeing a space in first-hand allows you to experience the small details, the patina, the light, things which don’t easily convey in a photograph on Instagram.
Sources of creative envy (dead or alive): Exhibitors of the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. I would give anything to go back in time and walk through all of the pavilions.
The distraction you want to eliminate: The endless news cycle.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-Rise Or Townhouse? High-Rise.
Remember or Forget? Remember.
Aliens or Ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark Or Light? Light.
