We’re back with a new guest tastemaker for some quick-fire questions and a mini-curation of some fab Chairish finds!
This week we are joined by interior designer, Robin Henry. This N.Y.C. and Connecticut-based creative got her start in true Manhattan-style, earning a degree from the New York School of Interior Design followed by 8 years at the renowned firm of Katie Ridder before striking out on her own with Robin Henry Studio. At her namesake firm, Robin has transformed residential spaces into chic, livable homes perfectly tailored to her clients’ needs. With a foundation in classic design principles, she elevates her projects with a keen use of pattern, happy palettes, and ingenious use of custom furniture, window treatments, and art. Her portfolio is also turning industry heads 一 she was a “Next Wave Designer” in House Beautiful’s 2015-2016 class and named a Rising Star of Interior Design by Trad Home in June 2016.
We were thrilled to recently grab a New York minute with Robin. Read on below to hear about Robin’s best auction score as well as her Chairish picks!
Coolest vintage piece in your house?
I bought an abstract 1970’s color block shaped canvas painting from an online auction house in 2011, when online auctioning was just starting to get big. I think I paid less than $400 for it. I remember being a little nervous for what it would look like in person. Fortunately, it is divine! It’s the perfect farmhouse foil, as it turns out, and holds pride of place in my family room over the sofa. Looking back, I think it may have inspired the color scheme for the whole downstairs of my house.
Ultimate style icon?
Frida Kahlo
Do you collect anything?
I have just started a fun collection for my boys: seventies-era framed posters that I find here and there in my travels. I intend to paper our entire basement with them!
What would be the title of your autobiography?
I have two working titles that express sort of the same notion: The first is “If It Ain’t Pretty, It’s Ugly,” and the second, “Leave Some Room for the Angels.” I say both of these things to my clients all the time. Usually the first remark is in answer to the universal question, “Is this okay here?” (hint: if you have to ask, it may be “o.k.” but it’s probably not great!) And the second is to allay fears that we won’t get to where we want to go. The design process requires that we change things up that you are used to and that we move through a period of uncertainty. There is a lot of trust required in a designer/client relationship! When you take a room to the right place, it hums.
Headshot by Peggy Garbus
