Best Maximalist Interior Designers on the AD PRO Directory
BY DAN HOWARTH, ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
Original Article Published by Architectural Digest
Maximalist interior designers are masters of combining patterns, palettes, textures, and layers to achieve the “more is more” aesthetic, bringing a riot of color, form, and pattern to every room they create. Although it may not everyone’s cup of tea, the trend towards bolder interiors has grown steadily and significantly over the past few years, as homeowners embrace the opportunity to project their playful personalities into their spaces and to show off their collections of, well, anything and everything all at once. The following maximalist interior designers—all of whom are listed on the AD PRO Directory—know just how to give homes a wow factor through brave decor choices, eclectic curation, and whimsical details. Fair warning: You might not know where to look first.
Lantz Collective
Barry and Amanda Lantz—a father-daughter team—combine their skills and sensibilities in their interiors through their studio, Lantz Collective, which operates out of both Florida and Indiana. Amanda’s eye for object curation ensures that their projects are always packed with items from unexpected places. Barry, a self-taught painter, brings unique personal style and an adoration of Midwestern and Southern landscapes to original artworks. Frequently appearing in Lantz Collective’s spaces, these works add colorful abstract scenes into an already eclectic mix.
Lindsay Pennington Inc.
Known for creating highly personal and expressive spaces, Lindsay Pennington delivers an inventive mix of classic elements and contemporary updates to each room she designs. The work of this Kentucky native and Los Angeles transplant has been recognized as both harmonious and eclectic, resulting in beautiful rooms with elegance and warmth. Through her striking use of color in projects like this vivid interior, Pennington has us all thinking: “Should I paint my ceiling blue?”
Fern Santini Inc.
Fern Santini Inc.’s design aesthetic is all about grand gestures, whether they manifest as a study enveloped in deep blue, high-gloss surfaces, a ceiling covered in velvet-textured jewel-toned patterns, or a door to a dark grey kitchen highlighted in sunny yellow. Austin-based founder Fern Santini loves to mix historical references in a tongue-in-cheek way, imbuing her projects with irreverence and wit. Layering details that allow houses to “unfold themselves day after day,” and using unexpected furnishings and artwork, she shows that she’s forever taking risks and thinking outside the box.
Ayromloo Design
Los Angeles–based designer Jessica Ayromloo’s unique brand of maximalism revolves around intense color-blocking of complementary hues, which she also frequently integrates into geometric tile patterns. Add on top of that a selection of surrealist furniture and decor items, a trove of antique pieces, and some contrasting industrial materials, and her designs land somewhere in a dreamlike realm that’s part Dalí painting and part Barbie Dreamhouse.
Summer Thornton Design
Seemingly, Chicago-based Summer Thornton has never met a pattern that she didn’t like or was afraid to layer, remix, and combine. The result? A stunning visual feast that transcends style and period and is immediately recognizable as hers. Thornton firmly believes that each client’s home should be a reflection of their personal style and that their soul, passions, and quirks should be found on the walls and in the furniture throughout the home.
Corey Damen Jenkins & Associates
Looking to give a traditional-style space a more eccentric twist? Call Corey Damen Jenkins, the New York designer and AD100 listee whose ability to create elevated, personality-filled interiors is hard-matched. A magpie mélange full of tantalizing colors and playful patterns, his work is defined through what he describes as a “new maximalist” philosophy, exemplified in both his chic Manhattan atelier and his own fabric and wallpaper line.
Studio Eckstrom
The popular modern farmhouse style has been given a refreshing, wholly original spin by Studio Eckstrom, a firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. Exaggerated ironwork flourishes on cabinetry, a room lined entirely in blue-edged pinstriped fabric, various faunal motifs, and a green clawfoot bathtub can all be found in Mark and Mikal Eckstrom’s daring designs, which are simultaneously sophisticated and, thankfully, don’t take themselves too seriously.
Escala Forma
Design studio Escala Forma isn’t afraid to lean all the way into the tropical tropes of its hometown mixing banana-leaf motifs, wicker furniture, and pastel pink in one particular project so that there’s absolutely no mistaking its location, Miami. Founder Carlos Rodriguez, who has always been fascinated by the interplay between history and modernity, frequently brings together eclectic artworks, busy patterns, and pieces from multiple time periods in order to preserve a location’s history and cultural significance with his “contemporary maximalist” design style.
Lisa & Leroy
Lisa Shaffer, the owner and creative director of Washington, DC, studio Lisa & Leroy, is inspired by an eclectic mix of styles and cultures. Deftly applying four or more bold and contrasting colors in a compact room, her interiors pack a serious punch while still feeling comfortable and inviting. A love of expression is evident in every Lisa & Leroy project: Each space blends form and function, old and new, traditional and whimsical for a different and surprising result every time.
Frampton Co
Though perhaps not as “in your face” as other maximalist interiors, projects by Frampton Co still artfully pull in enough traditional and contemporary elements, varied decorative styles, details, and patterns to be worthy of the categorization. Founded by Elena Frampton and with offices in New York City and Bridgehampton, the studio’s focus is “balancing pragmatism with personality” in each space it designs—whether it’s a modern beachfront home or a historic townhouse—and ensuring they all remain contextually sensitive.
Sarah Stacey Interior Design
Sarah Stacey Interior Design, with offices in Texas and Tennessee, specializes in storied, colorful, and eclectic projects. Founder Sarah Stacey has no trouble blending together deep, rich colors and intricate patterns and is a big proponent of playful wallpaper—whether she’s applying lemon motifs across a feature wall or hexagon prints around and over an entire room. Her team approaches each project with an eye for form and function and aims to incorporate meaningful pieces, antiques, forms, textures, and colors each and every time.
Tim Hawkins Interiors
Grandeur is perhaps the best word for the feeling evoked by the interiors of Tim Hawkins, a designer based in Laguna Beach. (Hawkins’s portfolio includes some truly palatial homes.) With an educational background in fashion and color theory at Otis Parsons in Los Angeles and film at UCLA Film School, his know-how has inevitably informed the drama and the cinematic references in residences he designs today.
Mr Alex Tate Design
A self-proclaimed maximalist at heart, design principal Alex Alonso of Mr Alex Tate Design embraces a global perspective and celebrates the power of storytelling through his spaces. Reflecting a distinct design approach that is all about mixing, the result is a bold sensibility he calls “modern American maximalism” and is typified by the use of fanciful prints, characterful sculptures, and eclectic objects galore.
Mary Anne Smiley Interiors
Based in Dallas, designer Mary Anne Smiley’s approach is all about having fun, and that’s evident in her vibrantly colorful spaces. (Smiley has a particular penchant for incorporating orange in her projects.) Although she usually goes for a modern look, the designer never pushes any particular style on a client, instead letting their lifestyle and character shine through.
Creative Tonic Design
Creative Tonic founder Courtnay Tartt Elias likes to layer saturated hues, richly appointed textiles, and personal narratives into the residential spaces she designs. Based in Houston, Texas, her studio is never afraid to shy away from combining geometric patterns, richly toned high-gloss millwork paint, metallics sheens, or varied floral motifs—all together with carefully chosen passementerie and other details.
