Autumn hails the design industry’s foray into new introductions and the annual reinvention of things we’ve seen before. The New York Design Center at 200 Lexington Avenue, a “to the trade” assemblage of mouthwatering interior design showrooms, sponsors a “What’s New, What’s Next” festival, at which I was asked to speak on the subject of “Designers Across the Nation and Abroad: Challenges and Opportunities,” moderated by Pamela Jaccarino, Editor-in-Chief of Luxe Interiors + Design magazine.

Lucky to have been commissioned to design for many wanderlust New Yorkers in far flung destinations, the first question Pamela posed was: “While designing, do you take the topography of the area into account?” My answer was, “Definitely, but only after I have first accounted for the clients’ desires, dreams and aspirations, and second for the clues and demands of the architecture.” Taking as an example my project in Salt Lake City, where the rather raw mountains meet the austerity of the Great Salt Lake, Pamela recognized these clues in my choice of wire-brushed, oak paneling, dark bronze, metal doors, and cleft, charcoal, limestone floors that hosted a muted, neutral palette of textured linens and abstract prints. All were reflective interpretations of the Salt Lake topography.

Here on the East End, one cannot escape (nor does want to escape) the clean, shimmering, soft light, the still, horizontal serenity of the fields and ocean, nor the immersive inheritance of history, all of which a clever designer takes into account when creating a home for clients here.