Interview with Bunny Williams

Interior Design Hall of Fame member Bunny Williams recently talked about how she personalize spaces as part of Williams-Sonoma Home's Designer Series. We caught up with Bunny to find out how she began her thriving practice, her line of furniture and her home and garden boutique.

Tell us what it was like when you first opened your own interior design company? What were the challenges you faced? Any advice you'd give to designers who are thinking about striking out on their own?

I had worked in a big firm for many years where there was an accounting department and bookkeepers, and when I thought about going out on my own, I was confident in my ability to decorate, though worried about the business aspect. The financial end of being a designer is very detailed and very important: it’s a lot of responsibility paying bills and collecting money, and you can’t afford to make a mistake. You have to professionally learn how to handle the business end.

It helps to apprentice. It took me twenty years until I could open my own firm and know I wasn’t going to make a mistake. It’s often only through experience that you know what questions to ask and what to anticipate. Decorating is so much about knowing in advance how a certain kind of curtain will fit a window—so much of it is practical. It’s so much more than picking out pretty fabrics.

How was Beeline Home started? How closely related is it to your interior design business?

I had always loved to design furniture, and I wanted to really do it myself rather than just doing a licensing arrangement. I didn’t want a collection where you could get things in five finishes, because to me the finish was part of the design.

I also wanted to make things for a season or two and not make it anymore. It’s a varied collection, rather than a suite of anything, which is how I decorate. My style isn’t about a room full of the same color or type of wood. I wanted the freedom to do my own thing, and make the kinds of things that you need in a room over and over again yet were hard to find.

What inspired you to open Treillage with John Rosselli? Are there any differences to how you shop and design for interior vs. exterior spaces?

25 years ago we went to the Chelsea Flower Show in London. Neither of us had ever been, but we loved to garden. On the outside of the grounds there were all these great shops, and I said, “I wonder why there aren’t shops like this in New York,” and John, spur of the moment, said, “Let’s open one!” We started buying for the shop the next day and it’s been a great time ever since.

In terms of shopping for interior and exterior spaces, there’s really no difference. Patios are just outdoor rooms, and the only distinction is the kind of materials you need to use, since things have to withstand the elements and not fall apart.

For more information on Bunny Williams, visit her website.