Interview with Jonathan Orr, west elm Design Director

Interview with Jonathan Orr, west elm Design Director

According to your profile, a sense of humor is something you couldn’t do your job without. Is it a coincidence that west elm designs possess witty, quirky style? In your role as Design Director, how do you create that aesthetic?

I can’t take all the credit, since I work with some very talented & fun-loving people! My team and I enjoy what we do and that joy definitely translates into the products. Maybe it’s more of a subconscious goal, but we are seriously committed to making our designs feel lighthearted, fun and approachable. I’m glad it comes across.

Good design means making it look effortless, you say. But does effortlessness actually takes a lot of work? What tricks do you have for achieving that off-the-cuff style in decorating?

My tricks for achieving an effortless interior are simple:

• Never make your home too neat. Relax! A home is where you need to be comfortable and enjoy living. Piles of books, magazines and fabrics look great and give real-life character.
• Mix things you love and things you have collected over time. Combine old and new, big and small.
• Never buy into the latest trend. Resist it because it will look old the minute you get it home! Trendy items tend to give a feeling of trying too hard.
• Above all, stay true to yourself and your decorating instincts. If you question a style, a color or a purchase even for a second, don’t do it – or get rid of it!

You mention that art is something every home needs. How do you find the right art pieces for a client who may not know much about art?

Recently I had this exact same challenge with a friend. The way I approached it was by talking casually about his interests and experiences. After a few conversations, his preferred artwork turned out to be black-and-white photographs of old European architecture. Who knew? It was a fun process of discovery that surprised us both.

A west elm striped duvet that’s not yet out is your current favorite. But isn’t a striped duvet simply a striped duvet? What is it about stripes – or this particular stripe – that’s captured your heart?

Oh, I can’t say enough about this duvet! I think what makes this duvet unique is the scale. The stripes are wide and horizontal. There is something about it that looks so new and fresh to me. But I have always loved stripes – the early photos of painter David Hockney wearing a horizontal striped tie, the cover of Blondie’s album, Parallel Lines. Now that I think about it, every rug in my apartment is striped!

Your passion for ECO textiles comes out in the west elm product line. What excites you in the world of ECO fabrics now?

I think the greatest thing about ECO textiles is the way it’s now gaining momentum. When we started designing into this area, our mission was to create ECO textiles with a fashion twist. We wanted to update its crunchy granola image for every audience. And people are really responding. Our ECO bedding is our most successful collection ever!

To give us a sense of how a designer-at-work operates, can you tell the story of one of the pieces you created, from inspiration to final product?

I am very inspired by what I see in apparel. Every season I study the shows for emerging themes, and then I try to apply those themes to our designs for the home. A year ago I was inspired by a feeling of vintage lux, that is, faded luxurious fabrics in soft, sun-bleached colors. This led us to create the Lux Window panel. We worked with an expert fabric mill to weave the fabric, then chose the mellow, metallic colors in Zinc and Gold, and figured out how to wash the fabric over and over to give it that characteristic soft, aged look.  It’s now one of our best selling window panels.