Page 32 - Allison's Magazine ~ Issue #99

there’s a much more modern philosophy
SKY-INSPIRED of building new history. I think this
Virginia designer Sara Hillery set
melting pot of locations forged my love
RENOVATION
her creative sights on her own of eclectic environments that aren’t all
family home renovation, with an one style and that tell the story of the
clients’ varied interests.
interview with sara hillery | written by shelley goldstein | photography by kip dawkins
eye toward a light and airy space
with a palette of blue, white, and What is your earliest memory of
neutral colors. looking at a room and wanting to
redesign it?
My mom always let me have input in
my room; she even let me choose a cat
What is your background when it theme at one point. She has always
comes to design? been crafty and enjoyed a love of
I majored in art as an undergrad at the homemaking, so design was encouraged
University of Virginia and worked for a in our house.
local design firm in Richmond. I enjoyed
the work that I did there enough to go What traits make you well-suited
back to school and get my master of to be a designer? What have you
fine arts in interior environments from had to adjust about yourself in
Virginia Commonwealth University. I this business?
worked for Lucas/Eilers in Houston for I love being creative, and I look at
seven years doing large-scale residential design as a fun form of problem-solving.
projects and then started my own I like the challenge of taking a space
business after having my first child. and making it better. I also really enjoy
getting to know people. I’ve had to learn
Where did you grow up? How does
that experience inform the way
you design?
I grew up largely in Richmond, but I “ THE EAST COAST’S LOVE OF
spent time in Pennsylvania and Texas. ENGLISH AND EARLY AMERICAN
The East Coast’s love of English and
Early American history taught me HISTORY TAUGHT ME TO
to love brown furniture, especially LOVE BROWN FURNITURE,
antiques and classics, like Duncan ESPECIALLY ANTIQUES AND
Phyfe and Sheraton. Texas loves a little CLASSICS, LIKE DUNCAN PHYFE
more French influence and a more
casual environment, so I possess a deep AND SHERATON.
appreciation for a crusty old paint finish
and an atelier style. Texas doesn’t have
the same history as the East Coast, and

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