Welcome to the first edition of a new column series by Katie Harbison, designer and founder of her studio of the same name, when she comes from design to Homes & Gardens' to tell how she creates interiors, radiate calm and reserved beauty.
When I was asked to write this column, I took a break – really paused – and gave myself time to think. I wanted to write about something that felt authentic for me, both personally and creatively as a designer. I wanted to hit the right tone for those among them who do not yet know me, but from whom I hope they understand the ideas and topics that lead my design approach. And of course it felt like it to start at the beginning: why I got into design.
When someone recently asked me this question, the answer was easy. I think interiors are not only visually beautiful rooms – you should change the way you think and feel. At a young age I dressed up with rooms that offer calm, joy and a feeling of lightness. I always wanted to create houses that are uncompromisingly peaceful when the people feel happy and relaxed at the moment they enter. For me, design is never just about what we see. It is about this calm, restorative feeling when the noise fades and the room really swings.
(Photo credit: Katie Harbison)
I used to romantize the idea of slow morning – the way you do not take your phone immediately, in silence drink a cup of tea or spend 15 minutes to start the day “right”. I loved the idea of this person, but to be honest I am not.
How many of them am I accepted that my morning begins more chaoting. From the moment I wake up, the noise begins – not only from the buzzing streets of Brooklyn, which I now call at home, but from the world to life: chatter, traffic, the familiar ping of notifications and the visual disorder of our surroundings. This is part of what our age of overstimulation defines.
(Photo credit: Katie Harbison)
The design, once a vehicle for a quiet elegance, has become a further surveillance in a way. Driven by Social Media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest, we are flooded with fast trends, where the focus is often more about quantity as quality. In a world that rarely participates, silence has not only become desirable, but also a luxury – and in many ways a universal striving. Postpandemic life has only reinforced this feeling. We all had to rethink how we live in our houses, what necessities they offer and how they feel to us. For this reason, I wondered: How do I design in a loud world for silence?
For me it comes back to the intentionality. Design that calms the mind. Rooms that do not call for attention, but are calm, a place to rest, reset and be easy. As a designer, it is my job to create interiors that relieve environments rather than stimulate that act as a sanctuary from external life – a refuge within the house that conveys a feeling of calm in the middle of everyday chaos.
(Photo credit: Katie Harbison)
A principle to which I always come back in our work is material honesty. Since I studied in Florence, I have dressed by natural materials – wood, stone, clay walls – that contain their own calm presence. You don't have to scream to be noticed. They often form the basis of our projects, because if they are used thoughtfully, speak for themselves.
Of course, these materials can be used in a fat, dramatic way, but I tend to prefer a more reserved approach. I want you to feel more for your surroundings than to compete with you. Even the most beautiful surfaces can become loud or distracting if they are overdo it. It is a question that I constantly ask during the design process: How will this room feel in five years? After all, the homeowner lives in it every day, not only when he is photographed. My goal is to create interiors that feel more considerable and timelessly, not trend -driven or revised.
It is easy to get into the attitude that more is more – and sometimes I agree. For example, when it comes to styling, I don't hold back. I love to layer objects, books, art and treasures, both I and our customers who have collected everything that feels personally and lived.
Through thoughtful curation, we can create spaces that are inviting, worth living and quiet. For me, design is never about impressing at first glance or overwhelming the senses. It is about tinkering a room that calmly, takes into account and inviting – a place where people want to spend time and the feeling that he leaves behind.
(Photo credit: Katie Harbison)
When it comes to what I call as a 'bone' of a house – the architecture, the layout, the materials – I firmly believe in reluctance. Silence does not mean emptiness; It intentionally means simple. A kind of multi -layered minimalism that feels more warm than strong. It is about creating space for a home to breathe.
I like to consider my approach to be refined and quiet. I focused on architecture and materiality that are often influenced by European sensitivity – spaces that feel special but are never easy. The layer begins from there. With furniture, fittings and fittings, I bend into a more relaxed California aesthetics, which contains linen covers, mixed wooden tones and pieces that feel and feel in life. It is this balance that really feels like a room at home.
The houses we create often take years to bring to life. They are the product of a long, collaborative process – from the early concept to the final installation – that require many hands on the way. Of course there is a thrill on the finish line. After years of ideas, problem solving and careful planning, it is immensely to see for us and our customers that everything comes together.
But what I think the most is what happens afterwards. When the teams are packed, the dust has refused and everyday life will be resumed. Here the real success of a project lives for me. My hope – and intention – is always that we have created more than a beautiful room. We created a home.
A house in which our customers and their families can really relax, turn off from the pressure of the outside world and feel comfortable. A bedroom designed as a sanctuary that is supposed to be a room to escape and simple.
At the end of the day, this is the real purpose of what we do: to create houses that offer silence and calm in an overstimulated, loud world.
Read more about how Katie Harbison designs rooms here