Mario Buatta
View Slideshow
When I begin with a new client, I always...
Have a preliminary meeting to meet the clients and see the space or photos of the space. The clients usually come to me because they know what I do, but they don't always know what they want. But I can sniff them out. In that first meeting you're also seeing if you can work with the client. After all, you're practically going to be a part of their family. I usually know in a minute if I can work with someone. I've always said, to be a good decorator, you have to be three things: an actor (you have to pretend you like the person, their house and their things!), a psychiatrist (you have to figure out what the client wants) and a lawyer (to collect your money)!
The mistake most people make when doing their own designing is...
Scale, scale, scale. Most people never scale furniture correctly—it's usually too small. And they don't buy quality upholstery or the best-quality furniture. Preferably, it should be custom-made. People think they're saving money, but actually they're losing money if a decorator has to come in and do it over. Too, people don't always know how to put things together so that it looks like it's always been there. Or they buy the wrong stuff.
The most unusual request from a client was...
Spending the weekend in their house to see how the clients lived there, how they used it. It was early in my career, and at the time I found it very unusual but very helpful. I learned a lot about how they used their house.
For someone who wants a big look on a small budget today...
A can of paint can change the whole outlook of a room. Also, you can use sheets to cover the windows, cover the walls, cover the furniture—you can pin them back or make your own slipcovers. Grass matting is also wonderful.
One of the best things right now to collect for an investment is...
Victorian is still pretty cheap to come by, but it's passing by pretty quickly. It can work in contemporary or traditional settings. Things that are still made by hand, that aren't machine-made.
In the area of home electronics, people are asking for...
The ultimate in sound, in home media, in smart systems that control the lights, the windows, everything. But, of course, you have to be a seven-year-old to understand how it all works.
In the next ten years the most important thing in design will be...
Finding things to decorate houses with. The really good, really fine things are becoming more and more scarce and difficult to find. There are more and more people on the planet, and everyone seems to want the same things.
My biggest design mistake was...
Installing a ceramic floor in a kitchen. The client dropped a jar of peanut butter on it; the jar didn't break, but the tiles did. I don't like tile floors.
My favorite room to design is...
Libraries and bedrooms. Libraries are cozy and comfortable; they're more rigid than family rooms—which have to be rough and ready—but they're less formal and rigid than living rooms. And I love bedrooms because they're a given—you have to have one. Hopefully, you have a four-poster or a canopy bed, depending on the client. The idea is to make the bedroom as pretty as possible to reflect the clients' taste and show how they look best.
I change my own interiors...
Every day! You're always adding and subtracting, always editing. You're always finding something you like better than the last thing. But in terms of fabrics and furniture, my apartment—and I've had four of them—has looked basically the same since 1961.
There are many rules designers should bear in mind. One is...
Knowing when to break the rules. You can fake things with a screen or with little tricks like false windows with mirrored panes where there's just a brick wall.
The order I follow when I design is...
First you design, and then you decorate. You get the background right—and I always tell people that you've got to work with the architect from the get-go—and you decorate from there. When I decorate, I first work on getting the placement of the furniture correct and then the upholstered pieces, and from there I work out to the tables and chairs. Then it's on to fabric and color and carpets.
Every home must have...
Comfort, color and the necessities at hand.
Design likes and dislikes...
Likes : Decorating that looks like it happened over a period of time, that it didn't all land there on the same day. I like when I've been able to create a stage set against which the clients can live out their lives.
Dislikes : Mothers-in-law's and friends' opinions and ideas; rooms that are over the top; anything that's terribly pretentious, over-ruffled, overdone.
My personal dream house would be...
One where I wouldn't have to do anything to it! Actually, it would be in England, in the country, and have beautiful gardens and people to take care of them, a wonderful cook and someone to share it all with. I like 18th-century style, but I want all the amenities of the 21st century.
Who or what has influenced my style...
My aunt Mary, who was a collector. She wasn't a decorator, but she used one. She had English chintz, chinoiserie, Hepple-white. It led to my love of Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler, of Colefax and Fowler.
Three essentials for entertaining are...
The lighting is very important; a good "nose," good smells—fresh flowers or potpourri; fresh food casually presented, depending on the evening. And a mix of young and old together.
If i could live anywhere (other than where I am), it would be...
<>England.