Designer Spotlight: Kate Lester Interiors
With a design approach appreciating the eccentric, quirky, and weird, Kate Lester brings a fun and lively outlook to interior design. Based in Southern California, Kate would describe her style as “a little bit luxury and a little bit rock and roll,” mixing vintage finds and classic pieces with cool contemporary colors and patterns. As the creative director and CEO of Kate Lester Interiors, her interior design firm, and Kate Lester Home, her retail brand, Kate has explored and flourished in many facets of the interior design industry. We sat down with Kate to learn more about her style ethos, business ventures, and taste in artwork.
Emphasizing uniqueness and originality, Kate prioritizes making a statement in her spaces. She explained, “I want the spaces we create to tell stories about the people who live there but I also want them to be interesting. I want these rooms and homes to have depth and evoke feelings- any feelings, all the feelings!” With the goal of making an impact, Kate wants people to talk about her designs and feel something when they step foot into a room she’s designed. “I always say I would much rather have people talking about how they loved or hated my designs because at least they’re talking!”
With a business degree from USC up her sleeve, Kate is the mastermind behind two retail store locations, an e-commerce brand, an interior design firm, a design how-to video course, and a series of digital design guides. Kate shared, “I had always loved design and I realized that with my business knowledge maybe I could actually make money doing it. Design is still a business, being a talented creative is really only half the battle.” Spreading her design expertise and unique style is at the forefront of Kate’s ethos, exploring different avenues in which she can share tips and tricks or showcase her latest vintage finds. Kate pointed out, “So much of my design knowledge feels so inherent to me, that I never realized that most people don’t know these simple tips and tricks that I guess I take for granted every day.”
Starting her brand, Kate Lester Home, was an obvious decision for Kate. “I had a warehouse full of furniture, rugs, and accessories that weren’t really earmarked for any specific client and a ton of people on instagram were asking where they could buy the things they were seeing in our projects- and when you put those two together, it seemed like a no-brainer to open retail and e-commerce.” While a physical retail store is more costly and more work, it allows for a more personal shopping experience for the customer. “When it comes to the home goods market, people love to see, touch, and feel the things that are going into their homes. Having a physical location makes that easier for them and it also allows them a place to chat with our knowledgeable in-store stylists, mock up a coffee table with potential accessories, smell a candle or test the firmness of a chair. Some things are, in fact, not better online.”
When it comes to sourcing artwork for her projects, Kate starts with the overall design direction and then selects pieces that she thinks will bring the concept to life. Kate confessed, “With artwork, I do tend to take a bit more creative license though,” explaining that “artwork is one area where I tend to hope that we can push our clients’ boundaries a bit and introduce them to something they otherwise would not have selected or been drawn to.” On working with Visual Contrast, Kate commented, “It’s always been so great because you take such a personal approach to every interaction and are really so easy to work with! I also love that you guys are always innovating and just thinking outside the box- you are creating art that is pushing the boundaries and I love pushing the boundaries, so that’s why we’re friends!”
