Stella Van Lane World-renowned decorator, Eddie Ross, did not start his career as an interior designer. In fact, he is a graduate from the Culinary Institute of America and a former food editor, and he discovered his love and talent as a design director on a culinary TV shows. As strange as it seems, his passions merged perfectly: food and decorating, and he had gigs for Calico Corners, Ralph Lauren, and Bloomingdales (just to name a few). As if that is not enough, he also published a book where he reveals some of his time-saving tips and real-life shortcuts for decorating.
Image credits: Daily Herald
He is open and friendly
Eddie Ross is not your typical celebrity who will hide from the eyes of public and keeps his professional secrets. He talks openly about what inspires him, what he sees as passing trends, and what he couldn’t live without (it’s vintage mahogany pharmaceutical cabinet he inherited from his grandfather). He is active on Instagram and loves browsing vintage magazines and visiting flea markets when he feels like he needs more inspiration. He also admits his mistakes: one time he painted his apartment which was going to be in a magazine, but when he got up in the morning the colour was terrible. Instead of despairing, he changed the art and the furniture a bit and just went with the flow.
He loves flea markets
One of the things that make him so interesting to the wide public is his open love of flea markets and thrift shops. Decorating a room is not something you do once and never again: the room design should be changed often, and that is not something you can afford if you only buy high-end furniture and pieces. By choosing to buy things which are not expensive, you can move them around and replace them without feeling guilty. Having expensive lamps and couch may be eye-catching, but if you add colourful cushions with bold prints (think leopard, you can find a cheap material quite easily) you will get a wonderfully bright combination everyone will notice.
Image credits: Annie Selke
He improvises a lot
He is very honest about who he is, and that is one of the things that got him out of the Top Design show. He is traditionalist in some ways, but loves experimenting and improvising in others – He had a blue-ivory-and-gold Christmas instead of traditional red-and-green one and people loved it. He also said you shouldn’t get a Christmas tree that is so big that you have to rearrange the furniture completely so it would fit in the living room.
Being innovative and creative as he is, Eddie says that he loves constant changes and new discoveries. It is his advice to always improvise and channel your creativity so you can find as many solutions for a decorating ‘problem’ as you can. Always try to give new life to old things and you will love how different a room can look with tiniest changes.
