Asked to describe her work, Von Nash put it simply to the Coeur d’Alene Press: “I make your house look like you.” And then, describing how: “I interview my client; we become a team.” That idea, that a home should be a portrait of the people in it rather than a page from a catalog, is the heart of her approach. It’s also something anyone can apply.
Why “looking like you” matters
A room designed around a trend looks dated in five years. A room designed around a showroom photograph often feels like a hotel: attractive, but not yours. A room designed around how you live, and what you love, stays comfortable and meaningful for decades, because it was never trying to be anything else.
Start with how you actually live
Before colors or furniture, think honestly about daily life. These are the kinds of questions a good designer asks in the first conversation:
- Where do you really spend your evenings, and doing what?
- Who lives here, and who visits? Children, grandchildren, pets, a crowd for holidays?
- Do you entertain formally, casually or rarely?
- Where do you drop your keys, mail and bags? (If there’s no place for them, they’ll end up on the dining table.)
- What do you collect, read, make or play?
- What drives you crazy about your current home?
- Which rooms feel best to you, in any house you’ve ever been in, and why?
The answers shape the design more than any style. A family that reads every night needs great lamps and a comfortable chair by the window. A couple who host every holiday need a dining room that seats twelve and a kitchen that lets the cook talk to the guests.
Begin with something you love
Most personal rooms grow from one beloved thing: a rug, a painting, a fabric, an heirloom, a collection, a view. Let it set the palette and the mood, and build around it. You’ll make better decisions because you’ll always have a reference: does this suit the thing I love?
Mix, don’t match
Personal rooms are collected over time, so they mix eras, materials and sources: a family antique beside a new sofa, a flea-market find beside a commissioned piece, vintage stemware on a modern table. It’s Von’s signature: true luxury is found in the mix, not the match. See how to blend antiques and modern furniture.
Display your life
- Family photographs, framed well and grouped thoughtfully, rather than scattered.
- Collections curated and lit: a few excellent pieces rather than everything at once.
- Books you’ve read, art you’ve chosen, objects from places you’ve been.
- Your hobbies made visible: a piano, a reading nook, a sewing table, a display of fishing flies.
The test: could a visitor learn something about you from the room?
Respect the house, too
Looking like you doesn’t mean ignoring the architecture. A lake cabin, a Craftsman bungalow and a contemporary new build each have their own character. The most successful rooms find the overlap between the owner’s personality and the house’s, which is what clients mean when they say Von “reads” a house. She listens to the people and the building.
Spend where it shows and where it lasts
A personal home isn’t necessarily an expensive one. As Von told the Press, she works with people’s budgets for what they need done. Spend on the pieces you touch every day (the sofa, the bed, the dining chairs, good lighting) and on what you love. Save on what’s easily changed. And often the biggest transformation comes from rearranging and editing what you already own. “Often I find spaces people didn’t know they had.”
The takeaway
Design from the inside out: how you live, what you love, who you are. Respect the house, mix old and new, display your story, and spend where it matters. Then your house will look like you. If you’d like help getting there, it begins with a conversation.
