Happy Pride Month! Tile Club is proud to continue our focus on inclusivity and building bridges within the interior design world. It’s always the right time to focus on diversity within our community, but June is an especially great month to spotlight some of the incredible LGBTQ interior designers who are driving home decor trends and leaving their mark on the world of interiors. We’re sharing 5 industry-leading LGBTQ designers that never fail to inspire us, but we’d love to hear some of your picks in the comments below!
Nate Berkus is one of many gifts Oprah has introduced to the world! He became a household name thanks to a regular feature on her show, but the talent that drew the Queen of Daytime television is all his own. He sees his designs as extensions of the homeowner, turning their past and future into a liveable space that celebrates what they love, where they’ve been, and where they’re going. He and his husband, fellow designer Jeremiah Brent, have parlayed their shared love into their own TV show along with lines at Target and Living Spaces. They have managed to go mainstream as two of the most recognized LGBTQ interior designers thanks to their shows and campaigns as a couple. Nate's star power has even led him to design for major celebrities, like this mid century living room for Ricky Martin.
Photo credits via Nate Berkus and Associates
Shavonda Gardner is a pioneer in the small spaces movement, serving up inspiration on her interior and lifestyle blog that manages to make the incredible feel attainable. She chronicles design trends, room makeovers, and unexpected details (geode crystal slices turned drawer pulls for a refurbished dresser, anyone?), along with a healthy selection of ways to interpret her designs in your own home. Her work skews towards the colorful and vibrant with an incredible eye for mixing prints and patterns. She documents the updates on the 1940s bungalow she and her wife share with their two kids, a dog, and a growing herd of chickens. She favors deeper tones than the oh-so-prevalent stream of Scandinavian interiors that flood any interior Instagram tag, offering refreshing inspiration for incorporating dynamic colors into your decor. A frequent participant in the One Room Challenge, she never fails to stun with her incredible interior makeovers.
Photo credits via SG Style Blog
John McClain guides his trademark interior design firm by the three P’s - partnership, passion, and proven results. He believes they are the key to creating a home that his clients will love living in, and his portfolio is filled with high end examples. His love of home design was instilled at an early age, thanks to his family’s background in home building and remodeling. He proves to be just as adept at high impact minimalist interiors with dramatic colors and simplified decor as he is at airy interiors with a mix of gentle grays, whites, and gold - excuse us while we Pin every angle of this living room for future reference!
Photo credits via John McClain Design
If Bobby Berk looks familiar, it’s probably thanks to that Queer Eye binge watch! His position as the Fab Five’s resident interior designer showcases his belief that transforming your home can help transform your life, imbuing the show’s made over participants with the idea that a ‘happy home can mean a happy life’.If he’s a new name to you, prepare to fall for these stylish interiors that are as insightful as they are beautiful. His recent post details experts’ expected changes to the way we approach interior design in the days of COVID and beyond, tracking the ways he envisions that we’ll home differently considering it’s now our dwelling, office, and sanctuary. He also explores the intersections of orientation, gender, and ethnicity, examining the impact they have on the way we approach interior design as an industry and how to better support the individuals within it.
Photo credits via Bobby Berk
If you’ve ever wondered what Kylie Jenner’s living room looks like or how Kourtney Kardashian decorated her kitchen, Martyn Lawrence Bullard is the one to turn to (the answers are black, white, and pink pop art inspired by her lip kit packaging, and understated Tuscan neutrals with top of the line appliances, respectively). With such a star studded client list, he’s more than earned his starring role on Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators. He also counts glitterati like Cher, Ellen Pompeo, and Eva Mendes among his Southern California clientele, in case your taste is less E! News. His stunning portfolio runs the gamut from Calabasas luxury to Old World elegance with impressive ease, speaking to his incredible talent for bringing out the tastes and preferences of his clients and drenching them in luxury.
Photo credits via Martyn Lawrence Bullard
Here’s hoping we can work on expanding this list and making the design world an open and inclusive space, long after Pride month is over. We’re dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusivity within our elite team of interior pros and tile teams, and hope that you’ll join us in that pledge!
Celebrating LGBTQ Interior Designers for Pride Month