Best Design Projects: Podcast Highlights 2025

This episode is part two of my Best of 2025 series, and it’s all about show and tell—those moments when designers walk us through a room and explain why it works. I pulled clips from conversations where we slowed down and really looked at composition, color, pattern, texture, and the quiet decisions that hold a space together. These are rooms best seen as much as heard, which is why this episode pairs especially well with YouTube. From bold, expressive spaces to calm, disciplined palettes, each designer reveals how intention, repetition, and play shape the way a room feels. It’s a reminder that beautiful interiors aren’t accidental—they’re built thoughtfully, one choice at a time.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

This episode is part two of my Best of 2025 series, and this time I wanted to focus on something very specific: show and tell. These are the moments when designers don’t just share a finished room, but slow down and walk us through it—explaining how it came together, what guided their decisions, and why certain combinations work as well as they do.

These conversations are about looking closely. About noticing shape, repetition, scale, texture, and the subtle relationships between things. Many of these rooms are best experienced visually, which is why this episode pairs especially well with YouTube, but even just listening, there’s so much to learn from how these designers think.

Jewel Marlowe: Following the Shape of an Idea

One of the first clips in this episode comes from my conversation with Jewel Marlowe, and it’s a perfect example of how a room can be driven by a single, quiet idea. In this case, it was triangles.

At first glance, the room feels bold—deep color, dramatic contrasts, unexpected pairings. But as Jewel explains her thinking, you realize how disciplined it actually is. The ceiling and walls are painted the same saturated blue, blurring the line between where one plane ends and another begins. The effect isn’t heavy or oppressive—it’s immersive. Cozy, yes, but also expansive, like being wrapped in the night sky.

As we look closer, the story of triangles begins to reveal itself: a postmodern triangular sconce, triangular chandeliers in connected spaces, obelisks echoing the same upward geometry. Even pieces from different eras work together because they share a common shape and a shared restraint in color.

What I love about Jewel’s work is how considered it is. Nothing feels arbitrary. Every object is part of a larger composition, even when the result feels playful or expressive.

Natalie Papier: Starting With the Art

Natalie Papier’s work always reminds me how powerful it is to truly start with the art. In one room we discuss, a single painting becomes the emotional and visual anchor for everything else. The wall color, furniture, rug, and even the negative space of crisp white bedding all exist to support and elevate that artwork.

The painting itself is joyful—figures dancing, bathing, moving with energy—and that whimsy carries through the space. Squiggle lines in the textiles, playful patterns, and a bold but balanced color palette all reinforce the mood without competing with the art.

In another example, Natalie shows how a framed textile informs not just color, but pattern. Large-scale diamonds on the wall are paired with much smaller, quieter patterns on the stairs and wallpaper. Nothing fights for attention because scale is doing the work. It’s maximalism, but curated—rich, layered, and intentional.

Natalie also talks about entryways, and how often they’re overlooked. I couldn’t agree more. An entry sets the tone. It tells you who lives there. And when it’s done with care, it can say so much before you’ve even stepped fully inside.

Vern Yip: Texture, Contrast, and the Power of Restraint

My conversation with Vern Yip zooms in on something deceptively simple: a small vignette on a mantel. A pot of flowers, the edge of a framed artwork, a wall covering, stone, marble. That’s it. And yet, there’s an entire lesson contained in that one corner.

Vern talks about the interplay of opposites—rough against smooth, matte against shine, organic against geometric. The eel-skin–inspired wall covering has both texture and structure. The marble is cool and fluid. The limestone mantel is soft and chalky. A glass vessel adds sheen. A gilded frame catches the light.

What I love here is the reminder that not everything can shout. If everything is rough, nothing feels special. If everything is shiny, nothing stands out. Balance is what allows each material to do its job. For me, as someone who loves layers and sensory richness, this vignette shows how you can have depth without clutter.

Jade Joyner: Designing for Real Life

Jade Joyner’s project is a masterclass in scale, layout, and real-life living. This is a large family room that had to do a lot—seating, dining, TV watching, game nights—and still feel elevated.

The walnut built-ins immediately set a tone of craftsmanship and warmth, but Jade balances that richness with art that feels personal and approachable. She layers pottery-inspired elements, hammered brass sconces, sculptural objects, and contemporary forms so the space never tips too formal or too precious.

I was especially drawn to her emphasis on play. A sculptural stool that looks like a tree stump. A ball-shaped pillow that actually gets thrown around by her clients’ five children. Organic marble coffee tables that can be shifted and rearranged. This is a room that invites use, not just admiration.

And yes, there’s a TV—but it’s integrated thoughtfully, tucked into built-ins, never dominating the room. It’s a reminder that good design doesn’t ignore how people live. It supports it.

Fariha Nasir: Creating a Jewel Box for Guests

Fariha Nasir’s guest suite is a love letter to hospitality. Designed for long stays from family members, this room was meant to feel enveloping, special, and deeply comfortable.

She takes a single color—Sulking Room Pink—and carries it from walls to ceiling, creating a warm, saturated hug of a space. Beadboard applied vertically above wall paneling adds subtle texture and rhythm. Alabaster sconces with brass detailing bring softness and glow.

Layer upon layer of pattern appears in the bedding and curtains—stripes, block prints, handwoven textiles—but because the palette is restrained, the room feels calm rather than busy. The adjacent bathroom continues the story with hand-painted block-print patterns, handmade tile, and thoughtful color variation.

This is a space that proves luxury doesn’t have to be loud. It can be deeply personal, crafted slowly, and full of care.

Gabriela Eisenhart: The Quiet Power of Neutrals

Gabriela Eisenhart’s work is a reminder that neutral doesn’t mean flat. In one space we discuss, the color palette is disciplined—browns, creams, whites, brass—with just one restrained green chair and plenty of living plants.

The green doesn’t feel like a “pop.” It feels inevitable. As Gabriela says, green is a neutral. Texture does the heavy lifting here: reeded wood, wool rugs, cane-front cabinetry, yarn-like stools, layered metals. Pattern exists, but in an unassuming way.

The result is calm, warm, and deeply inviting. A space that proves you don’t need bold color to create interest—you need depth.

Ros Byam Shaw: Mastery of the Mix

I wanted to end this episode with Ros Byam Shaw because her work so beautifully captures the idea of visual flow. We talk about sightlines—how rooms relate to one another, how color and pattern lead the eye from space to space.

These homes are layered, busy, full of rugs, wallpaper, and collected objects. And yet, they work. There’s a harmony in the richness. A balance that’s hard to dissect but easy to feel.

Ros reminds us that people who are very good at this make it look effortless. But it isn’t accidental. It’s the result of years of looking, collecting, adjusting, and—most importantly—playing.

And that’s really what this episode is about. Slowing down. Paying attention. Trying things. Living with them. And trusting that beautiful rooms are built over time, one thoughtful choice at a time.

As I listen back to these conversations, what stands out most isn’t a particular color, style, or rule—it’s the care behind each decision. None of these rooms happened all at once. They were shaped slowly, through observation, repetition, editing, and play. Every designer in this episode is paying attention—to how a room feels, how it’s used, and how the pieces speak to one another over time.

I hope this episode encourages you to look at your own spaces a little differently. To study what’s already there. To notice the shapes, the textures, the sightlines, and the quiet opportunities for refinement. Good design isn’t about doing more—it’s about seeing more. And when you slow down enough to really look, a room will often tell you exactly what it needs next.

See You In 2026

-Zandra