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Flying kites in open fields, building forts in the woods, walking home from elementary school through the dunes—Sarah Sherman Samuel is feeling nostalgic for her Michigan childhood. So much so, she let these memories inspire her new SSS Atelier fall collection. The pieces are adorned with cheeky nods to the midwest landscape. There is a chair dubbed the Kite Chair that directly references the activity with its triangular back cushion. The Fort Cabinet, on the other hand, loosely recalls stacked wood with its slatted, rhythmic facade and the Bivvy chair takes its name from a bivouac (a temporary camp shelter). The Au Sable dining table gets its rambling shape from the Michigan river. In case you’ve been wondering, this is what Sarah Sherman Samuel has been up to lately—along with opening up her own gallery and renovating a mid-century house.
What colors feel fresh? How can we eliminate clutter? Where should we be spending our money in our homes? The expert’s opinion is one we seek out every season. Ahead, catch our latest conversation with the interior designer, including what exactly she’d store in that monolithic cabinet and the space that taught her about indoor-outdoor living.
The Most Challenging Design in My New Collection
The Dune Chair was probably the most challenging. It looks quite simple at first glance, but getting those curves just right took a lot of trial and error in the prototyping stage. I wanted it to have this soft, sculptural quality without feeling overly designed, so we kept refining and refining until the silhouette felt effortless.
The Pattern, Color, and Material on My Radar This Fall
Pattern: I’m still very drawn to botanical motifs, but ones that feel a little wild or abstracted rather than overly sweet or traditional.
Color: Oxblood. I love those deep wine and brown-red tones right now. They feel rich without being overly precious and work so beautifully with wood.
Material: Ceramic. I’ve been working so much with clay lately, and I love bringing that hand-worked quality into interiors, especially when it sits next to something much more refined.
The Piece That Feels the Most Me
The Pier Side Table. It has a lot of the things I’m continually drawn to: a strong, simple silhouette, natural material, and then this slightly unexpected artistic gesture with the ceramic eye inlays that I make by hand.
The Makers and Artists Inspiring Me
I’m finding myself inspired less by one particular discipline and more by people who are creating their own language between them. Steven Haulenbeek, Misha Kahn, Jay Sae Jung Oh, John Torreano, Thaddeus Wolfe, Chris Schanck, Krista Mezzadri [are] a few that I brought into our first show.
The Childhood Design Moment That Still Hits
I went to Lake Hills Elementary, which was built in the early ’70s and had this very particular late-mid-century architecture. It was low and sprawling, organized into learning pods with communal spaces rather than conventional classroom corridors, and it was set right in acres of wooded dune land. I think that early experience of architecture being integrated with landscape, and spaces being defined through volume and connection rather than just decoration, really stayed with me.
The Things I’d Store in the Massive Fort Cabinet
Everything! That is part of why I love it. I’m always drawn to pieces that can hide the realities of living while still being beautiful objects in their own right. It could hold a television and all the accompanying electronics, a bar, linens, serving pieces, games, books, art supplies.
The Best Organization Tip I Can Share
My biggest organizing philosophy is really just giving things a home where you actually use them. I’ve stopped trying to organize according to where something is supposed to go and instead think about where we naturally reach for it. I also love beautiful closed storage. Give me a giant cabinet with doors and let me hide it all away.
The Purchases I’m Excited to Make This Season
Art. Always art. I love that art can completely shift a room without changing anything else, and I’m always looking for pieces that introduce something I couldn’t have designed myself. That is usually what I’m most excited to live with. I also am looking forward to incorporating the Calliope chandelier into my house from my latest collection for Lulu and Georgia.
The Projects on My Punch List
We bought a James R. Bronkema, mid-century modern home about a year ago. [It was] renovated in the ’90s, so I’m really excited to peel back some of those layers and bring it closer to its mid-century roots while also making it feel relevant to how we live today.
The Design Trend I’m Over These Days
I’m probably less interested in being “over” a specific trend and more interested in moving away from spaces where everything feels like it came from the same moment. I want a room to have tension and layers: something old next to something new, something refined next to something handmade, a strange piece of art next to a very simple piece of furniture.