Granny chic: Twisted Preppy designer Chloe Redmond Warner

Chloe Redmond Warner, Redmond Aldrich design: Eclectic Chic

It is difficult to believe that Chloe Redmond Warner, the impeccably turned out interior designer whose latest project is the eclectic-modern South Wine+Food Bar, was raised in Montana, by “hippie” parents. Turns out Chloe spent her childhood “obsessed” with her East-Coast grandparents, whose Maine house was her summer base. “They were so stylish,” she says, and influenced a lot of her taste. Warner’s education also kept her on the East Coast, where she attended Mount Holyoke. After graduation, a stint in San Francisco was followed by a move back East to attend Harvard University’s Architecture program, which Chloe found “very hard, more than I bargained for.” It was too theoretical for her, she recalls, and she didn’t exactly thrive, knowing all the while she wanted to do interior design, which some of the pure architects viewed as an inferior discipline, and thinking until the end she would drop out. Fortunately, her thesis project, which involved ten unique elevator concepts, was “all about creating mini-worlds,” and she was finally able to implement her ideas about surface and decoration. This project completely absorbed her and gave her focus, and was very well reviewed. After receiving her degree, Chloe followed her heart back to San Francisco, where she got married to her long-term boyfriend, purchased a new home, and started her business, all in a matter of months.

Chloe attempts to describe her signature look. “I would say it’s ‘granny,’ but people have told me not to use that word!” That’s probably because no one can imagine a granny as chic as Chloe’s must have been. “Ok, how about post-preppy glam? I like to think about what a rich Republican in the seventies would have done, and then push it further with weird colors and too much pattern.” Having experienced her grandparents’ house, she says, gives her the courage to go with things that don’t seem totally “right.”

For the South project, the Autralian-Kiwi owners told her “the weirder the better.” So Chloe came up with a new imaginary client: “A handsome, rugged uncle, not very PC, who hunts, drinks, and collects things. He’s straight, but not afraid to love unexpected stuff.” What this translates to are ostrich skin banquettes with nail heads, antique bird prints on the wall, drapes with a dramatically large flower print, modern plywood lights by David Trubridge hanging from an inky ceiling, and a mosaic bar inspired by a Maori infinity-sign-like pendant, made in China, rolled up like an extremely heavy rug for shipping (it was of course stuck in Customs for a while), and topped with an amazing slab of California walnut inlaid with bronze dust.

Chloe is thrilled about the direction in which her career is headed. She and her business partner, Tyler Dawson, who sometimes collaborate, sometimes not, on depending on the project, tend to “amplify rather than complement” each other, which according to Chloe can yield amazing results, even if she thinks they may need to create a balance, perhaps in the form of a third designer, in the future.

For now, Chloe has her hands full with several exciting residential projects that run the gamut from urban to elegant. But she can’t help but be especially thrilled with clients who evoke inspirations that might seem outlandish to a less audacious designer. Perhaps the strangest client request so far was for a built-in Kegerator in a bachelor’s very tasteful ‘entertainment kitchen.’ Chloe is quick to add, “it works really well- at first I thought it was absurd, but now I’m jealous!” And does she have more weirdness to look forward to? One of the firm’s current clients has requested a décor with, as inspiration, “Slim Keith meets Elvira Hancock.” Elvira Hancock? Chloe breaks into a smile. “Yes, Michelle Pfeiffer’s character in Scarface! Love that!”


We asked Chloe to free associate on several hot topics in decorating:

Symmetry?
“Yes! I’m a Virgo, I love symmetry!”

Lights?
“Everything on dimmer, that’s non-negotiable. And you need multiple sources, 3 levels if possible starting at below eye level and working up.”

Paint?
“I love dark ceilings and a picture rail for a crisp transition. And right now I’m obsessed with Shark gray.”

Books?
“My library is organized by color, and I love the Vitamin P and Vitamin D books. The Albertus Seba book is cool, but it’s everywhere.”

Collections?
“Taxidermy and bird prints. I have a ram’s head from my grandfather’s 1940 shooting trip to Alaska.”

Holiday decorations?
“Lights, fresh flowers, wreaths… I love to get my craft on, I love my hot glue gun and the smell of hot glue!”