Interior Designer Abby Hetherington | In her own words

Quotes by Abby Hetherington, from an interview on January 12^th at 5 p.m. in her interior design firm’s offices located at the back of The Architect’s Wife in Bozeman.

A client said of our design, “Nothing ever matches, but it works perfectly together,” and I thought, “That’s the best compliment.”

We go anywhere. We might go to an antique show in Texas, to California or to New York; it’s just wherever we want to go to shop for the client. It’s really fun.

Bozeman is so rad in the sense that they will give anybody a try.

Family is a huge part of my life, and my clients tend to have the same values. So we’re creating spaces that everyone wants to enjoy together and participate in.

I had this big cornhusk, a sign that I found at a store in SoHo, that I had to buy and ship back here. Because I knew it would make this one family laugh, and they’d want to work it in. A big part of my design is having a sense of humor.

The reason why we opened The Architect’s Wife—because not everybody needs a designer. What I want is for them to have a space with found objects, loved objects, so that people can come in and have a resource to do it themselves.

We may not have a phone ringing off the hook, but when we do get that phone call, we are so lucky to get the clients and projects that we want.

My designs are complex, and I get away with it because of all the attention to color, texture, and tone. And that’s how I can go over the top without people feeling like they’re sick or they’re in a circus.

We have an architect on staff, we have a graphic designer on staff, we have a designer and a junior designer on staff, I have a project manager that writes up all our orders, places those orders. And I’m the worst employee out of all of them.

Growing up, we went to the theatre or to museums while travelling, and that continues to influence my design and how I look at doing a space.

My parents were concerned about how I was going to survive in the world, being creative. And so I didn’t know what to go to school for, or what to do. I had a family friend, an interior designer, and he said I should try it.

My project style, I call it “high-end casual,” because I want the quality and I want the luxurious fabrics, and also I really want it to be casual.

I wish I loved to read, but I’m more one of those people who likes to partake and be in the moment.

I want the home to look like a collection.

There’s no way that I could do any of this without the team that I have.

A lot of people don’t notice us back here behind The Architect’s Wife; I don’t really advertise the (interior design) firm, and the firm is what keeps it all going.

I am not a morning person or a night person, I wake up when the Sun comes up and I just go straight into the night. I’m up. If there’s something fun to do, I’m not going to bed.

People get trapped; they have to be in a certain box or a certain look, do or say a certain thing. It’s your home, it’s your sanctuary.

There’s something exciting about design when somebody feels a little bit uncomfortable and unsure about it.

Most of our clients are second- or third-home owners, and we get to create something like a stage. Think of a play. We’re creating the set for a family to come and enjoy a holiday.

I love finding up-and-coming artists who are taking the risks, putting themselves out there, showing their work, and having confidence in themselves. It’s my way of supporting them. I had so many people, locally, support me four years ago, when I was on my own, just starting out.

Like Shaw at the Misco Mill, taking found objects and creating lamps. I really think Sherlyn Wilcox—she’s incredible, abstract—I just love watching her work grow. And I really support Ben Pease; he is doing some incredible art.

I used to sit back and be bummed, “Oh, why aren’t we going up for that interview?” We are at the point now where we get brought to the right projects and to the right clients—and that’s a bigger compliment.

 

 

 

Abby Hetherington Interiors and The Architect’s Wife are both located at 23 W. Babcock Street in downtown Bozeman.

 

Photos by Audrey Hall and Cathy Copp.