Designer Crush: Grant Gibson

Author:Michelle Konstantinovsky

1. How did you first get started in design, and what led you to starting your own company?

I worked in visual merchandising before moving to interior design. I had a friend in New York that knew a designer looking for a design assistant. The rest, as they say, is history. 

2. What prompted the move from New York to San Francisco and how did the relocation impact the direction of the company?

I loved my years living in New York but realized that I was a California boy at heart (I grew up in Los Angeles). I had always loved the food, architecture, and weather in San Francisco, so it seemed like a good fit.  It has been a great place to live for the last 15 years. 

3. What are some examples of seemingly small details that help personalize a client’s space?

The work my office tends to do is a combination of vintage mixed with custom.  This allows us to create a space that feel unique and special to our clients.  There is nothing wrong with large retail companies, but I am not attracted to mass produced items.  Our philosophy is that a home is the ultimate reflection of personality: interiors are about the people who inhabit them, and each interior is unique.

4. You write about your travels quite frequently on your blog — how has travel influenced your work?

Whenever I am feeling like I need inspiration, traveling always helps. This doesn’t mean that you have to always jump on a plane and be gone for weeks. This can be as simple as taking an afternoon drive and going for a walk on the beach. Travel is a large part of my life.  My next big adventure is to India at the end of the year. I am going to be photographing for a book that I’m working on that is coming out in 2018. 

5. Who would be your absolute dream celebrity client and why?

Diane Keaton. She loves architecture, history and loves to restore homes.

6. What’s your go-to activity or strategy when you’re feeling creatively blocked?

Leave the office, go grocery shopping and get lost in the kitchen cooking for hours.  I find that I can daydream while in the kitchen and the ideas begin to flow.

7. What are some of the best ways for you to gauge a client’s personality?

Listen.

Lightning round!  

8. Winter or summer?

Summer.

9. Hard rock or hip hop?

Neither.

10. Action or comedy?

Comedy.

10. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Haven’t seen either. 

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