Make Your Home Feel More Magical Today! Superstar Designer Amber Lewis Shares Insider Tips + Her Deeply Personal, Inspiring Journey to Skyrocketing Success

Does the space you live in right now feel as beautiful, magical and special as you are? Does it feel restorative? Livable, Curated, and in a Style that reflects who you truly are? The energy of the spaces we call home, can impact how we feel, and there are simple tips we can all learn, no matter the budget we’re on, to make our spaces feel even more special! Amber Lewis is one of the most talented, buzzed about, and in-demand interior designers right now, and she’s here in person today with you and me, to help us curate our own spaces, make our homes more magical, more livable, and even more…us! Amber Lewis is a seasoned interior designer, founder of a full-service design firm, Amber Interiors, touting clients across the country, the genius behind the brick-and-mortar and online retail stores Shoppe Amber Interiors, and as a result of her remarkable love from her customers and demand for her talents, in recent years, she has expanded her business into successful, multi-year furniture, rug, textile and décor collaborations with companies you love like Anthropologie, Loloi, Visual Comfort and more. She’s published two bestselling books, Call It Home and Made For Living, and Her brand new third book, a New Home Renovation and Interior Design Book: called Interiors: Curated Spaces from Start to Finish is available everywhere books are sold! ORDER AMBER LEWIS’ BRAND NEW BOOK! Interiors: Curated Spaces from Start to Finish is coming out next week! Get your copy here: https://amberinteriordesign.com/interiors-by-amber-lewis/ Follow Amber on Instagram at @amberinteriors for design inspiration, behind-the-scenes moments, and more from Amber and her world. I am so excited for this conversation and I am so happy you’re here, thank you for being part of the JKL Show podcast family, and thank you for sharing this with every single person that you know, who might need some inspiration and hope today, because we are all in this life together! And I have to say, I’m so excited to share today’s conversation with you! And if you could take 2 seconds and hit the subscribe button on the ap you’re listening or watching on…that way you’ll be the very first to get every inspirational episode! And whether you're joining me today for yourself or because someone that you love shared this episode with you, I want to welcome you to the Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast family. And remember this episode is not just for you and me. Please share it with every single person that you know because it can change their life too. ____ Chapters: 0:00 Welcome to The Jamie Kern Lima Show 14:05 Your Past Doesn’t Determine Your Future Success 18:50 “I’m a Big Believer In Reinvesting In Yourself” 38:05 1 Simple Way To Make Your Space More Peaceful Today 39:45 Best Way To Redo Your Space With A $500 Budget It’s such an honor to share this podcast together with you. And please note: I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to Subscribe to the YouTube Channel Follow me here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Sign up for my inspirational newsletter for YOU at:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ jamiekernlima.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Looking for my books on Amazon? Here they are! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WORTHY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Believe IT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jamie Kern Lima?

  Does the space you live in right now feel as beautiful, magical, and special as you are? Does it feel restorative, livable, curated, and in a style that reflects who you truly are? The energy of spaces we call home can impact how we feel. And there are simple tips that we can all learn, no matter the budget we're on, to make our spaces feel even more special. Amber Lewis is one of the most talented, buzzed about, and in-demand interior designers right now. And she is here in person today with you and me to help us curate our own spaces, make our homes more magical, more livable, and even more us.

• 0:43Jamie Kern Lima?

  Amber, thank you for being here. I'm so excited. Amber Lewis is a seasoned interior designer, founder of a full-service design firm, Amber Interiors, touting clients across the country, and the genius behind the brick and mortar and online retail stores, shop Amber Interiors. Right now, in this very moment, you have 115 employees. Your businesses are exploding all over the place. I don't even know how you make such great rugs. You have the product line, you have your interior design firm. You're just crushing it everywhere, also simultaneously be exploding on social media. So many of us, we think, oh, I'm not qualified, or I don't have what it takes, or these things happen to other people, or maybe they have connections, or they were handed this.

• 1:27Speaker 01

  We lived in literally like a trailer park. We had nothing compared to everyone around me. They had these beautiful lavish lives. And I got to see it in a very special way. It didn't happen at home, but it was in other people's homes. And I started to really appreciate design.

• 1:43Jamie Kern Lima?

  Were you six when you picked your first paint color for your bedroom? Like, super into that? Okay, you were 15, you started selling pillows.

• 1:49Speaker 01

  I started selling pillows. My mom bought me a sewing machine.

• 1:53Jamie Kern Lima?

  For anyone who's like, what is it like to work with a designer? I love to understand the process more so that I don't enter it blind. You break down in interiors the six stages of a project. And not only is she sharing answers to all of your most pressing design questions, she's also opening up like never before.

• 2:13Speaker 01

  Oh, gosh. Do you do this? Do you make people cry all the time? I can't believe I'm crying.

• 2:19Jamie Kern Lima?

  When people are often successful, usually it's not an accident. And to understand who Amber is behind Amber, you so ran your businesses with your husband at the time, and have since separated but are still in it together a million percent. You've been diagnosed with MS. Hearing how you've navigated really tough decisions. I mean, you're a badass. You're a badass, and you're really tough, and you're really ambitious, and you're no joke. And seeing that side of you. I'm getting emotional now. Everyone else cries on my show, but I'm like crying right now because I'm just like, I love this. As a result of her remarkable love from her customers and demand for her talents,

• 3:02Jamie Kern Lima?

  in recent years, she's expanded her business into successful, multi-year furniture, rug, textile, and decor collaborations with companies you love like Anthropologie, L'Oréal, Visual Comfort, and more. She's published two bestselling books, Call It Home and Made for Living, and her brand-new third book, a new home renovation and interior design book called Interiors: Curated Spaces from Start to Finish, is available everywhere books are sold. Interiors takes you through the six stages that define an Amber Interiors project: ponder, play, procure, patience and panic, pull it all together, and pride. Guiding you from the beginning of each new build or renovation project to the end of install

• 3:47Jamie Kern Lima?

  with helpful notes and advice on topics like playing with scale, selecting art, or how to work with an interior designer. Interiors gives you insights into Amber's inspirations and decisions, as well as her personalized source callouts highlighting specific products, finishes, paint colors, and brands that she returns to again and again. If you had to redo your living room and your budget was $500, what would you spend it on and what wouldn't you spend it on? How big should a rug be for a room?

• 4:21Speaker 01

  Always, my theory and my philosophy is you have to at least get...

• 4:27Jamie Kern Lima?

  What's one thing people are obsessed over when decorating or designing that you think actually doesn't matter at all?

• 4:33Speaker 01

  I actually don't want you to buy things that... I want you to buy...

• 4:38Jamie Kern Lima?

  Is there something that a lot of people buy, but then you think is not worth the money? This is one thing that seems so simple, but it is not. How do we know how many pillows to have on a couch?

• 4:50Speaker 01

  I like at least two in each corner, at least two.

• 4:53Jamie Kern Lima?

  Okay.

• 4:54Speaker 01

  And of a sofa.

• 4:56Jamie Kern Lima?

  I am so excited for this conversation, and I'm so happy that you are here. Thank you so much for being part of the Jamie Kern Lima Show Podcast family. And if you haven't done this yet, can you take two seconds and hit the subscribe button on the app that you're listening or watching on? That way, you're going to be the very first to get every inspirational episode. Plus, you can get weekly inspiration into your inbox from me for free. Just join my newsletter at jamiekernlima.com. And thank you for sharing this episode with every single person that you know who might need some inspiration and hope today, because we are all in this life together.

• 5:31Speaker 02

  Welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima Show.

• 5:35Jamie Kern Lima?

  Oprah, how have you defied the odds?

• 5:38Speaker 03

  Her show is unlike any I've ever done. A revelation. When you listen, it feels like a hug.

• 5:45Jamie Kern Lima?

  First Lady, Michelle Obama.

• 5:48Speaker 03

  Jamie, you are going so deep. I have never had this in-depth conversation.

• 5:53Jamie Kern Lima?

  I've actually never said that out loud to anybody in an interview before. You know how to get there.

• 6:00Speaker 03

  Your brain and your spirit and your heart is like, wow.

• 6:04Jamie Kern Lima?

  Melinda French Gates.

• 6:06Speaker 03

  When I look into Jamie's eyes, I feel like I am on some other cosmic level with her.

• 6:13Jamie Kern Lima?

  Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

• 6:15Speaker 03

  I wasn't expecting that one. I could see the light around her. She's infused with light.

• 6:20Jamie Kern Lima?

  Maria Shriver.

• 6:22Speaker 03

  I never made that mistake again.

• 6:24Jamie Kern Lima?

  Imagine overcoming self-doubt, learning to believe in yourself and trust yourself, and know you are enough. Welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima Show.

• 6:36Speaker 03

  Jamie Kern Lima is her name. Everybody needs Jamie Kern Lima in their life.

• 6:40Jamie Kern Lima?

  Jamie Kern Lima.

• 6:45Speaker 03

  Jamie, you're so inspiring. Jamie Kern Lima.

• 6:50Jamie Kern Lima?

  She traveled here today to join you and me in person. I am so excited to say, Amber Lewis, welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima Show.

• 6:58Speaker 01

  Thank you so much for having me. I am honored and excited to be here, very excited to be here.

• 7:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  I'm so excited you're here and so excited. I shared with you when we were walking over here, on days I'm just super stressed out or overwhelmed, I will literally go to your Instagram. Today's the first day we're meeting in person, but I will go to your Instagram. I will just scroll it, and somehow I feel better.

• 7:17Speaker 01

  Oh, well, that's the most, that's a huge compliment, so thank you very much. I like to keep it light and happy over there, at least try.

• 7:24Jamie Kern Lima?

  It is. It's light and happy. It's also just so inspiring.

• 7:26Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 7:27Jamie Kern Lima?

  I think everyone is really catching on to all your talents, so thank you for sharing it with all of us. And I'm excited for today. Congratulations on your new book out, Interiors, which we're going to dive into also.

• 7:40Speaker 01

  Thank you so much. It's awesome to be here. And yeah, I can't believe there's a third one up there. It's wild.

• 7:45Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, yeah, well, it's stunning. So whether we have a designer or are like doing it ourselves or on this continual journey of making our own space and home feel like it reflects who we truly are and how we want to feel, I'm so excited for your tips and your insights that we're going to talk about today from what's really worth the money, right? Because a lot of us are like, oh, I shouldn't have spent that, not worth it. Or it's the simple things we could do to bring more magic to our spaces, to the mistakes we need to avoid when it comes to wanting to feel even more grounded in our own home. But before we dive in, for people discovering Amber Lewis for the very first time today, your story on everything that you have gone through from the time you were little

• 8:30Jamie Kern Lima?

  to how you've created this business that's all around you, that's sort of exploding everywhere, that's multi, multi-channel, multi-dimensional, to where you are today. Can you share a bit about who you are, your story, what people should know about you who are maybe meeting you for the first time today?

• 8:46Speaker 01

  I have kind of a twisty, windy path to get to where we are today. I didn't really have any inkling of what I was going to do, per se, but I was always a pretty creative kid. So I, you know, I talk with my hands. I'm very out and very like crazy. I like to just experience life. I'm very curious. I'm very drawn to art. And I have always just been super creative. My mom and my dad are both extremely creative people. My mom's an incredible artist. My dad is a builder. And so I was always grown up in a world surrounded by creatives, but also just really like hardworking human beings. Come from a long line of teachers.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  We didn't have anything growing up. We had a very beautiful, awesome, very kind of run-of-the-mill life, but we didn't have money. I didn't, you know, nothing. My mom was always the mom making us avocado sandwiches. She's kind of a hippie. And we went to thrift stores, and it was just a very... Humble, awesome life. We camped a lot, didn't go on fancy vacations. And so we were like out in the world, out in the earth, always at the beach, you know, doing those things. And so I think I probably picked up my knack for being inspired by nature and the color palette and really wanting to understand art and understand

• 10:12Speaker 01

  things like textiles and vintage from a pretty young age. And then when I was in sixth grade, my family moved to Malibu. So we grew up at the beach, but we lived in literally like a trailer park. We had nothing compared to everyone around me. They had these beautiful lavish lives and I got to see it in a very special way because I wasn't, it didn't happen at home, but it was in other people's homes. And I started to really appreciate design in a way that it wasn't necessarily something that came naturally for me or something that I noticed that I love so much. But once I was in some of these homes and my dad was building some of these homes, I got to see this other side and I became obsessed with houses, just houses in general.

• 10:58Speaker 01

  And cut to high school, I really did not like school. And I know my dad was saying to me, growing up, you have to do something, you have to do something, but I love to work. And so at 15, I got my first job and I was working as a jewelry designer assistant. So I was watching all these like beautiful diamonds every day going dripping from these women. And I just also thought that was really beautiful. And so I would go to some of these women's houses and I would see these beautiful houses and just, I want to live like that. Like I want, not, not that I wanted to live like that. I just wanted to be a part of this beautiful home world. I thought it was pretty magical. So high school, barely graduated, honest to goodness. I hated school. I hated that I had to be

• 11:42Speaker 01

  stuck in, inside. I just wanted to be out in the world doing my thing. And so I just started working. And so from 15, I kind of learned that working was, was going to be part of my path. And I just started a business at 15. I started sewing pillows and selling them.

• 11:59Jamie Kern Lima?

  You were 15 when you started selling pillows. I read, were you six when you picked your first paint color for your bedroom, like super into that? Okay, you were 15, you started selling pillows. So sewing pillows, okay.

• 12:09Speaker 01

  My mom bought me a sewing machine for my like 15th birthday and I just learned how to sew and started sewing. And so I would take them down to the store down in like Cross Creek, which is in Malibu. It was very different when I was growing up. And I started selling these one of a kind pillows and I had kind of like a weird celebrity clientele, which is so bizarre to even say it now, but I think like Cher was one of the first ones who bought my pillows. And that was it. I just loved it and I loved that I had a business eye or like I wanted to have a business at a really young age, but I didn't really know how to define that. So cut to graduated high school and went to, I don't know, fashion school. Like, what do I do? I don't know what I'm going to do. I want to be

• 12:54Speaker 01

  creative. I can't, I didn't get into art school, didn't really try that hard, to be honest. I just thought, okay, I'm going to go to fashion school. Ended up at fashion school and that obviously wasn't for me either. So I started working in a home decor store. And in this home decor store, I was doing displays, but also selling behind the counter. And I got really addicted to remaking beds and setting tables. And customers were coming in, some high end customers were coming in and saying, hey, will she come and do that in my house? And so I got the opportunity to go into houses again, another kind of like running theme, go into houses again and see how the other half live, for lack of a better word, and help them kind of do their bathrooms or do their

• 13:39Speaker 01

  tablescapes or decorate for the holidays. And I was hooked. And that was it for me. And I ended up going to UCLA extension for a little while. And people started asking me to come into their homes and do like one room at a time.

• 13:52Jamie Kern Lima?

  What for the UCLA extension?

• 13:54Speaker 01

  I went for interior design, UCLA extension. Yeah, I ended up dropping out of that too, because I was very confident that I got this. I'm going to learn how to do this on my own.

• 14:02Jamie Kern Lima?

  I want to call this out for a minute because, you know, right now, in this very moment, as we're talking, you have 115 employees, your businesses are exploding all over the place. I don't even know how you make such great rugs, which we're going to talk about in a minute. But you have the product line, you have your interior design firm, you're just crushing it everywhere. Very few people are able to come up with creative content to also simultaneously be exploding on social media. You have all this stuff happening. And what I love so much that I think for someone listening right now, because so many of us, we think, oh, I'm not qualified. Or I don't have what it takes, or these things happen to other people, or maybe they have connections, or they were handed this, or they, you know, that kind of thing. And what I love so much about what you're sharing is you're like, okay, I didn't take the traditional path.

• 14:47Jamie Kern Lima?

  Like I was in more of a trailer style environment in Malibu. I started selling my own handmade pillows, right? So you had kind of both parts to you, the creative genius, but then also this business mind, you're 15, selling pillows to Cher and other people in Malibu. And then you, you know, aren't a fan of school and then you go to, go to fashion, you know, to, for fashion school, but, but you're, you don't like that. You drop out, then later go to design school, drop out. But you hustled and you went and got real world experience with different places. And I think, I think that's inspiring and going to ignite a lot of hope for people. Because there's a lot of people right now going, what do I do? Do I go to school? Do I have this, this huge debt? Do I, or, or I did go to

• 15:32Jamie Kern Lima?

  school, but that's not what I want to do. And how can I figure it out? So then you find yourself, okay, you're in a, you're in a retail store now, you're doing displays. And then what, what happens from there?

• 15:42Speaker 01

  So I just started getting asked to come to people's houses. And I would say, kind of like we were just talking about, I would say yes to everything. Someone asked me to come hand paint their baby's nursery. Yes, I'll be there. Like actually paint it myself. So go to the paint store, paint it myself and then hand make this little ivy enchanted garden with a bird's nest. Yes, I'll do that. And then another lady came in and said, will you come pick a paint color for me in my living room? Sure, no problem. So I'll paint it too. I was saying yes to all of the things. And eventually it kind of caught on with word of mouth. Someone would go into the living room and they'd see, okay, then I bought a sofa and I bought a vintage coffee table for this client and that client would tell their other friend. And then that

• 16:28Speaker 01

  other friend told their other friend. And then it just all sort of spiraled. It didn't really happen fast. I mean, it's been a very long time. I've been at this for, for years, I think 15 this year. But before that, it was always, always in the business in some way or another. I worked for a great interior designer that taught me so much. I didn't work for her for very long, but in the very small time, I just sort of sponged everything that I could. I learned as much as I possibly could and then had a really solid foundation that I kept kind of growing that from. So yeah, I didn't do the traditional route. It wasn't for me and I kind of identified that pretty young. I decided real fast that I'm not going to fake

• 17:12Speaker 01

  this. I don't think I'm cut out for school. I think I'm more cut out for working for somebody or running my own business.

• 17:20Jamie Kern Lima?

  Running my own thing. And to make the jump to where you're at now, I have so many questions for everyone because I was sharing with you earlier before, before the podcast that, you know, I'm aware enough to know things I'm good at, things I'm really not good at. And, and I can see when a space is so beautiful. Like when I look at your Instagram, I'm like, wow, look at this room, look at that room. Like I'm super into it. When I try to do that myself, I'm like, okay. You know, I will over furnish something so quickly, or I won't understand scale or whatever it might be. And for you, learning business, right? Because a lot of people are like, I have a business idea. I want to start my own thing, but you know, I

• 18:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  don't know what to do. I didn't go to business school or I don't, you know, that kind of thing. You now have this multi, multi-channel business from your own firm, from having 115 employees, which is a whole thing in and of itself, to product lines and collaborations everywhere, to retail brick and mortar stores, to online stores, to your blog, I mean, all of it. How have you figured that out as an entrepreneur? Have there been a lot of mistakes and regrets? And what's your sort of?

• 18:38Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, share, share that with the person going like, okay, I'm ready to take the leap. You know, how did Amber do it? What does it look like? What's your experience been holistically?

• 18:47Speaker 01

  I am a big believer in reinvesting in yourself. Every time I had a idea, I knew that I was ambitious enough and determined enough to figure it out. So I would reinvest in myself with trusting that my intuition was telling me the right thing. I would focus so hard on, okay, I'm going to build whatever it was I'm gonna do. I'll never forget, one of my first design projects, I didn't know how to charge. I had no idea really how to charge. I think in the past, I was just doing these small odd jobs. And so I would charge someone, you know, give me $500 or something to paint, whatever. And then I started to realize I had to level up. And so it was reinvesting in myself and believing in myself.

• 19:32Speaker 01

  I'm gonna put something out there. I'm gonna see what happens. And if this happens, my next move is gonna be a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger after that, and a little bit bigger. And so I would take these small experiences as a call to action to reinvest in the trust in myself that I got this and I'm gonna keep doing it. And I think that that's probably what's propelled me to the point today. Because I have no training, except for some hard knocks, figure it out on the, you know, hustling mentality. I didn't learn much. I really just learned by my own trial and error. And really hiring, you know, incredibly, basically, I would hire people that were filling the gap of where I didn't know something. So I would be really intuitive of saying, okay,

• 20:17Speaker 01

  I need someone who knows how to do computer drawings, because I don't know how. So I would hire an incredible drafts person to help me get an idea across. Or, you know, where I am today, we just hired our first CEO, which has been a really wild experience. But I got to the point where, what is my value? My value is creating? And running the brand and building the brand, my job is not, I'm not good at, like you said, scale. I'm not good at, um, at managing people so much. I love building teams, but I don't love like the day in, day out managing. And I'm really good at strategic, big, big thinking. I need someone who can run, run it better than I can.

• 21:00Speaker 01

  It's like you just learn your own scale. And so I reinvested in myself by hiring help. It's just been the kind of that process my whole life is just reinvesting in my intuition when I know it's time to make a new move.

• 21:14Jamie Kern Lima?

  Have you always been thinking about you at age 15, but also now? Have you always had the confidence to bet on yourself?

• 21:24Speaker 01

  In a weird way, no, I've learned how to, I think by the exact thing, trial and error. I would do something and it would succeed, and I would feel really, really good. And I would hang on to the feeling of it, feeling good, and I would believe in myself to do the next thing. I also fell on my ass a lot. I did things and failed and learned from those experiences. It never really detoured me from doing anything again. It just was almost, you know, okay, got that here on one shoulder, I understand. I can't do that. I'm not great at that. On this shoulder, I have this experience. And it just kept me sort of balanced to keep forward thinking. So I don't know. I, I, yeah, no, I didn't always have the confidence, but I've learned it over the years.

• 22:09Jamie Kern Lima?

  Well, I know you, you sort of co-ran your businesses with your husband at the time. And, uh, and have since separated, but are still in it together a million percent, which I'm gonna ask you about. You have shared that you've been diagnosed with MS. So much to talk about. I also want to ask a few sort of burning hot questions about design that so many of our listeners and viewers want to know, because a lot of us are, you know, we sort of do our own spaces, right? A lot, some people have designers, and a lot of people don't have the blessing of that. And a lot of people are just trying to figure it out on their own and trying to figure out, okay, what's worth it? What's not? How do I make my space feel energetically restorative?

• 22:54Jamie Kern Lima?

  Or like a place I just want to be, or I want to feel cozy in. So lots of questions for you on that. And I just want to ask you to sort of kick off this section with, if you would read an excerpt from your brand new book called Interiors, which is curated spaces from start to finish. You guys can pick up your copy right now, everywhere books are sold. And so excited for your third and soon to be very bestselling book. Let me hand you this.

• 23:21Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 23:22Jamie Kern Lima?

  Okay.

• 23:23Speaker 01

  Okay. I would argue that being a great interior designer isn't just about taste level or the ability to pick out beautiful things. It's not about the size of the project or the client's budget, though yes, having a realistic one helps. And it's definitely not about the perfectly styled glossy photos that you see in the end. Those are lovely and necessary for a lot of reasons, but they're just the byproduct. The real skill, it's being a mind reader, a vision-driven diplomat, a part-time therapist, a full-time budget manager, a psychic who can see the finished room before the studs or the drywall are even up. Creating an engaging design is rooted in listening, really listening to what a client wants,

• 24:07Speaker 01

  what the space needs, and what the project can actually support. It's about knowing how to steer the proverbial ship with intention and balancing beauty and function along the way to get something that feels effortless, personal, and timeless, something that feels just right.

• 24:24Jamie Kern Lima?

  So good.

• 24:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:25Jamie Kern Lima?

  So good.

• 24:27Speaker 01

  And I actually believe that, so.

• 24:28Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, yeah. When I read that, I'm like, ah, I felt like exhaling, like that's what we all kind of want, especially if someone's helping give their input on something so personal as our home.

• 24:42Jamie Kern Lima?

  But I love that you talk about the six stages, because for anyone who's like, what is it like to work with a designer? Or maybe there's people listening that are about to start a project right now, or they know they're going to remodel a space at some point. Or they're, you know, interviewing designers right now, or they're gonna be their own designer, or they're gonna hire their cousin for $500 to be their designer, right? We're, we're all in different moments and seasons right now. But I love that you break down, this is just so cool for me, I geeked out over this, because I love to understand the process more so that I don't enter it blind or whatever. You break down in interiors, um, the six stages of a project. You say ponder, play, procure, and patience and panic, pull it all together, and pride.

• 25:27Jamie Kern Lima?

  So I want to ask you about the six. You say ponder is the spark, the daydream, the big, okay, we're gonna do this, or we are doing this moment. Can you explain ponder for the person at home, and why is that stage important to them?

• 25:42Speaker 01

  It's extremely important to think about your dreams, your vision for the space. Ultimately, what you don't want to do is just see something that inspires you and say, yes, that applies to me, because it doesn't. I think you really have to think about the space that you're designing in a way that suits not only you, your family, whoever's living in the space, and decide how you want that space to feel. And it's not gonna come from one image. I think it's multitudes of images. I think it's really taking the time to ponder your ideas so that you can actually apply it into your space. It's the most important part. It's the, the beginning parts.

• 26:20Jamie Kern Lima?

  The ponder is the most important, it's kind of foundation.

• 26:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, they're all really important. But yeah, ponder is like the biggest thing, because that's like the thoughts before we start. So it's helping to really decide what you want the space to look like.

• 26:32Jamie Kern Lima?

  Okay, play, play, where you say where things get messy in the best way. Think swatches, wild ideas flying around, some winds, some flops, and a way to many mood boards.

• 26:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, and a good idea will die without the actual physical attributes that make it the really special space that it's gonna eventually end up being. So I'm a real believer and proponent of you have to have things. So is it fabric that is going to inspire you in your space? Is it the rugs? Is it the upholstery? I mean, it should be all of them. Is it the lighting? Whatever it is, it's having the ability to play with multitudes of elements that are gonna go in the space that have to help get you there. You can't just do it in a vacuum. You can't just say, I saw this one image, I want to recreate this exactly. It's never gonna look the same in your space. So it's that playing with size and scale and playing with colors and playing with swatches and samples that I really encourage people to do.

• 27:29Jamie Kern Lima?

  And then procure for all of us shopping fans out there procure AKA the shopping Olympics, vintage treasure hunts, custom pieces, flea market euphoria, and that moment when the perfect thing finds its forever home. Can you talk about the procurement process from a designer's perspective, but also maybe in the shoes of someone who is trying to do it on their own? How long should that take? How can people sort of, you know, we're in such a different world nowadays where you could just shop, you know, online like crazy. But also you talk a lot about like boots on the ground, in the flea market, in the vintage shops. Can you talk about procurement?

• 28:09Speaker 01

  Yes, it's my favorite part of the process because that's when you get to shop. That's when you get to curate. That's when you get to really build these beautiful pieces that are going to live with you forever. You're meant to not go through things super quick. I mean, I think that there's a time and a place. Sometimes we change things out and I encourage that. But I also love when you find these really beautiful moments in or things in your space that are going to last forever, whether or not they're going to be heirloom, whether or not they're just going to be something that your kids will remember. Remember when mom had that X or remember when dad had whatever, whatever that is, I think that that's the fun part is actually finding it and procuring the piece. And I don't ever want anyone to just go online shopping. That's just void of

• 28:51Speaker 01

  personality. You want a home to feel collected. And the only way to do that is to truly shop and get out there and to treasure hunt and to vintage source and find. And I think that everyone should have a little bit of that in their life. We try, you know, as, as a licenser and with all my other products, I try to really curate that for people so that they can pick something from the lighting collection, from a different company altogether and match that with another, you know, the rugs, like you were talking about. I want all those things to, you can procure those into your home and it will make sense. But I also really encourage people to get out and find things that really speak to them.

• 29:27Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah. Patience and panic is the next part. Equal parts waiting out lead times. Like when you're waiting for your furniture for four to six months, or you're waiting for any number of things, screaming internally when something finally arrives and it's wrong, which you say always happens. Can you talk about the patience and panic part of, of a project?

• 29:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, we've really gotten used to a world where we are perpetually inundated with instant gratification. You can immediately go online and see whatever it is, or you can Google search something and you're going to find it. That's not how the real world works. And I think, you know, when something is being made for you, a piece of furniture, unless you order a hundred of them and they're sitting somewhere in a warehouse, it's going to take a while for it to get to you. There has been a lot of misconception that like, oh, I can't believe something takes six to eight months. Well, it's going to take the person who's making it, if it's custom, that's going to take two to three months just getting the fabric to them. There's multiple people involved, lots of vendors.

• 30:32Speaker 01

  And so, you know, it's while that's a very customized point of view, if you're actually, you know, working with a designer and you're ordering everything custom, some stuff is going to just take some time. So you just have to take a deep breath and realize it's not going to come together with a snap of a finger. And I, and I want everyone to understand that that's the way that we should be doing our homes over time. And I think the patience and the panic part, the panic hum, everyone's going to panic about something. You're going to second guess yourself. I hope you do. I hope you second guess yourself a lot because it keeps us on us, on our toes. And then it keeps us wanting to make sure that the space is perfect. And then if you get something and it's not right, you know, there's, there's

• 31:14Speaker 01

  steps to take, but it's everyone experiences. You're not in a, you know, you're not in a vacuum. Everybody at one point, including someone who's been doing this for 15 years is going to have a moment where I'm like, oh my God, I made the wrong choice. Shit. Like I just screwed that up big time. Wrong choice. Oh no.

• 31:32Jamie Kern Lima?

  Do you have that very often?

• 31:34Speaker 01

  All the time.

• 31:34Jamie Kern Lima?

  Really?

• 31:35Speaker 01

  All the time.

• 31:35Jamie Kern Lima?

  And then do you tell your clients? You're like?

• 31:37Speaker 01

  Well, no, because, because I'm the trained professional that's supposed to never have those moments, but that's all bullshit. I have a hundred percent feel like that all the time going, oh my God, am I going to regret this?

• 31:48Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 31:49Speaker 01

  And almost always I talk myself off of that ledge before it gets too late, but I'm doing my own home right now, which we may or may not talk about, but I'm doing my own house right now. And I am second guessing so many things and changing my mind still, which I know better. I know that I'm not supposed to do that, but I'm a client after all in my, you know, in my new home. So I'm really actively taking a deep breath and going, it's okay to change your mind. It's okay to, you know,

• 32:16Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 32:16Speaker 01

  to decide.

• 32:17Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 32:17Speaker 01

  Want something different.

• 32:18Jamie Kern Lima?

  Well, that makes me feel better because I have those moments a lot where I'm like, did I make the right decision here?

• 32:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:22Jamie Kern Lima?

  Should we, all that kind of thing. Yeah. But it's also so fun. Next phase, pull it all together. Pull it all together. The magical mad dash of install week. And when we transcend project spreadsheets and outfit the spaces.

• 32:36Speaker 01

  Yes. So this is the part where we finally get to see all of what we've been pulling together for the years. Cause this again, does not happen overnight. It takes some of these projects that you're going to see in these book are five to six year projects. They start from dirt and we're building these homes. And so seeing it all come together in the very end is, is pretty magical. You get to finally see what's kept you up at night for the past six years.

• 33:00Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yes.

• 33:01Speaker 01

  You get to see all your hard work come together. And that's, you know, it's really kind of pulls me into pride because you also have so much pride and, and you're just joyful that you're seeing it all kind of come together. And it's so much work. It's so much work.

• 33:16Jamie Kern Lima?

  I know. I did a five year remodel once. So for, so when you do different projects, do you ever do faster projects or are most of yours multi multi year?

• 33:26Speaker 01

  If we're coming in and just doing furniture, furniture or the furnishings, we can do it as quick as lead times will allow us to. But we also have a very streamlined process at the firm, which we follow to suit. So we're very phase driven, phase one, two, three, four. We have a very strict kind of policy because what I don't like to do is over promise and under deliver. And I think when we come in and do things fast, there's always going to be an inevitable hang up that's going to always blow back on me. It doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with me. It's not, you're setting yourself up for failure if you're going to promise like, yes, I'll do it for in two months. No problem.

• 34:04Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  Some people can. I don't like that because I think with rush comes quality issues and it also comes a lack of creativity. I think you're just doing things what you can get quick.

• 34:13Jamie Kern Lima?

  Right.

• 34:13Speaker 01

  And you're not really thinking about the process, which again, back to why I think it's so important to really think about the space and how you want to use it. Because if you're doing things super fast, you're getting very fast results. And that means not always that you've thought about something. So you sometimes make more mistakes by doing something quick.

• 34:32Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 34:32Speaker 01

  Than you would if you just borrowed a couple more months to think about it and to really invest in the team that's thinking about it for you. If they need a couple months, give them a couple months.

• 34:40Jamie Kern Lima?

  I think this is good. A lot of people feel like they almost feel bad that if they're doing it themselves, that they still haven't finished it, or they still haven't, or they're, they still haven't started it yet. And you're giving them permission to be like, no, no, no, actually it's a good thing to take your time, you know, create when it comes to you. For your four phases, what are those four phases? Maybe for someone who hasn't experienced that before.

• 35:01Speaker 01

  Well, we're just in the very beginning, we're construction documents. So just documenting the process, getting fit with the team, the architecture, the, it depends on which the project is. So if we're doing a full remodel, the front end of that phase is just we're in the phase of getting the team sorted out.

• 35:20Jamie Kern Lima?

  Like the as built, the floor plans, those kinds of things.

• 35:22Speaker 01

  Yes. The second is when the construction's happening. So it's doors, windows, plumbing, material. Third phase is the FF and E. We're kind of pulling all the pieces together, all the inside stuff.

• 35:33Jamie Kern Lima?

  What's FF and E?

• 35:34Speaker 01

  FF and E is furniture.

• 35:37Jamie Kern Lima?

  It's a furniture.

• 35:37Speaker 01

  Furniture. Yeah. And equipment.

• 35:39Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yep.

• 35:39Speaker 01

  Those all the things that go in the house. If you were to flip the house upside down, what would fall out?

• 35:43Jamie Kern Lima?

  What would fall?

• 35:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:44Jamie Kern Lima?

  FF and E. Okay.

• 35:45Speaker 01

  And then your decorative lighting is also in the second phase. Third phase FF and E. And then the fourth is when you're really in like the stretches, the window coverings, the constructions finishing, and you're about ready to get the clients moved in and installed.

• 35:58Jamie Kern Lima?

  Got it. Got it. And then pride, let's talk about pride, which is the good kind of tears, the camera clicks, the client hugs, the we freaking did it moment. Talk about pride.

• 36:09Speaker 01

  Why do you, really when you get into any career, you have to have your purpose, right? What is the reason why you're doing any of it? And I think ultimately that end, that walking away from something that you've invested the past, however many years or months into, that is what gives you the purpose to continue. So the pride that I feel after a project is complete, the ability to look back at what we've just accomplished and what we just did, gives me the fuel to do another one because there's so many moments in which it's really discouraging. Ah, this is a lot. This job is too much. It's so stressful. There's so many people that are in the process that you can't control. Lead times to contractors,

• 36:53Speaker 01

  to trades, screwing up, whatever the case may be. You can't control those things. They're not, they're not you, they're them. So

• 37:02Jamie Kern Lima?

  It's like a giant puzzle, right?

• 37:03Speaker 01

  It is. It's like a big movie. Ultimately, you're just producing and managing a big, beautiful kind of production.

• 37:11Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, that's right. You're right. And then it finally comes out. I have so many friends in, that are in movies and they talk about it's years. It's the longest process. And then finally it's out. And it's like the biggest thing.

• 37:24Speaker 01

  Think about just your life. How many things in a, in a month change, including your mind? How many times you're like, I like the color green. I hate the color green. We're cyclical, you know, we've, we go through phases in our own lives. So doing something from one year to six years later, you have to really hone in on do what, am I going to like this in six years? Am I going to feel like this is timeless and classic and love this? So that's why I always ask for a little bit more time in the front so that there's some considered thought and idea going into it before you just say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you're going to end up just throwing good money after bad.

• 38:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  Okay. For the person listening right now who's like, Amber, I just want to feel better in my own space. What's one thing, maybe one just simple thing that they could do this weekend without spending thousands of dollars to make their space just sort of instantly feel more peaceful?

• 38:21Speaker 01

  It depends on the space, but I say sometimes just changing your bedding. That's a silly thing, but I love bedding so much. I love sheets and I love making them the bed. I feel like just making your bed or cleaning up your space or decluttering a drawer that's been lingering for a long time. It's those things that happen in our back, right? The backs of our mind that we know that there's a cluttered situation. Clean out a drawer. See what that does to your space and see what that does to your brain. And if it makes you feel invigorated to start and tackle something small, it's little bites. You bite off little pieces every day.

• 38:56Jamie Kern Lima?

  This is a very, I love, you and I are similar this way. Like I, I grew up, I'm adopted, I have five families and I've grown up around a lot of different situations. And I started working also when I was 15 and lots of jobs, waitress at Denny's. Like I've just cherished the value of a dollar and I've been around families where, oh my gosh, a hard earned dollar is a big deal. And so a question, and now, you know, you have designed all ranges of the spectrum to the most beautiful, beautiful homes out there.

• 39:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:28Jamie Kern Lima?

  And all ranges, but for the person sitting at home who's like, okay, you know, Amber, if you had to redo your living room and your budget was $500, what would you, what would you spend it on? And what wouldn't you spend it on?

• 39:44Speaker 01

  Okay, this is an easy one to me because I think it's little accessories that you can really invest in that will really make this similar to changing your bedding, change your pillows. Mmm. redecorate your coffee table, take everything out of your bookshelves and redo it. It, it doesn't have to be even money that you're spending. It's reorganizing what you currently have to work and feel fresh. Sometimes we're so in a culture of like, I need to buy something new. I need to get this, I need, I need, need, need, need.

• 40:14Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 40:14Speaker 01

  You don't need, you need to undo and redo and then fill in the blanks. What are you missing and invest in what you're missing, not what you already have. I think we tend to buy like, oh, I love the color, whatever. And then you buy a hundred of that color. Don't do that. Live with nothing for a second, remove so that you can re-add to if that is the answer.

• 40:37Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, that, that is. And on a random side note, if you're ever stressed out, go watch Amber on her Instagram doing shelves.

• 40:45Speaker 01

  Like, yeah.

• 40:47Jamie Kern Lima?

  The way you just like redo shelves on a bookshelf, I'll just be like, like I'll have like a 20 hour day where I'm so stressed out and there's some like high stakes podcast releasing or something. And I'll just watch you do shelves. And I'm like, oh, that's such a great tip. Okay, what's one thing people are obsessed over when decorating or designing that you think actually doesn't matter at all?

• 41:09Speaker 01

  Well, I think that probably what doesn't matter is if it's trendy or not. I actually don't want you to buy things that feel trending. I want you to buy things that you think you love now and that you thought you loved five years ago and that you think you'll love in five years from now. Don't want you to buy what feels like you should be buying. I want you to buy what you actually love.

• 41:31Jamie Kern Lima?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. When you design your pieces, because you've done, you know, you have all of your, all of your collaborations with different lines and your rugs and your lighting and your furniture and all of it. When you design it all, do you feel like for you personally, you would love every piece like 25 years from now?

• 41:52Speaker 01

  It has to take, it has to click that box for me. Sometimes we nail it, sometimes we don't. Sometimes I look back and go, I don't like that. We can just continue that. I feel, I feel bad about it, but like it's okay. The, the ship has sailed and don't like it, over it. But it's one of the first things I ask myself, would I like this in five years? Did I like this five years ago? And I think that is how I typically approach most product design because we are in such a cyclical trendy, what makes the most sense right now. And we are designing a year plus ahead of seasons. So I'm designing, I just submitted fall of 2027.

• 42:31Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 42:32Speaker 01

  Which is wild. So you have to remove yourself from what's happening right now and you have to think a little bit in the future.

• 42:38Jamie Kern Lima?

  Right. Isn't that, you know, a lot of people don't realize like the product timeline. Because when I was in, you know, running at cosmetic, so yeah, we were 18 months out, sometimes two years out.

• 42:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:48Jamie Kern Lima?

  And one of the things I loved is the company I built was not about trends. And I was like, all right, this product better be life-changing, it better be better than anything else out there. I want customers who want to just have, like use this forever and just keep rebuying it. And that also made my life so much easier because I used to also feel bad for a lot of my friends who run trend makeup businesses because they have to figure out what's going to be hot two years from now. But then also it goes out so fast. And so you are designing a year and a half out or over a year out.

• 43:18Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 43:18Jamie Kern Lima?

  And doing that from a, a perspective that you have of like, will I love this forever? Will this, will somebody have this in their home and feel like, oh, I'm going to love this forever? Not like, oh, it's going to be out in five seconds. Because a lot of the big brick and mortar retail stores are really just capitalizing on what's hot right now.

• 43:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:34Jamie Kern Lima?

  Which is a lot of pressure.

• 43:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I think continue, continuation of your aesthetic is really something that you need to focus on in the very get-go. So if you identify with being a more traditional designer, you can evolve and you can add more contemporary pieces. But it's just deciding, okay, this is my aesthetic, this is what I actually truly love. And then you have to just tune everything else out and design into what you feel is what you love. I mean, it's the same with homes. We've been doing those homes five years, six years sometimes. So you have to really choose materials that you know by the time the book comes out or by the time it launches into the world, that was, you made those decisions sometimes five, six years ago. And it has to still feel current and it has to still feel amazing today, even though you were in the past designing it.

• 44:21Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, when you, when you design for your own home.

• 44:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:24Jamie Kern Lima?

  Or for other people's homes, no matter the range it is for budget, do you personally feel like there's a big difference between putting in like an Amber Lewis and Lolloy rug? That's let's say a thousand dollars.

• 44:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:40Jamie Kern Lima?

  Uh, versus a vintage rug that is a similar style that's a hundred thousand dollars.

• 44:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:45Jamie Kern Lima?

  Do you personally think there's a big difference for a person?

• 44:49Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 44:50Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yes.

• 44:51Speaker 01

  I do, but it's the same thing as maybe buying organic or not buying organic. It's very different. It's two, it's like the same product, but one is just made a little bit more affordable and one is, you know, has a history or sourced a little bit more ethically or it's grown a little bit more safely, whatever that case may be. So typically when I'm buying a vintage rug, that's a kind of hard category to compare to because when you're designing mass products, you can't design with a hand, with someone who's hand-making something, right? That price point is not going to be for everybody. It's going to be for a very limited person who can afford that.

• 45:29Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 45:30Speaker 01

  So I think when I design products for a lower end range or the kind of more affordable range, I try to think about it with the lens of would I put this in my house if I could, you know, at this price range? And the answer always has to be yes. The same thing, I have to say yes to everything, otherwise I won't design into it.

• 45:49Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 45:50Speaker 01

  So I personally like a vintage rug so much. I just love that there's a story behind it. But if we're on a budget, then we just shop for, you know, ones that look like it.

• 46:00Jamie Kern Lima?

  Mm-hmm. And do you think most people can't really tell the difference?

• 46:05Speaker 01

  Well.

• 46:06Jamie Kern Lima?

  No, you're, I know your I can in two seconds. I know your, your I can in two seconds.

• 46:10Speaker 01

  It's designed so that you can't tell the difference.

• 46:13Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 46:14Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it's meant to be designed so that you can't tell the difference. And that's the encouraging thing. You want to be able to get the look if you can't afford necessarily the 100-year-old beautiful Tobre's rug.

• 46:24Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, it's interesting. I have three Frenchies, three French Bulldogs.

• 46:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:28Jamie Kern Lima?

  Who literally will ruin every rug.

• 46:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:30Jamie Kern Lima?

  And three kids.

• 46:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:32Jamie Kern Lima?

  And, and I find myself with rugs I've invested in, like, don't go on those, don't go near those. And then I have also bought, I have a couple of your rugs now from your Lolloy partnership. And what I love about them, first of all, when people come over, they freaking love them. They love those rugs even more than like some of the ones I've invested in.

• 46:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:54Jamie Kern Lima?

  Because I think most people, most people can't tell.

• 46:56Speaker 01

  I was going to say, can they tell the difference?

• 46:58Jamie Kern Lima?

  No, they just like freak out over how silky they are when you walk on them and how they feel. And I think they're printed design, right? Like, yeah. And then the thing I like about it is that I don't feel like it's going to possess, I don't feel like my possession is going to possess me.

• 47:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:12Jamie Kern Lima?

  Because my dogs just peed on it again.

• 47:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:15Jamie Kern Lima?

  Or something like that. So I kind of love the balance of it depending on the room, but they're so chic.

• 47:21Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 47:21Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 47:22Speaker 01

  We design products that can be lived in. I hate, and even on my projects that are fancy schmancy, I want people to put their sandy feet on the coffee table. I want things to get better with age and that's how I design. I don't ever want anything to feel too precious. If you spend $500,000 on a rug, first of all, I wouldn't ever let you. Number one, like, don't do that.

• 47:42Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 47:43Speaker 01

  Maybe there's a world in which there's some client who just wants that thing.

• 47:47Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 47:47Speaker 01

  But ultimately I don't like to design that either because good gracious is that just so much pressure. Nobody wants to live like that. You're right. I agree. Who wants to be worried that they can't live in the space that they just spent so much money on?

• 48:02Jamie Kern Lima?

  Right.

• 48:02Speaker 01

  You want to then be able to.

• 48:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  What's the point?

• 48:04Speaker 01

  Use it. What's the point?

• 48:05Jamie Kern Lima?

  I was going to ask you about that because a lot of us were raised, you know, if we were blessed enough to have a home.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:11Jamie Kern Lima?

  Or we went to our grandma's home. A lot of us have been in a home where they're like, that room is off limits.

• 48:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:18Jamie Kern Lima?

  No kids in that, don't touch anything. A fancy room. What are your thoughts on should we have that in our house or is that a waste of space?

• 48:26Speaker 01

  I think it's a waste of space. And I mean, I, you know, I say that, I, in my new house, I have a room that is our quote formal living room because the family room is attached to the kitchen on the other side. I appreciate it and I will, but I'm going to use it and I encourage you to use it. You never want a space that you can't use. What's the point?

• 48:46Jamie Kern Lima?

  What's the point?

• 48:46Speaker 01

  You want to get everything, like I say, when I'm asking you to curate your space, I want you to curate memories in that space as well. I want you to use the house and live in the house. Some of my favorite memories are from homes. It's not from, you know, being on the random, like at a restaurant.

• 49:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  Right.

• 49:03Speaker 01

  It's in a house. It's the memories and the experiences that were had within your walls.

• 49:09Jamie Kern Lima?

  Right, right.

• 49:10Speaker 01

  You spend so much time there too.

• 49:12Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah, well, and for someone who has a rental and they can't paint and they can't do anything.

• 49:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:18Jamie Kern Lima?

  What's a tip you have for them on just how to make it feel like theirs?

• 49:22Speaker 01

  Rugs and pillows.

• 49:23Jamie Kern Lima?

  Rugs and pillows.

• 49:24Speaker 01

  Always rugs and pillows. It's a really easy swap and change and it can really put a stamp of your personality on very easily. You love a vintage-inspired rug, put one down. You love vintage-inspired pillows or really beautiful plain pillows, but that, that will change a space immediately, immediately.

• 49:43Jamie Kern Lima?

  What, how big should a rug be for a room?

• 49:47Speaker 01

  Always, my theory and my philosophy is you have to at least get the front two legs of furniture pieces onto the rug. So you never want all of your furniture or like if you were to have a sofa and the rug is in the middle, no, no, that's a number one no-no for me. You always have to have at least your two front legs of your sofa. Bonus points if you can get all four on. And the same thing with chairs. If you can have all of your chair legs on a rug, then it's the right size.

• 50:20Jamie Kern Lima?

  And how much space between the wall and where the rug starts? In your ideal world of, let's say, a living room.

• 50:26Speaker 01

  There's a formula, but I think bigger the better.

• 50:28Jamie Kern Lima?

  Bigger the rug, the better.

• 50:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, I really agree that bigger rugs are better, in my opinion. I think they just add a lot of warmth and texture and layer to a space that you can't really get if it's just empty. I think it's like you have echo and then the lighting feels different. I think big.

• 50:45Jamie Kern Lima?

  Big. And for a bedroom, should it be under your whole bed? Should it come out?

• 50:50Speaker 01

  Well, it should be under your whole bed, but in front of your nightstands.

• 50:53Jamie Kern Lima?

  In front of?

• 50:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, three to four inches in front of your nightstands. Sometimes a little bit more, it depends on the space. But it should go past your nightstands, in front of your nightstands, and past the foot of your bed.

• 51:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  The foot of your bed. Okay, let's see, we are getting the insider secrets here.

• 51:08Speaker 01

  There's not a full one size fits all formula. But I also encourage people to really think about what feels right and what feels wrong in a space. I think we're all a lot more creatively in tune than we think that we are. And if you are like, does this look right? I'm not sure. Think about it, ponder about it a little bit longer, because I guarantee you'll figure out if it's right for you. And then I encourage you to, you know, do what's right for you. If it feels weird, then you're probably right.

• 51:36Jamie Kern Lima?

  Okay, this is one thing that's like, it seems so simple, but it is not.

• 51:40Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 51:41Jamie Kern Lima?

  How do we know how many pillows to have on a couch?

• 51:45Speaker 01

  I mean, you're asking the wrong girl.

• 51:47Jamie Kern Lima?

  A bed. Well, because you do lots. You do lots of pillows.

• 51:50Speaker 01

  I've been collecting and hoarding pillows since I can remember. I've been making pillows since I can remember. So I don't think that there's a formula, but I like at least two in each corner, at least two.

• 52:01Jamie Kern Lima?

  Hmm, okay.

• 52:02Speaker 01

  Of a sofa.

• 52:03Jamie Kern Lima?

  Of a sofa. Is there any such thing as too many?

• 52:07Speaker 01

  Yes, there is. I can't believe I'm saying that, but yes, there is definitely too many. Sometimes when you see, you know, those beds that are stacked with four or five in front of each side, that's too many. You don't need that many. Yeah, less is more. I think we go four decorative on a king size bed or a queen size bed.

• 52:26Jamie Kern Lima?

  Okay. I know you're not a big trends person, but what trend are you glad is maybe starting to fade? And what do you think, what trend you hope sticks around?

• 52:37Speaker 01

  Well, I, I don't love how there's a lot, there's a lot of arches. Everything's arched right now, which I'm kind of over. And it's not that they're bad. I just think it's a trend and it's sort of, everyone just caught on to this being like a very trendy shape.

• 52:54Jamie Kern Lima?

  I read you said this, like if it's like a modern house that has, where it's not like fitting and people are putting in arches versus if it's an actual like Spanish style house where that's authentic to its architecture.

• 53:07Speaker 01

  You want it to be an authentic decision for the architecture. I think you can add it in in furniture here and there. It is what it is. But I think ultimately try to choose things that match the actual architecture of the house. Don't just put in an arch because you want to put in an arch. I just think it looks like you put in an arch. And then it's going to date itself. You're going to be remembering that, oh yeah, in 24, 25, 26, it was arches.

• 53:32Speaker 01

  It ties it very specifically to a moment in time. And you want it to be timeless in that sense. You want it to feel very vaguely, was it then? Was it not then? I don't know. Who knows?

• 53:43Jamie Kern Lima?

  And is there anything that's trendy that you're like, oh, this is actually really good? And I hope it's like here to stay.

• 53:48Speaker 01

  I think people are really gravitating towards color, which I'm excited about and really kind of adding a lot more pops of it, which I think that has never really changed for me. I've had pops of color in so much that I do, and I'm really drawn to kind of saturated, beautiful tones. So I'm happy that that seems to be making a little comeback.

• 54:08Jamie Kern Lima?

  For someone who has heirlooms that are really special and sentimental, but they have a modern house or they have a, you know, spec house, or they have a, whatever it might be. They want their home to be sort of modern and whatever's going on right now, but then they have these heirlooms. How do you, how do you, I love so much, by the way, that, and you guys will see this if you pick up interiors, Amber's brand new book, or just hop onto her Instagram, onto her storefront that you can go to in person in California or online. But you mix a lot of things. I feel like you mix them really well. And sometimes people feel like, oh, I have this heirloom and I love it.

• 54:50Jamie Kern Lima?

  It reminds me of my family or a specific moment, but they don't know what to do because they feel like it doesn't match what they have. So how do you figure out how to weave that in and make it work?

• 55:04Speaker 01

  Well, first of all, try not to match. I think if you adopt the idea that not matching is maybe part of your aesthetic or kind of having this a little bit more eclectic idea. An eclectic idea will really go a long way, in my opinion. So I think that adding different genres of styles of furniture or texture or textiles or colors is actually what makes spaces really interesting. So I just say lean into it and go for it and just make it part of kind of your aesthetic identity.

• 55:36Jamie Kern Lima?

  Just do it.

• 55:36Speaker 01

  Just do it. Yeah, if you love it, then that's what's trending. Do what you love.

• 55:42Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah. Is there something that a lot of people buy, but then you think is not worth the money?

• 55:47Speaker 01

  Well, I think things that are worth the money, because I don't know if there's anything specifically that isn't worth the money, if it's something that you are really drawn to. But I think what will be a huge investment and is something that people should invest in is really nice, good quality upholstery, especially if we're sitting like in a family room or a sofa. I think you should be paying attention to the way that something feels and sits. You don't really want to go through sofas and go through chairs and go through coffee tables and stuff. Like you want your living spaces to feel really curated and thoughtful and like they're not cheap. So I would say upholstery pieces are a good investment to make.

• 56:30Jamie Kern Lima?

  When someone's home, when they feel like something's off energetically or like just something's not right.

• 56:40Jamie Kern Lima?

  You've been inside so many homes. I'm sure you go into so many friends' homes. Do you have, first of all, do you have the instinct when you walk into someone's house where you want to rearrange stuff?

• 56:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:48Jamie Kern Lima?

  All the time?

• 56:48Speaker 01

  It's psycho, yeah.

• 56:49Jamie Kern Lima?

  And do you say anything or do you like keep it inside?

• 56:52Speaker 01

  I know, I'm too kind to say something unless you're like a real good friend and someone asks me their opinion and I'll just sort of smile and go, yeah, you're probably on to something.

• 57:01Jamie Kern Lima?

  You probably want to move this here and that there and this here, that does not work.

• 57:04Speaker 01

  Or just, it's not that, it's just how do you better a space? It's not that I'm judging a space. It's that I know what I could do to make it feel a little bit different or better. And sometimes that is rearranging or sometimes that's adding or sometimes that's subtracting.

• 57:17Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah.

• 57:18Speaker 01

  Just walking in.

• 57:19Jamie Kern Lima?

  What would you say makes a home often look energetically off? Even if someone spent a lot of money on the stuff in there?

• 57:26Speaker 01

  Honestly, when things are.

• 57:28Jamie Kern Lima?

  Coming up in this incredible part two episode with Amber Lewis.

• 57:33Speaker 01

  Oh, gosh. Do you do this, do you make people cry all the time? I'm crying. It's tough to talk about. MS gave me that perspective of just I have a different fire under my ass now.

• 57:45Jamie Kern Lima?

  Really?

• 57:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, because tomorrow wasn't a guarantee.

• 57:48Jamie Kern Lima?

  Yeah. Wow, I'm so honored you're here.

• 57:51Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 57:52Jamie Kern Lima?

  Blessing all of us with your time.

• 57:54Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 57:54Jamie Kern Lima?

  Right now. Amber Lewis is one of the most talented, buzzed about and in-demand interior designers right now. And she is here in person today with you and me to help us curate our own spaces, make our homes more magical, more livable, and even more us. What would you say makes a home often look energetically off? Even if someone spent a lot of money on the stuff in there?

• 58:20Speaker 01

  Honestly, when things are.

• 58:22Jamie Kern Lima?

  Everyone wants to know, what's your favorite white paint?

• 58:25Speaker 01

  I have a few go-tos, but one of my favorites is.

• 58:31Jamie Kern Lima?

  The color around us can change how we feel. When it comes to kitchens, what's something that really, really matters? And what's something maybe that people get wrong a lot? How do you make a small room look bigger? What is something that often people will DIY, but you're like, oh, no, no, no, it's actually really worth, even if you're on a tight budget, it's really worth spending the money of actually hiring someone to do it, who really, this is what they do.

• 58:56Speaker 01

  Honestly.

• 58:57Jamie Kern Lima?

  Amber Lewis is a seasoned interior designer, founder of a full-service design firm, Amber Interiors, touting clients across the country. The genius behind the brick and mortar and online retail stores, shop Amber Interiors. And as a result of her remarkable love from her customers and demand for her talents, in recent years, she's expanded her business into successful multi-year furniture, rug, textile and decor collaborations with companies you love like Anthropologie, L'Oréal, Visual Comfort and more. She's published two bestselling books, Call It Home and Made for Living, and her brand new third book, a new home renovation and interior design book called Interiors,

• 59:40Jamie Kern Lima?

  Curated Spaces from Start to Finish, is available everywhere books are sold. And not only is she sharing answers to all of your most pressing design questions, she's also opening up like never before. We all go through things, we're all carrying things that no one can ever know or imagine unless they're inside our world.

• 1:00:02Speaker 01

  It just very clearly just said, yeah, you just have MS. MS is invisible and that is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. It's been a whirlwind. I've. One of the greatest things that's ever happened to me bizarrely has been this diagnosis. The perspective shift is something that you only get through a traumatic event. It's not anything I would have ever thought I needed because I was on such a mission to grow and big, big, big, next, next, next. And all of a sudden, you get sick and everything stops. You are just in your body, in your body that is failing you. And you no longer are living for anybody else. You're just trying to get through the day.

• 1:00:46Speaker 01

  And that is something that I would have never known had I not been given the perspective of this disease. I try to look at MS with a very day to day, how am I feeling today? If I let myself get too far ahead of myself with thinking about the future is when I tend to kind of collapse a little and feel very overwhelmed. I was with my ex from when I'm 22 years old and our life was really his life. We'd built everything together. We were a really, really, really strong team and we still are a very strong team. But marriage is tough. We went through a lot of trauma.

• 1:01:29Speaker 01

  Our married life was struggling and it was really hard. It was horrible. It was the hardest thing I think I've ever gone through. Taking those hard looks at your life are some, is when the most change and evolution happens. Getting sick, my whole rug was taken from underneath me. I had to look at every single thing and the people in my life too. I work with him every single day. He's my best friend.

• 1:01:58Jamie Kern Lima?

  He's your best friend right now.

• 1:01:59Speaker 01

  And we love each other so much.

• 1:02:02Jamie Kern Lima?

  Are you dating anyone now?

• 1:02:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:04Jamie Kern Lima?

  Do you think if you had never worked together, you'd still be married? Do you think if you had not been diagnosed with MS that you would still be married?

• 1:02:13Speaker 01

  I do actually think that.

• 1:02:14Jamie Kern Lima?

  Really?

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  You have to look back at your partnership as well and think, well, this is why.

• 1:02:20Jamie Kern Lima?

  You have a huge, thriving, avid fan community. I read that people have asked you to sign their chest.

• 1:02:27Speaker 01

  Their boobs.

• 1:02:28Jamie Kern Lima?

  Their boobs.

• 1:02:30Jamie Kern Lima?

  When people are often successful, usually it's not an accident. And to understand who Amber is behind Amber, hearing how you've navigated really tough decisions. I mean, you're a badass. You're a badass and you're really tough and you're really ambitious and you're no joke. And, and seeing that side of you. I'm getting emotional now. Everyone else cries on my show, but I'm like crying right now because I'm just like, I love this.

• 1:02:57Speaker 01

  Oh, man. It's like a therapy session, ma'am.

• 1:03:00Jamie Kern Lima?

  It's so beautiful.

• 1:03:01Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:03:02Jamie Kern Lima?

  You are not going to want to miss this incredible part two episode with Amber Lewis. That's coming up in the next episode of the Jamie Kern Lima Show. Remember this episode's not just for you and me. Please share this with every single person that you know, because it can impact and change their life too. And if you loved today's episode, please click the follow or subscribe button for the show on the app you're listening to it on or watching it on. And if it added value to your life, if you could please give it a rating or review, I'd be so grateful. We love a good five star around here. And again, please share it with everyone you know. Share it with another person whose life could benefit from it. Maybe you know someone making a change in their life or their home, or just they need a little shift in their environment.

• 1:03:46Jamie Kern Lima?

  You can share it with others online in your community who just might need the words and tools and tips and lessons and talent and genius in this episode today. You never know whose life you're meant to change by sharing this episode. And thank you so much for joining me today. But before you go, I want to share some words with you that couldn't be more true. You, right now, exactly as you are, are enough and fully worthy, the most worthy. You are worthy of your greatest hopes, your wildest dreams and all the unconditional love in the world. And it is an honor to welcome you to each and every episode of the Jamie Kern Lima Show here. I hope you'll come as you are, heal where you need, blossom what you choose, journey

• 1:04:29Jamie Kern Lima?

  toward your calling and stay as long as you'd like because you belong here. You are worthy. You are loved. You are love and I love you. And I cannot wait to join you on the next episode of the Jamie Kern Lima Show. And please note, I'm not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional.