Designed to Be Felt, Not Just Seen

What Hailee Steinfeld’s home reveals about moving beyond trends—and creating spaces that reflect where you’re going

“It’s easier to play it safe, but it’s far more fun to take the risk and end up with something that you might fall in love with down the line.” This was the lens Hailee Steinfeld used when redesigning her home ahead of welcoming her newborn daughter, recently featured in Architectural Digest.

One detail stood out on the cover photo. She wasn’t just sitting on her boucle sofa, she quite literally wrapped herself in the fabric, turning it into a gown for the photoshoot. A bold fabric choice for the primary living room sofa, yes, but not a random one. It was guided by trust in her design instinct and the expertise of her interior designer.

The intention behind the stylish and comfortable fabric choice was how it would make the space feel, how it would make her feel, not because it was the popular choice for a primary sofa.

That same shift is showing up more and more in my client work. In a recent consultation, a client in similar shoes as Steinfeld, shared that she had spent years trying to recreate what she saw in magazine spreads, Pinterest boards, and influencer advice to be left with a cookie cutter home that neither felt warm, comfortable or even one she loved.   

Now, in the middle of a significant life transition; a promotion, a move, and preparing for motherhood, my client recognized that the next chapter of her life required a different level of decision-making and expertise. She was ready to stop defaulting to what “worked” in the past, and started thinking about the space that aligned with where she was going.

So I’m curious—

What’s one decision you took a risk on that, looking back, you’re glad you did?