# The Next Right Thing with This Oak House's Annie Meyers-Shyer

An episode of [The Install: Life & Design with Paloma and Caroline](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1885981800), 22 Sep 2026, 55 min.

Audio: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/ba811432e2f7106f033caae8a733213657dbe484d8e1a6430c0e3099d846240b/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJjMGJmOGQ1Zi0wOWE4LTQyMzctYjE3NS1iMWMzNjA3NjBlZjciLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI3Y2ZlNDgzNC0zOTgyLTRlZmEtOGUxNi05MDdkZTQ4ODUyMjkiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTY5MDBmYmNiNTY4OTM1YWE2NWJkYTIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmFhZWNlYjc3YzI0NTg1NzBlODNjMThkL3RoZWluc3RhbGxwb2RjYXN0cy1zdHVkaW8tMjAyNi05LTE5X18xOC00LTM5Lm1wMyJ9.mp3

Paloma and Caroline begin with September overload, tennis trauma, and the apparently unreasonable notion that opponents should hit the ball somewhere you can actually reach it. Then they welcome Annie Meyers-Shyer, whose path from Harper’s Bazaar and Chanel to the beloved This Oak House proves that a sharp eye is only the beginning—the details, collaboration, and occasional plywood mock-up make the room. Annie shares how she preserved the soul of her Gerard Colcord house, built an audience by pulling back the curtain on renovation, and learned to follow “the next right thing.” Plus: why balance is a fallacy, living rooms are underrated, and fake cutting boards should be shown the door. Subscribe and Follow Subscribe to The Install Edit on Substack: https://theinstallpodcast.substack.com/ YouTube: @theinstalldesignpodcast Instagram: @theinstallpodcast TikTok: @theinstallpocast Paloma: www.palomacontreras.com Instagram: @palomacontrerasdesign TikTok: @palomacontrerasdesign ShopMy: @palomacontreras Caroline: www.carolinegidiere.com Instagram: @carolinegidieredesign TikTok: @carolinegidieredesignbts ShopMy: @carolinegidiere Chapters • 00:17 — September Scramble • 02:24 — Fitness High • 03:41 — Tennis Trouble • 07:50 — Television Tolerance • 12:48 — Austen Adaptations • 14:22 — Meet Annie • 17:33 — Fashion Foundations • 21:04 — Defining Taste • 24:15 — Designer Collaboration • 28:55 — Finding Home • 31:05 — Colcord Character • 32:34 — Preservation Pressure • 33:53 — Hard Decisions • 36:59 — Let It Breathe • 38:50 — Sharing Sources • 41:49 — Balance Fallacy • 44:56 — Storytelling Homes • 48:07 — Rapid Fire • 52:20 — Phase Two • 54:24 — Birmingham Bound Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: SUDAKA5LHSDHNL85

## Transcript

Caroline: Hey Paloma.
Paloma: Hey Caroline, how are you?
Caroline: I'm doing good, doing good. How's your week going?
Paloma: Good. my gosh, it's crazy. we're recording the week after Labor Day. So, you know, it's kind of nice to have a short week in some ways, but also stressful because you've got to fit five days worth of work into four.
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: and my my low this week is that My schedule's just insane this month. I had to take some time off in the summer and really like had to hit the ground running on my calendar come September. And I counted this morning. I'm in the office eight days this month. Just eight days. I have lots of travel. We are opening the Southern Living Idea House next month next week. So
Caroline: Mm.
Paloma: since I'm doing a show house, that's been keeping me busy. I was there
Caroline: Yeah, always.
Paloma: Photographing it last week, home this week, there for the opening next week. The week after that, I go to Chicago to shoot a beautiful project in Kenilworth, which is a lovely suburb on the North Shore, right off of the lake there, Michigan. so I'm very excited because we've been working on that for a couple of years. So that's that'll be a fun one. and then I come to see you at the end of the month
Caroline: Yeah. Yay!
Paloma: in Birmingham for an event that I'm doing with Visual Comfort and Veranda, and then you and I. Some fun pod stuff and catch up, which will be great.
Caroline: Yay!
Paloma: It's all good, it's all good things, you know. It's just it's it's a lot at one time. And then to simultaneously have to keep up with our projects. I've got to wrap up the design of two houses this month sometime between all of that. You know, I
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: will work on it on the road when I can. And then we're also hiring for two positions. We're hiring a project manager slash interior designer and
Caroline: Damn.
Paloma: then our studio manager role as well. So you know, just like combing through resumes, interviewing people. Yes.
Caroline: That's a lot and you've been sick. Yeah.
Paloma: so it's crazy. That is my high. I'm sorry, my low. My high, I guess, is knowing that
Caroline: I hope that ended in your high.
Paloma: October is around the bend and all of this will be behind me soon enough. But
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: for now it's just like one hour at a time. What about you? Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Bird by bird, bird by bird. Okay, well, yeah, it's a busy time. September traditionally is always just gonna be slammed, right? Because people
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: get back, I mean, like everything gets crammed into, I'm gonna say the first two weeks of October and September. Everybody
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: wants their project moving and you gotta get it moving if you're gonna get it finished ahead of everything. it's always crazy. But my... My high and low are, you know, I'm hitting a space in, as with all things, it's like two sides of the same coin. My high and my low are kind of combined. I'm hitting a space in Tracy Anderson that I'm feeling like, like I'm really hitting on all four cylinders. Like it's going good, I'm feeling strong, like I'm feeling like it's all coming together, you know, just. really enjoying it. And then I like go and I feel capable. You know what I'm saying? I have
Paloma: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Caroline: like for so long you can exercise it, you can do something and you just kind of feel like, I'm just, I'm, you know, got a lot of work to do or, you know, whatever, I'll get there. I don't worry about
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: it. So I'm like in this space where I'm feeling good about it. And then I go to tennis and like my tennis, coach, trainer, whatever we call it, the tennis pro. Do we call it my, whatever. I don't know what I call her, but the lady who's like
Paloma: huh.
Caroline: the tennis teacher. She
Paloma: Mm-hmm. I think the pro, yeah.
Caroline: is the pro, one of the pros, but I don't know when she's on the court with you, what you call her. I I don't think so. I think it's more like your trainer, maybe
Paloma: Instructor, your tennis instructor, maybe? Is it like Pilates? No. come.
Caroline: that's because that's what we call those horse person. I don't know. What you call her.
Paloma: Margot starts tennis on Saturday, so I will find out and report back. Yeah.
Caroline: Okay, okay. And she might have somebody different than this lady at the club who like gets out on the court with people who are trying or playing. and, and
Paloma: Mm, mm-hmm. And help some.
Caroline: yes. And here's my thing. If she wants to yell at me as I'm running towards a ball, I, here's what I can guarantee her. I am not going to be able to do whatever she is yelling at me about. Okay. I can't, I cannot take that information in when I am on the run. on the way to hit a ball and she starts screaming, get your racket back or whatever it is. I'm like, I can't, my brain just shuts down. And I feel like I look like when I'm playing tennis, I feel like Stephen looks like when he's dancing. Okay. It's like.
Paloma: I mean I've not seen Stephen dance. I don't mean to laugh, but I can imagine the picture you're painting.
Caroline: You know, like he is so coordinated with a racket and all that kind of
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: stuff. But, you know, you can hit me. I'm like, I am very coordinated dancer. You can hit me with a five, six, seven, eight shuffle ball change, shuffle ball change, pas de bourrée, whatever it is. And I am on it, honey. I am with you every step and I can hit it back. But you put a racket in my hand and start yelling at me as I'm running towards the ball. And I just shut down. And I know I look. Absolutely ridiculous. yeah, I don't know. And the other
Paloma: Are you like a deer in the headlights? Like you do you freeze? That's funny.
Caroline: thing is we were laughing at dinner on Tuesday night. We had gone out for Stephen's birthday and, Lou loves tennis. She's very competitive. Stephen loves tennis. He's very competitive. We were talking about things and I was complaining about, something and Lou was like, you know, everybody else in the world thinks of tennis. as a competitive sport. You're like the only person in the world who thinks it's a game where people try to hit the ball back and forth to each other and like keep it in. I'm like, why do you have to be mean? Like, why would you not just hit it to me? Why are you trying to hit it where I can't get to it? Like,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: that doesn't make any sense to me. They're like, because it's a competitive sport. And Stephen's like, even when we're out here playing tennis cardio, which is just to get exercise. People are trying to make it where the other person can't hit it. And I was like,
Paloma: Right.
Caroline: that's just nonsense. This is crazy. Why would you do that? Like, what's
Paloma: It's not nice. Yeah. Can't you be nice?
Caroline: the point? Like the game doesn't keep going. We keep having to stop the game when somebody can't get to it.
Paloma: That's funny.
Caroline: Anyway. So that's my low. Every time she screams at me, I'm like,
Paloma: No. Yeah, that's intense. I don't I don't do well with that kind of thing either. And I don't like getting I mean, not that you're like in trouble, but I just don't like being
Caroline: hate.
Paloma: yelled at or getting in trouble or anything like that. I hate it. So I
Caroline: Hahaha
Paloma: would probably shut down too.
Caroline: really had to work through a lot of shame in my, or shadow, I guess that's what we call it, to work through tennis as an adult with her. As a kid, I never cared. My mom sent us for tennis lessons all the time. It was her goal that we would be able to play tennis well. My sister, it took with me. I just never could get into it and I didn't care anything about it. But as an adult, I enjoy the exercise, but just not.
Paloma: Yeah, I'm with you. I get it. are you watching anything new these days? Now that it's fall, I feel like shows are
Caroline: Okay,
Paloma: starting to come back.
Caroline: you had recommended The Gentleman,
Paloma: Uh-huh.
Caroline: which we started and we made it to episode three and I'm out. And yeah,
Paloma: You're out.
Caroline: I'm out. I can't watch it anymore. It
Paloma: Why?
Caroline: is, because it's too intense for me. cannot
Paloma: It's very intense.
Caroline: deal with mafia, somebody. putting a bat and like killing somebody and like strangling them and all that kind of stuff and we have to see it and know that it's going on. It's just like, no, sorry, I'm out. It's really beautiful. Yeah, it's beautiful
Paloma: It there's a pretty backdrop and pretty eye candy.
Caroline: and the people are all beautiful, but I can't bring that darkness into my life right before I go to bed. I just can't do
Paloma: No yeah.
Caroline: it. Cause then I get all worked up as if we've actually hurt this gentleman and killed him and then like. dug him in a grave and put him on the other side of this building and taken off and now we're getting deeper into the mafia troubles. can't, like, can't, just as a, I know, so I'm out. No, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not
Paloma: Buckle up, 'cause it just gets more intense. I yeah, yeah. Okay.
Caroline: doing anymore. I just, can't, we also started May Day and, you know, we didn't get 30 minutes into that. And it's like, what is the deal with the guns and the violence? Can everybody just stop?
Paloma: Yeah, everything is v there I feel like television in general is like very, very intense these days. There's very little that you can watch that's like just pleasant and so that's why I liked that the other sister.
Caroline: Why? Why does it have to be so aggressive and violent?
Paloma: Yeah. I don't know. I I guess it's a commentary on our society and where we are as a culture, unfortunately. But I will say I d I I love the gentleman and I do recommend it. Like if you can handle that kind of thing, knowing that it's fictional,
Caroline: I can't.
Paloma: and you enjoy the intensity, it's really good. I think it's Really sharply done. the characters are great and there's actually like solid character development, which I think a lot of shows lack these days. And then the back like the backdrop, the setting is beautiful. The basically in a nutshell, the second son of a duke inherits the estate after the father. dies and then there's drama with the elder son who's a hot mess and
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: this they come to find out that somebody's growing marijuana on the property and the dad had allowed it because he was getting compensated for it and so it sort of takes this turn into this underworld but the estate is set at badminton that's
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: the exterior and then they do film some things in that entry hall which is so beautiful that beautiful
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Paloma: blue room with the horse paintings
Caroline: you
Paloma: So it's for me, it's fun because I enjoy the scenery. And then as you said, you know, the characters, like all the actors are very attractive and I do a great job.
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: So I've been enjoying it. And Fabian watches it with me. And it's rare for us to watch a show together these days.
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: So that's been fun, just having that shared experience. So I'm hanging in there.
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: But season two gets more intense, actually. Like this last episode we watched the other night sat with me. I was like, ooh.
Caroline: No, that's what Stephen had already seen. Yeah, Stephen had already seen season one, so we started with season two. So I'm talking about episode three of season two. And I'm like, I can't do it.
Paloma: okay. Well yes. No, if you start yeah, no, if you'd started with season one, I think you would have hung in there and you would have gotten through season one. Season two
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: starts out very intensely and I know exactly the scene you're talking about because that stuck with me too. But I I'm gonna keep watching him.
Caroline: Yeah, and then the end of this episode two, I was like,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: my God, what? I mean, like, no. Like,
Paloma: Yeah. Yeah.
Caroline: why can't I just, and I thought, well, maybe it'll just be this one thing and then we'll keep going. But it creeped me out with the little weird man and the scratches on his back and all that kind of stuff. Anyway, I just couldn't take it. I can't.
Paloma: That was that was weird too. I was like, why do we have to keep showing him? You know what I said to Fabian? I was like, this feels extraneous. It feels like it's just like an it's an unnecessary detail that doesn't add anything to the story. It's creepy. It's and it it does that. It certainly accomplishes
Caroline: It's really meant to make you uncomfortable. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: that. It's sort of like I was saying it's like the nursing home storyline in Landman. I don't know if you watch Landman, but I feel like that's like that whole
Caroline: Uh-huh, because it's too violent.
Paloma: show. It well, compared to this, it's not violent, but it's just I know people really enjoy it and we watch it too. I feel like that is so unnecessary. There's so many things in that show that I feel add nothing to the plot. There's so much more character development that could happen. And I feel like
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: this Taylor Sheridan man, I have not watched
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: all his shows. I've never watched Yellowstone, and I know that people are big fans. But I feel like he doesn't respect his audience because he
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: thinks like I think he thinks very lowly of his audience and thinks that they're very dumb and maybe they are because it's all just like low-hanging fruit, you know?
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Paloma: So anyway, I it's not my favorite. I feel like this does a little better job. Anyway, so that's what I'm watching.
Caroline: will say we, on your recommendation also, we watched The Other Bennett Sister. And you know,
Paloma: yeah.
Caroline: I said I'll have to watch that on my own because Stephen won't watch it with me. And I think he
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: listened to that episode because he was like, hey, what do you want to watch? Or I saw you were watching The Other Bennett
Paloma: Cute.
Caroline: Sister. Do you want to watch it? And I was like, you're going to watch it with me? And he was like, yeah, of course.
Paloma: Did he like it? Did you like it?
Caroline: and at the end, one of us loved it and one of us hated it. Which one do you think it is? He loved it.
Paloma: Well, it sounds like he probably loved it 'cause it now I you're a hater apparently and you don't like anything.
Caroline: What can it take? What will it take to satisfy me? I know I'm in touch. I didn't hate it. I loved the
Paloma: You didn't like it? I mean you have d it's fluff.
Caroline: setting and seeing the beautiful interiors.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: But I'm a Jane Austen purist and it got off on the wrong foot with me because I was like, this is not how this book is written. This is not who these characters were. is, you know, so I'm like, I'm that.
Paloma: It's an adaptation.
Caroline: No, it is like it takes the characters and then creates something out of whole cloth. So maybe that is what an adaptation is. But so I got off on a wrong foot and I was spending the whole time like, this is not and Stephen was like, but just whatever we're rooting for Mary. Exactly. That's
Paloma: I know it's so sweet. Just let me be happy for Mary. Get out of here.
Caroline: what he was saying. Okay. Okay. Well, do you want to, we have a cat. Do you want to introduce her?
Paloma: Yes, yes. Yes, so today we're so excited to be joined by Annie Myers Shire of This Oak Oak House, a platform known for its thoughtfully highly considered approach to design and everyday living. Based in Los Angeles, Annie brings a background in fashion and storytelling to her work, having worked at Harper's Bazaar before moving into PR at Chanel. What began as a personal renovation for her
Caroline: Ahem.
Paloma: and a way to share it with family and friends evolved into This Oak House, Annie's widely followed documentation of restoring and reimagining. her 1940s Gerard Colcord home in LA. Her approach is rooted in the belief that a home should feel as good as it looks, balancing beauty with function and honoring original architecture while adapting it for modern family life. Known for her transparency, Annie shares not only the finished result, but the full process from sketches to final mill work, Offering both practical guidance and inspiration. Her new book, This Oak House, expands on this philosophy. The book serves as both a resource and a visual study, combining lessons learned throughout the renovation with a detailed room-by-room exploration of the finished home. We're so excited to be with Annie and hear more about her core ethos that thoughtful, well-made spaces are meant for everyday living. Welcome, Annie.
Annie: hi.
Paloma: So weird. Hi, it's so good to
Caroline: Hey!
Paloma: be with you.
Annie: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Paloma: How's the book tour going?
Caroline: It's...
Annie: I leave on Monday for it. and
Paloma: Okay, nice.
Annie: I honestly feel like maybe I bit off more than I can chew. That's how I really feel. Is it?
Paloma: I think that's natural. I mean, yes, it it's
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: possible. It's it probably feels overwhelming at the beginning. But hopefully you'll
Annie: Yeah.
Paloma: you'll start doing it and it'll feel like a rush, you know, like you you'll
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: you'll get so much out of it. Like people's enthusiasm and energy
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: for you and for the book, I think will be really, really nice and catalyzing.
Annie: Yeah, I'm I'm excited. I think also it's kind of this like amorphous thing that I don't totally understand
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: yet. I was saying goodbye to someone today and I was like, okay, well when I see you next, you know, I'll have my first leg behind me, you know. So I'm just
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: looking forward to that. Yeah. I am. I am. I am.
Caroline: You're coming to Birmingham. I'm excited to meet you in person.
Annie: Yeah, I'm excited to go to Birmingham. I've never been.
Caroline: Right, right. You have to
Paloma: It's wonderful. There's a great design scene there.
Caroline: normally have a reason to go to Birmingham. Yeah, people don't just,
Annie: Yeah, it seems so. Yeah, it's two flights.
Caroline: think you will be impressed with Birmingham. It's really beautiful, and
Annie: I'm sure.
Caroline: it has a lot to offer, but
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: what it can't offer is a quick flight anywhere except to Atlanta. And
Annie: Right. Totally. Mm.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: that is very annoying. It's eight hours to get anywhere. ordinarily just because you
Annie: Wow.
Caroline: have to fly to Atlanta and then catch another flight.
Annie: Right.
Paloma: we're joined by Annie Meyer-Shire today. We're so excited about your new book, This Oak House. I've been following
Annie: Thank you.
Paloma: your Instagram since the beginning. It's been really fun to watch the transformation of your home and now see it commemorated and in you know this sort of for perpetuity in
Caroline: Gorgeous book.
Paloma: this beautiful book. So super excited of
Annie: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here. Thank you so much.
Paloma: Of course, it's our pleasure. Well, before This Oak House some people may not realize
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: this, you worked in fashion at Harper's Bazaar
Annie: I did.
Paloma: and Chanel. How would you say that that experience shaped your eye and how what have you brought from that into this new world?
Annie: Well, Harper's Bazaar was interesting because it was editorial and I was sort of really on one side of the th of things, right? So planning pages, how product looks on a page, very similar to scheming in a lot of ways. Like we
Paloma: Uh-huh.
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: have all these things, let's take this out, let's add this in, you know, and and figuring out what's how something looks in person versus how something might look in print. And then I was also exposed to sort of some of the great stylists and working with them and understanding how they worked. And it was really my introduction
Caroline: Sure.
Annie: into craftsmanship and couture and understanding sort of this very unique, rarefied thing of fashion and design. And I loved it. I loved working in fashion. It was also like the heyday, you know, it was very like Devil Wears Prada and very fun
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Annie: and town cars and expense accounts and flight Flying to Milan and like it was it was very
Caroline: Ugh.
Annie: fun. I was also 25, so I was really having, yeah, I was having a great time. And
Caroline: Even better!
Paloma: Ha ha ha ha.
Annie: I really, I think there learned a lot about just like a work ethic. And, you know,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I had nowhere
Caroline: show.
Annie: else to be. I just wanted to be there. I wanted to work hard, and it was a really exciting time. I then moved back to Los Angeles, and when I got here, I realized like everything I had learned and everything I had honed, there was no job for me. Here. I started
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: working for a second at C Magazine, which is an amazing local magazine,
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: and they gave me like one page. I was like, okay, now what? Like, give me more.
Paloma: Ha ha ha.
Caroline: You
Annie: I'm used to working on a whole book, you know. So I then transitioned into working at Chanel. I opened our West Coast PR office here because I had these relationships with the Chanel
Caroline: sure.
Paloma: It's amazing.
Annie: team from when I was at Bazaar. So I worked in the VIP dressing and
Caroline: Mmm.
Annie: I worked in our events and editorials. So much stuff was happening in LA, all the shoots were here,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: the celebrities were here. So I was really the go between between our New York office and then our Paris office and doing the fittings and it was also a really fun time and yeah
Caroline: I was going to say that's in the height of like Rachel Zoe project, right? And all the styling and yeah.
Annie: It was. Stylists were amazing. And working with the stylist, honestly, was one of the best parts of the job. And we worked so closely together. You know, the day that the show would come out, we'd get an email. This is the look I want for this person, for this award show. And then we'd have to go to Paris
Caroline: Yeah. Ugh. my gosh.
Annie: and can we get it approved? And I think there is where I really understood the importance of craftsmanship. You know, at Chanel, every bead is put
Paloma: Mm yeah, of course.
Annie: on by hand. I was in a meeting yesterday talking about something else. I referenced something I learned there, which was you know, Coco Chanel in her jackets put little weights in the bottom of the jacket
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: so the jacket would hang correctly. And I believe they're still made like that to this day. And I was talking about something, a project I'm working on, and I said, let's figure out our version of that, right?
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: She needed the coat to lay in a specific way.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: And I think in design in general, it's the it's the nitty-gritty, it is the specifics,
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: it is the details that make or break it, right? You can
Caroline: Absolutely.
Annie: so I would say. say just learning about that world, design in general, right? Then there's interiors,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: then there's fashion, then there's, you know, beauty. There's all kinds of things. But I would say my my general love of design started in in in those places.
Caroline: and...
Paloma: Would you say that you were born with a strong point of view and that that's something you that's always been part of you? Like you've always carried a strong sort of sense of taste.
Annie: Well, like yes, and I mean point of view, like period. I have a strong point of view about everything.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: so taste is just one of those things. But like I
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: have I have a strong person point of view of everything. So yes, taste I have had a strong point of view, but also that's in line with the fact that I have a strong point of view about basically anything we could think of. Yeah.
Paloma: Well I love that. I love a passionate person. You know, it beats it beats someone who has no opinions or no references or or taste. How
Annie: Yeah.
Paloma: would you describe your taste today?
Annie: You know, I don't know that I have words to describe it. I I the way I can describe it best is it's like a feeling. You know, I just know that
Paloma: Mm uhm.
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: I like something. When a million fabrics are put in front of me, it's like, I love that. I love that. Ooh, look how good that is. You know, it's
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: something that's just like innate inside of me. And I I find, you know, I do these weekly AMAs with people, right? And they ask me questions and how do you know your style? And how do I figure out what I like? And one of the things I often say is collect a lot of images. You know, you will
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: Good.
Annie: start to see. You're gonna say, I think I really love blue drapery or whatever it is that you continue to be drawn
Caroline: Right.
Annie: to. It takes a minute. For me, I just always, and I say this to my kids actually about friendships, like I go towards what feels warm. Like I look at something, I'm like, I love that. Look at something else, I don't love that. And then in general, I have a real appreciation for the things that aren't necessarily my taste. Right. Like I love
Caroline: Yeah, sure.
Annie: staying in a hotel that's a kit camp hotel. Like I don't want to live
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: that way. That's not for me. I love being in her hotels. I think they are so cool,
Caroline: That's right. Yeah, yeah, I feel the same way. They feel so good.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: so good. So, you know, I love the feeling of being in there. I also love the feeling of coming home to something
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: that's different. So I've learned to to know what I want to live with. I've said this before, but you know, there's that theory like you should have a good mattress because you spend a third of your life in bed. Like if we want
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: to take that theory and apply it to home,
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: right? I spend all my time at home. I work from home, I live at home. So I like my spaces personally to feel calm, quiet. I
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: want to walk through a room and just feel like my eye, there's a pleasing look to my eye. I don't want
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: things that are loud and bright. It's just not, that doesn't. Please me, right? But
Paloma: Right.
Annie: everybody's different. And so when I talk about my taste, I my real perspective would be you should figure out what you like and then live with that. That's gonna make you happiest. Yeah.
Paloma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think that's so important. Understanding what you instinctively respond to in a space, that feeling,
Annie: Yes.
Paloma: and also like what turns you off, what makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable,
Annie: Yeah.
Paloma: and being able to,
Caroline: Thank
Paloma: you know, tangibly define that in in terms of how you design your own spaces. And not everybody can do that to learn skill. Mm-hmm.
Annie: There's like a harmony that you're that I'm looking for, you know. I'm just looking for that harmony, like it's come together and it's nice and it's pleasing to my eye. That's
Paloma: Right.
Annie: that's what that's what I want. and that's what I hope for everybody else. Whatever th th is pleasing to them, I want them to have, you know.
Paloma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely.
Caroline: I noticed in your book, which is so gorgeous and I want to talk to you more about Colcord and your house and
Annie: Thank you. Mm-hmm.
Caroline: in general I'm obsessed, that you mentioned working with a designer and you
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: have such a defined, refined point of view. so I was like, I wonder how it... how you utilized a designer because we have
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: a lot of people that ask us the same question, like when you have really great taste and you know what you
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: like, but you're not running a design studio over here
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: and or taking in clients or whatever that means, like how did you utilize a designer to support you to develop your
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: look?
Annie: So there's a couple things I can say about that. The first is specifically about Mike Mosier, who I worked with. I think his like secret sauce is that
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: his homes look like the person who lives in them. So I don't think you look at his houses and you're like, that's a Mike house. I don't think that's what it is. I think, you know, he did a house for my girlfriend, Jamie Mizrahi, who lives in Montecito. That house looks just like Jamie. My house looks just
Caroline: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Annie: like Mike, you know. I mean just like me. Mike's house looks just like Mike,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Yeah, not like Mike. Yeah.
Annie: you know? And I think that's what it his secret thing is that he can really like extract from you.
Caroline: Mm hmm. Tease out of you. Yeah.
Annie: And so, you know, I do love when I flip through something, I'm like, I know who I can I know who that is. Like you you know, there are some designers
Caroline: Yeah, yeah.
Annie: where it's just unmistakable. And by the way, people want that. That's what they're hiring them for. I think what Mike
Caroline: Yeah, sure, sure.
Annie: does is very rare and that he helps you you figure it out. That being said, the fact that I know what I like is very different than knowing how to do it. Like I know how I want my hair to look. I can't cut my hair.
Caroline: Yeah, yeah,
Paloma: Right.
Caroline: sure, sure, sure.
Annie: You know, so I was very clear with him on I love this, I don't love this, but then it was up to him to help me figure out how to actually make that happen. I don't know the height of a curtain or what kind of rod. I mean, now I do, because my nature is to deep dive and get obsessive,
Caroline: Sure. yeah, yeah. Yeah, because you, yeah.
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: but why I wouldn't know where to get it, you know. So he really taught me a lot. And and sometimes there would be moments where I would look at something, he's like, This isn't gonna work, let me explain to you why. And I was like, thank you. You know, now I understand,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: or you know. Know there would be something like I'd pick a chair and he'd say, Well, we already have another skirted thing in the room. Let's not like I wouldn't think of that, right? So he taught
Paloma: Right.
Annie: me through the process. the other thing about Mike is that when we began together, he was definitely newer. And so he was very like I was very clear. I was like, I'm gonna be in I'm going to the design center, like I'm picking fabrics, like
Caroline: Yes. Yeah.
Annie: I wanna do it. And he was like, Great, best idea wins. Like he was so into it, and I believe he'd still be that way today, even Now he's been on the cover of magazines and all this stuff,
Caroline: you
Annie: but I wanted to work with someone who was open to this type of collaboration.
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: And he was so game. And I think honestly, it was a I mean, I I love him so much. I'm seeing him this weekend. We have a great relationship, but we grew in a lot of ways to together, I think. Yeah. Yeah.
Caroline: Together, yeah, that's really wonderful.
Paloma: Amazing.
Caroline: Yeah, have a client very much like you and it's a
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: delight working with her because it really
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: is a collaboration and you know, sometimes
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: it gets lonely out here having to make all the decisions, you know, it's wonderful when you have somebody who has such great taste, who comes to you with beautiful ideas that you're just like, God, yeah, like,
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: so glad you thought of that.
Annie: Yeah, he never he never made me feel like an idea wasn't welcome. It was all he was always very open to my ideas and it was very much best idea wins. and then there were certain moments that he knew that I was gonna have to go on like my journey and come back to him. Like I really like
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: for lack of a better word, like lost my mind over paint. Like I just I mean I just did. I don't know what to say. my god.
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: That's easy to do. It's a big decision and there's so many different colors. I mean, just white alone, you know, the different variations of shades of white.
Annie: Beyond. And we were trying to paint our house, you know, when the ramboard was down and we didn't have our grass in outside. So there was all this other color coming in, like pink
Caroline: Mm hmm. Yeah, that makes a huge difference. Yeah.
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: from the floors and brown from outside with the dirt. And so he stu he kind of like gave his opinion. He sat back and then I brought him in when I was like, here's my final choices. What do you think? You know, because
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I didn't want to bother him also with sort of the mania that I was going through. And I
Caroline: Yeah, the process. Yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: Ha ha.
Annie: needed to go through that process. I it was just what I needed to do. And by the way, I could probably write a dissertation about paint now. I've never known so much about something. I mean honestly. Yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah. I'm sure. Well take us back to the beginning. What did you see in this house that made you know it could become your house?
Annie: So my husband and I moved into our last house four weeks before my older son was born. So I was like insanely pregnant. My mom and my mother in law moved me in. The place where they put things that first day we moved in, they did not leave for 10 years. I had two babies, COVID, like it just it was like There was it was just it stayed exactly where where everything was. And then this home that we live in now, it belonged to my mother in law. And she had gone to Montecito at the beginning of the pandemic, which is where her second house was. And she sort of came to us and said I don't want to live in that house and I don't want to sell it. And so immediately I was like, light bulb, light bulb. My husband was like, huh,
Paloma: Ha ha ha.
Annie: what should we do? And was like, what should we do? What should we do? Like she is a pool, you know? Like I was so excited about it. And the thing I think that excited me the most about it was that The house had so much soul and I had spent so much time in this house. And so it had all these I live the the house I lived in before that I chatted about was you know one of these new builds, right? And it was soulless.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: And yes, it
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: was wonderful in that there was a laundry room upstairs and all these big, you know, places to store
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: things and it just had no soul. It had no
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: soul and this house was full of soul. And that's I think what I had been craving over the ten years
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: of living in. in the other house. It didn't work in terms of a layout because she was a single woman. And so the layout
Paloma: Sure.
Annie: was super wonky. You had to go through one room to get to another bedroom.
Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Annie: And it just like we had to undo all that. And as you know, when you undo one thing another thing happens. And
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: So it was the soul of the house that attracted me to it. And I had visions of how our family would use it. And it's funny, you know, my kids each have a little reading nook in their room. And I passed by my son's room yesterday, and he was like laying in the reading nook, legs up, and I snapped a photo and I sent it to my husband. I said, just as I imagined, you know? And it was. Yeah, it
Caroline: that's so great, yeah.
Paloma: that's so sweet.
Annie: was just as I imagined. And it was, it was a good feeling.
Caroline: It's so, the house is so magical I, I learned a lot about Colcord
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: working with a architect and he introduced me to Colcord and these magical
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: houses post-war new approach.
Annie: Yes.
Caroline: And now, and created kind of the American house, like the all American
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: house is what you live in. Like what we,
Annie: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Caroline: you know, and there's so much charm. mean, just looking at the images, like how you've been able to make it like modern, feel modern and fresh, but
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: still hold on to that post-war, you know, Americana charm.
Annie: It was a choice every day though. You know, it was
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: a choice every day. I remember at one point my contractor said, you know, the floors going from this room to this room aren't level, so we can make them all. I was like, it's good. I don't care. We're fine. You know, I didn't need it to be perfect in that way. I want
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I wanted it to operate like a new house, so our systems are all
Caroline: Sure.
Annie: new, but I wanted it to feel like an old house. You
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: know, it's there's a place in my bedroom where when I step in the morning it creaks, right? And so I always have to like step around that area. I love that about it.
Caroline: Yeah, you're right. I do too.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I love that. So I really, you know, embraced all of it in the original millwork, we would we had to remove a lot of it because we were opening up walls, but we preserved it, we made knives to replicate it. So it was an everyday choice of how do we keep what's so great about the house while trying to
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: make it work for our family.
Paloma: Well, it would
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: be such a balance between preservation and then just the practicality of being a young modern family living in this space and
Annie: Exactly. Mm-hmm.
Paloma: having it be functional. Between the preservation
Annie: Yes.
Paloma: and the fact that this house had been in your husband's family, did
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: you feel like a big sense of responsibility as you were going through it? Did you ever feel sort of encumbered by responsibility? Okay.
Annie: Yes. The whole time. The whole time. I n I knew about my I I know I knew I could do it. I knew I could do it. I knew I could make everybody proud. I also hired people way smarter and better than me. You know, I worked with an architect named Brian Covington who had spent two decades at Ferguson and Shamamian like
Caroline: yeah, that makes it easier.
Annie: He's got it. Right? So it was like I've got you know, I hired so
Paloma: Amazing.
Annie: I worked with people who I knew were going to also bear the responsibility with me. I had
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: a contractor who really cared. It was not like, well, that's what's on the plan, so that's what we built. You know, he'd call me and say, I don't think you're gonna like the size this window pane. You wanna FaceTime? I'd be like, yes. You know, like he cared. So I worked with people
Caroline: Yeah, yeah.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: who cared. That helped. But yeah, I mean I was worried. I was worried, is this gonna turn out the way I hoped? And furthermore, I agreed to photograph every inch of the house before I lived in it. You know, I had a book coming
Paloma: Ha ha ha.
Annie: out and I was like, sure hope this thing turns out okay. I've agreed
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: to, I've agreed to show the whole entire thing. Yeah.
Paloma: What was the hardest design decision you had to make?
Annie: There were a couple. I found the exterior stone to be like impossible because the house is stone. So
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: do we go with the grays that are on the house? And I think gray limestone often looks like concrete. So I'm spending all this money on limestone, but I think it looks like
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Annie: concrete. Do I go more beige? That's too Mediterranean. I don't want the house, you know. So that just
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: it just about flattened me out. I could not
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: make a decision. To save my life. And basically, my landscape contractor came to me one day and he was like, if you don't decide, like you will not have a stone when you move into this house. And I was like, right, right, right. and so I just took a like a leap and I I did what I thought was the right choice, which was. I also had a hard time with the hood in the kitchen. That one really tripped me up. I couldn't envision it. Like I didn't understand the drawing. There was I just couldn't see it, and so they built it for me out of plywood because I just couldn't
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: sign off on it.
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: there was a detail in our showers, which is something that was taken from a hotel that I had stayed in in London. And it had a really interesting detail, and again, I I c I couldn't understand it on the plan, so they built it for me out of cardboard. You know, it took a Sometimes you do.
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Yeah. That is the way to do it. In my experience,
Paloma: Sometimes you need that, yeah.
Caroline: that makes such a difference to me to see the volume to create. I like I've recreated
Annie: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Caroline: light fixtures and had people hold them up because out of cardboard,
Annie: Yes. Same.
Caroline: because I'm like, I cannot tell how this
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: is going to feel when it's actually done. And sometimes, Sometimes it's as simple as putting two tables together close to a piece of furniture. And now I understand
Annie: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Caroline: how these are going to relate. And sometimes we build things out of models out of cardboard because you can look at it, some people and so many things you can envision, but you can get stumped on something
Annie: Yes, you can.
Caroline: and you just really have to resorting to these things are,
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: are easy ways to solve it. Even though they have to build
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: it out of plywood, you know, it makes it
Annie: It's easier to do that than have to rebuild it once it's done. You know, in
Caroline: Yeah, then waste the money. Yeah.
Annie: our in
Paloma: Right.
Annie: our entry hall we have a Jamb round lantern, right? And as you know, that's a really expensive light fixture.
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Very.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: And It's an entry hall, so it's totally open space. So it could be 24 inches, it could be 18 inches. Like there was just no way to know how it was going to feel. So I went onto Amazon and I bought some garden spheres, an 18-inch, a 24-inch, and my contractor held it for me. I was like, well, that 24-inch feels insane, and the 18 is perfect, and I could place that order and feel
Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: good. And it cost me what $8 to get that, you know. So I do I
Caroline: That's right, don't have to worry about it.
Annie: do I think also people. Sometimes are afraid to just ask. Ask for the sample. You know, i
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: the worst thing that can happen is someone can say, you know, that's gonna delay us or that might cost money, but oftentimes it's worth it to to then be able to place the order or sign off on something
Caroline: Sure.
Annie: with that confidence. And so for me,
Paloma: Totally.
Annie: I I asked that a lot when I was stumped. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah. Was there anything that you obsessed over that in hindsight wasn't nearly as important as you thought?
Annie: Yes. All of it. So much of it. So much of it. I yes, so
Paloma: So much of it?
Caroline: You
Annie: much of it. Where the rugs end in a room. Are you gonna
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: see it from a hallway? Does it jet out? A lot, you know, spacing of things. I remember in my dining room, I thought that the chair where I'm sitting now, the chairs are brown, the table's brown, the floor is brown, it's gonna feel too brown. I mean, you can get I mean all night every night. It was like a new thought, a new thing. Yes.
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: find the more I do that this work, the less I do
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: that because of the experience that you've had. Like the more you put it out there and you do those things,
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: you recognize two things. One, it's never as much as you're obsessed. If you're obsessing over something, odds
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: are you're probably in good shape anyway. And number two, when you first put things in a house, they always feel weird and bad and like you
Annie: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Caroline: got them wrong. And if you sit with it for a minute, then you come back and you're like, actually,
Annie: Yes, it's very true.
Caroline: this actually does work, you know?
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I remember when my wallpaper went up in my powder room, you know, we hadn't moved in yet. And I was like, this is crazy. It's so loud. I don't like it. And Mike said to me, There's nothing else in the house yet. So it feels crazy. Just give it a second. And he was right. You have to live
Caroline: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: with something, you have to let it breathe. You're used to walking through a hallway with nothing being there. And then all of a sudden a bench is there. You're like, I can't walk. There's a bench in the hallway. And then all of a sudden you can.
Caroline: And I think your brain
Paloma: Ha ha ha ha.
Caroline: plays tricks on you because you've visualized what it's gonna look like. And no matter how good you are at visualizing,
Annie: Mm-hmm. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Caroline: the reality is never gonna look like that. And so it feels
Annie: Totally.
Caroline: like it's wrong, you know? But tell
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: us about your Instagram, This Oak House, and how that
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: got started and how it's like crazy in
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: the stratospheres.
Annie: So the true, true, true, true story is that I just started it for fun. Like I thought maybe my old coworkers in New York would wanna help me pick paint samples. There was no plan at all. I was just loose and posting and like here's what's going on and taking people to the marble yard. But because I do have a nature to obsess over things, I knew that there would be content there, meaning like I knew
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: that there would be stuff. And then what I realized during the process was There's so much gatekeeping in interiors. You know, people aren't sharing their sources. They're not sharing
Caroline: Right.
Annie: the experiences. So I was always very mindful of Mike's, you know, personal or his recommendations. And I've never shared those. Things that he found in the house, I will never share. Those are those are his resources and those are proprietary to him. But if I went out and I found something or a fabric I love, I started sharing all of that. And I think people were relieved in a way. Like there's someone out here
Caroline: Sure.
Annie: sharing where they're getting things or where they're having a lampshade made. You know, there's a lot of sort of just it's behind closed doors that you don't know a lot about design, which is really the antithesis of fashion and beauty, where everyone's sharing everything all the time. You know somebody's concealer, you know. You're learning
Caroline: Right, right. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: everything online, but in interiors you can DM someone and say who makes that lamp, and it's you'll never
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: know.
Caroline: Sorry.
Annie: So I think the fact that I was sharing what I was learning as I
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: was going and saying, you know, we picked this grout, but it really the water was acidic, so it turned a different color. So, you know, whatever it was that I was learning, I was sharing.
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: And I think that really started to speak to people. And then it just started to take off. And I really just kept going with it. I've never really had a roadmap with my Instagram. I've only ever gone to do the next. Right thing. And so a lot of people were saying to me, Are you gonna be a designer? Are you gonna do it? I was like, No, no,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: no, I'm not. And then I got an email from a publisher who said, I'd love to talk to you about a book. And as soon as I got that email, I thought, like, that's the next right thing. That's what it is.
Caroline: There we go. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: and then after that, I got an email about a collaboration from Target, which is now out, and so all these little things that just it was just about the next right thing. And by the way, in between the book and Target. There were a million DMs and emails of things that didn't feel good or right.
Paloma: Mm-hmm, sure.
Annie: So I think there's an authenticity to what I'm putting out there because it truly just is authentic. It's always just been about what I like. It's
Caroline: Yeah, yeah, it's not contrived. Yeah.
Annie: not, and yeah.
Paloma: That's the best way. I mean, truly. Like if you don't set out with a plan and it just comes together organically and you tap into a passion, I feel like that's when you can really
Annie: Yeah.
Paloma: sort of resonate with a broader audience and tap into, you know, what this new path might be for you too. Which is
Annie: Yeah, it's it's very exciting. It's a very exciting time and I'm about to leave on a book tour and I have little kids and you know, balancing all of that is a challenge. And
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: that's just like the truth, you know, I don't there is no balancing it. I'm about to kinda like I'm about to it is.
Paloma: No. It's a fallacy. I always say to people, like being a working mom, balance does not exist. I feel like people like to throw that word out a lot to
Annie: Mm mm. Yeah.
Paloma: us as women and it just I think if we remove it from our expectations and our vocabulary
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: and sort of reframe things maybe as presence, like I can be present where I am in this moment and give as much of myself in this moment to the people that
Annie: Yes. Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: need me right now. I'm gonna feel better about that than like being at work and being worried
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: that I can't be there for my daughter or vice versa,
Annie: Course.
Paloma: worrying about a deadline because I had to leave early to go to a recital
Annie: Yes.
Paloma: or whatever. Like it's just it's life and we can only do our best in that moment, you know? I wouldn't put that pressure
Annie: I agree.
Paloma: on yourself. Yeah.
Annie: No, I'm I'm not. You know, I'm leaving on Monday for my book tour. I'm gonna spend those five days focused on my book tour. And then I'm going to return
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: home and I'm gonna focus back on my kids and then I'm
Paloma: Right.
Annie: gonna go back out on the road. I mean, that's the only way I can do it. And also I have a husband at home and I have help you know, we're we've we've got it. Like we're o my kids will be
Caroline: Sure. I was going to say, yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: okay. And at the end of it, it's like this thing that I've been doing in a lot of ways is this like amorphous thing. And then my kids are gonna turn on the Today show and see me on there talking about this. Like that's gonna be meaningful.
Paloma: It's so cool.
Annie: meaningful
Caroline: Sure.
Annie: for them to say my mom at 46 years old just started something and look what's happened. I want to give them
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: that
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: I want them to know that it's never too late to do something that you love. And so yes yes
Caroline: To understand that hard work has rewards and to see
Paloma: Uh-huh.
Caroline: things through and sometimes you have to go and do stuff that you don't necessarily want to do but to advance. It's good. All of that, their little brains soak it all up and
Annie: Yes, they do.
Caroline: it's wonderful to have a parent who's doing
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: something that you can take great pride in. I'm sure they, yeah.
Annie: I think so. I hope so. I mean
Paloma: Absolutely.
Annie: you've caught me right before I'm about to leave, so I think I'm feeling all the feels, you know. I think it's hitting me in a different
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Sure. Yeah.
Annie: way. But that's what I'm going with, you know, for sure.
Caroline: When
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: I practiced law, I had to travel a lot and had, and my children were young and I would say I have three bosses, my work,
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: my children, my husband. And at any given point, one of them is not being served. know, like it's always, there's
Annie: For sure. Yeah.
Caroline: always one leg of this table that is, has fallen off and I'm only
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: focused on the. other two. And so often though, it was my husband, but it's great when you have a great partner who,
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: you know, can cover. I also told my kids when I took off on my book tour, this is not a way of life, guys. This is not like I'm not signing up. This is not my job for the rest. Yes, exactly. I'm
Annie: Exactly. This is not my new totally. This is a moment in time.
Caroline: riding this wave and the wave will, you know, ease
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: out and we'll be done with it. So.
Annie: Yeah, but I said to them, I said by Thanksgiving we're back to normal. It's just gonna be a little while. Yeah.
Caroline: Yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah. Well, I think this is a nice segue. You obviously grew up with a mom who's what very well known for her own work and the incredible interiors that you know play their own character in her movies. Has that idea that a home should tell the story of the people who live there influenced the way that you approached your own house?
Annie: The truth is I never really thought about it until I got onto this sort of book tour and publicity. That's the truth, right? It's just a way that I grew up, right? And
Paloma: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Sure.
Annie: so I never thought about it. That's just the truth. But now that I have been asked a question like this or similar, what I have realized, because I've had to really think about it, is that the homes in her films are just further explanations of who those characters are. Right, the house and father, the bride, that tells you about who those people are, right? And then when they go to the in-laws' house and it's that you Big Mansion in Bel Air and like they have Dobermans and what does that tell you about those people, right?
Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Annie: So I think subconsciously that's something clearly that was always exposed to me and something I always was around. I don't know that I ever thought of it in a conscious way. But I think a house that tells somebody's story is the greatest kind of house. You know, if you came to my house, you would learn a lot about me. You'd say she likes plants in every room. She is very into jewelry. I was a jewelry editor, so I have a million books on jewel jewelry,
Caroline: nice. Yeah.
Annie: or she was very into traveling to Morocco, which I was for a minute. So like you would learn about me from my books, from my things. You would say she loves antiques. You would know about me. I think when homes are void of personality and you could be in a stage home and you don't know who lives there. I don't that doesn't appeal to me, you know? So
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: yes, I think the answer to your question is for sure it had an impact. But I think it must have just been subconscious. It wasn't something I ever really thought about.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I remember when she was doing It's Complicated, we were talking about like what kind of cookbooks would Jane Adler have. That's something
Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Annie: that's in the back of a scene that maybe nobody would ever realize, but they're meaningful, right? What is she into? Who what kind of cook is she? And so I think it's always about the details.
Caroline: Well, what a great gift
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: to instill in you this confidence and knowledge that your home should reflect you and only you,
Annie: Yes,
Caroline: you know?
Annie: for sure. I've said before, like I don't want to see like those fake cutting boards up in your kitchen. Like you need to use your cutting boards. You know what I mean? No, like those wood beads on a coffee table, like get out, get out, or that like interlock, you know, that lock, forget about it.
Paloma: yeah, yeah. We don't want anything that feels contrived. It needs to serve a purpose. Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I can't stand that. yes. I've had a couple
Paloma: Yeah, yeah.
Caroline: of stylists bring those and I'm like,
Annie: my gosh.
Paloma: No, it's like do your research. We don't like those. well
Caroline: Uh-uh.
Annie: And also, you know, I have little trinkets from my travels that sit on top of a book. And when
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: I walk by them, I remember, my god, that guy was hagling with him, or whatever the story is. You know, it reminds me of those moments. That's what that's what I like the best. Yeah.
Caroline: Yeah, Cherished memories. For sure.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: For sure.
Paloma: Well, I love that you have so many passionate opinions as you mentioned earlier. So we're gonna do a little rapid fire. and you just tell us what comes to mind. Okay.
Annie: I do. Great. Let's do it. Okay.
Paloma: So Rose Tarlow or Rose Uniacke?
Annie: Tonight Rose Tarlow is throwing me my first book party at her shop. And I was very lucky to go to Provence and go shopping with her. So this answer couldn't be easier. Rose T. all the way. All the way.
Caroline: man. Yeah. Yeah.
Paloma: how amazing. Alright. Of course, naturally. antique or custom?
Annie: Antique.
Paloma: Wallpaper or paint?
Annie: Paint.
Paloma: Polished nickel or unlacquered brass? Very classic. Most underrated
Annie: Polish nickel. Yep.
Paloma: room in a house.
Annie: Well, I know this is rapid fire, so I'll be quick, but I think a living room, people
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: are always like I never sit in my living room. I love my living room.
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: Me too.
Annie: I think living room. Yeah.
Paloma: Nice. The thing that's always worth splurging on.
Annie: The things that will be in your house longer than you. The hardware, the
Caroline: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: millwork, the faucets, the things that will be there, the door hardware, all of it that will outlive you. That
Paloma: Right.
Annie: would be my suggestion.
Paloma: The thing people spend too much money on.
Annie: The opposite, the things you can change easily, you know, custom pillows, things like that.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: I mean, I would do it again 'cause I love
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: that, but I think pillows and things that are easily changeable, I don't think that needs to be custom, personally.
Paloma: Favorite design book?
Annie: I love Rose Tarlow's books, to be honest,
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: and I absolutely adore Gil Schaefer's books. His three books, I r
Paloma: Mm-hmm. They're so good.
Caroline: yeah.
Annie: I referenced them beyond constantly.
Caroline: call the first two the Old and New Testament.
Annie: On honestly. Honestly. I I
Paloma: Ha ha ha.
Annie: mean everything about him in general is just
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: something to aspire to. But I mean I was like I remember when they said what color gutters do you want? I was like hold on. Let me just let me just let me just go see it. You know, so yeah, I think I mean his books, I don't
Caroline: Hold on. I look, let me get this. Same, I do the same. Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah, I have the answer.
Annie: think there's a greater greater books out there than Gil's books.
Caroline: No, I agree.
Paloma: Agreed. Favorite hotel interior.
Annie: So I'm gonna say Lama Mamunia was incredible
Paloma: Mm.
Annie: in Marrakesh. I absolutely loved it. Like very different than anything I would want. But again, something I loved being inside of. Yes. With
Paloma: Yeah. Right. It's nice to be somewhere that has like a real sense of place and identity and feels
Caroline: Yeah, sure. Yeah.
Paloma: immersive and foreign to your day-to-day.
Annie: Absolutely.
Paloma: Favorite flea market or antiques destination?
Annie: I would say Île sur la Sorgue is that how you pronounce it? In Provence? Yeah.
Paloma: Mm, mm-hmm.
Caroline: huh, huh, yeah.
Annie: Pretty much as good as it gets.
Paloma: Yeah. The one thing you always bring
Caroline: Yeah, so great.
Paloma: home from a trip.
Annie: So I'm big on pottery. I love little pieces of pottery, but really trinkets. I like little things I can pack in my suitcase in bubble wrap that then I can open when I get home and I'm just like so
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Annie: excited that that I
Caroline: Me.
Annie: have it.
Paloma: Yeah. That does beat like having to wait for something to get shipped to your home. You know, if it's on a container,
Annie: Yes.
Paloma: it's nice to have the little souvenirs in your
Annie: I always pack, I like have extra room. I always wanna like keep things with me. And and it's very typical. I was just in Martha's Vineyard and I ran to the to the farmer's market and I came home. Actually I have the basket here with this e there was a woman who You know, she had all of her produce and she handmade these big willow baskets, huge, and that's what she displayed her produce in. And I asked her if I could buy one. She was like, I've never sold one before. I was like, okay, well, can I buy one? And she let me buy one. And I came home with it. And my husband was like, This is the most you thing ever. Like, how are we getting this thing back home?
Caroline: Hahaha
Annie: And I was like, I don't know. It's like a willow basket this big. So we were in town in the vineyard and I went shop to shop. I'm like, Hey, do you have any big bags or boxes? Like, it's just it's a very me thing to find like the impractical thing that I have. Get on the airplane home with me. Sure did. It's right here. I'm looking at it.
Caroline: You
Paloma: Did you bring it home on the airplane in the end? Love it. what
Caroline: You
Paloma: is always on your bedside table?
Annie: Loonin Water. I'm obsessed with Loonin Water. It's right here. It's great. It's great.
Paloma: I don't know it. Okay. Lumen.
Annie: I always have a Loonin Water. I always have my headphones because I listen to podcasts when I can't sleep during the night. Lip balm. I would say and a and a light lamp.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Nice.
Paloma: and lastly, what are you installing in your life right now?
Annie: So it's not balance. So whatever the
Paloma: Ha ha ha.
Annie: the opposite word of balance is. That is chaos
Paloma: Chaos and insanity.
Annie: and insanity and like biting off more than I can chew.
Paloma: Ha ha ha.
Annie: like closing my eyes and jumping, like whatever the word is for that, that
Caroline: Yeah.
Annie: is what I'm installing. I I think honestly I'm installing Phase two. Like I'm in a new moment and
Caroline: Yeah.
Paloma: Yeah.
Annie: I'm very excited about it. I've worked on this book for so long. I've held it for so long. My target collab was a secret that I wasn't able to tell. I almost didn't want to post online because it was like, you know, when you don't want to talk to the person who's having the surprise party because you're afraid you're just gonna like blurt out,
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: Yeah. Yeah.
Annie: I'm gonna see you tomorrow night. Like that's how I felt. Like I couldn't trust myself online not to just say it. So I'm excited it's all out in the open, and I'm most excited because I think that my My book is a real extension of my Instagram. So I think the people who have purchased it are going to feel
Caroline: yeah, it's so gorgeous.
Annie: that they're getting what they followed along for. I haven't shown the whole house. Now they'll get it all. So I'm just happy for it to land. Thank you. Thank Thank you. Yeah, I hope so. Mm-hmm.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: guys order now. It's incredible. Absolutely incredible. Just so gorgeous. One last. Yeah.
Paloma: Beautiful and inspiring and useful too. I think for you know the end user who's embarking on their own renovation, there's so much helpful information and sort of you've laid out a roadmap essentially of how how you manage this renovation
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Paloma: and how somebody else might do their own.
Caroline: It's going to be as
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: helpful to people as Gil's books are. I promise you that. Absolutely.
Annie: my god. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
Paloma: Yeah.
Caroline: Okay, quick question though. Do you know your
Annie: Yes.
Caroline: sun, moon and rising? Okay. What's your sun sign? Cancer. Okay. Water sign. All right. Yeah. Nice. Okay. Well, it's,
Annie: No. I'm a cancer. Yeah, I like being at home. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I should know the others.
Paloma: Mm-hmm.
Caroline: I mean, some people do and other people don't.
Annie: Yeah.
Caroline: I just always find it interesting. It's been so great getting to meet you virtually and spend some time with you.
Annie: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Caroline: getting to look at your gorgeous book. I mean, it's amazing.
Paloma: Yes.
Annie: Thank you so much. I appreciate that so much. And I'm grateful
Paloma: We've loved having you.
Annie: to be on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. For
Paloma: Absolutely. Good luck on your book tour.
Caroline: Yay, okay. Yes, I'll look forward to seeing you here in Birmingham.
Annie: sure. Soon.
Paloma: Thanks, Annie.
Caroline: Okay,

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