Getting to Know the Top: Nathan Thomas Exclusive
Loft Life, the newcomer to the world of shelter magazines, published an interview with this season’s winner of Top Design, Nathan Thomas. Read on!
From the start of this season’s Top Design, one designer stuck out as the obvious front-runner to us. With stints at Alexandra Champalimaud & Associates and Nathan Egan Interiors, New York-based designer Nathan Thomas displayed an approach to design that would enhance any loft. Following a well-deserved win on the Bravo series, he has now launched his own eponymous design firm, Nathan Thomas Studios.
We had the opportunity to ask this season’s Top Design winner a few questions about his artistic sensibility.
LoftLife: First things first: Season One’s finale was a loft challenge and you were tasked with a nondescript townhouse. Which kind of space do you prefer to work with?
Nathan Thomas: In comparing both finale spaces, the loft of Season One and the townhouse of Season Two, I would have to say that the loft speaks to me more in a designer’s vocabulary versus a townhouse. I find the architecture of cast iron or old warehouse with soaring windows to be full of personality and possibility.
The bones of a real loft space are historical, and conjure up ideas of modernity and sophistication. I tend to view architecture of the late 19th century and its prospects of re-purpose as so relevant today. Although I was very happy with outcome of my town home in the finale, I feel I only achieved that by channeling an idea of a more architectural spirit. It was a builder’s home, void of character and personality. This is the true test of a designer/decorator, however. The ability to look beyond what may be a dull and vacant space and transform that into something special and unique.
LL: Your artwork tends to be such a striking focal point. What draws you to a piece? When do you work it into the design process, at the beginning or the end?
NT: When decorating interior spaces, whether they be commercial, residential, private, or public, artwork plays such a crucial role in the outcome and total package. I have always been deeply connected to art and have never felt like a room should be designed around art. Rather, the art is the piece de la resistance, the bonus, the firework!
Read the rest here.
