{"id":320532,"date":"2025-12-01T12:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/320532\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T12:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:31:11","slug":"interior-designer-kelly-wearstler-reveals-her-top-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/320532\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior designer Kelly Wearstler reveals her top gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 As part of CNN Style\u2019s Art of Gifting series, selected tastemakers share their top tips for gifting and mastering the holiday season.\n<\/p>\n

\n If gift-giving talents were ranked by profession, interior designers would likely top the list \u2014 after all, curating thoughtful objects to fit a client\u2019s purpose or taste is one of the things they do.\n <\/p>\n

\n For famed California-based designer Kelly Wearstler, curiosity has always guided the projects she works on. \u201cIt\u2019s about finding that new thing that really moves me and makes me fall in love with it,\u201d she explained during a video call.\n <\/p>\n

\n Wearstler began her business in 1999, and her accolades are oft repeated. She shot to fame for her bold style, which she describes as \u201cold soul, new spirit.\u201d Early projects \u2014 including her transformation of the historic Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills \u2014 helped build a starry client list that today includes the likes of Gwen Stefani and Cameron Diaz.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her eponymous studio has touched nearly every facet of design. She\u2019s brought to life dreamy restaurants and cocktail bars layered with texture and color; established her own furniture and lighting line; and has partnered with a range of collaborators, including fashion designer Ulla Johnson for her earthy LA boutique and industry-favorite paint purveyors Farrow & Ball. Today, she has some 2.2 million followers on Instagram and 33,000 subscribers to Wearstlerworld<\/a>, her Substack where she shares inspo, musings and tips.\n <\/p>\n

\n Most recently, she launched Side Hustle<\/a>, a flexible gallery concept out of the white cube and into her pool house (literally), in which she commissions artists across sculpture, design, performance, sound and even scent to produce collectible designs. The idea was born from all the singular artistic objects she\u2019s commissioned over the years for her interior design clients.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe were seeing all these exclusive works were so desirable,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd so I\u2019ve always wanted a gallery where it is totally a free-spirit platform.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Wearstler<\/p>\n

\n She believes art is a \u201cspecial and memorable\u201d gift, whether a small catch-all ceramics dish or a print by an emerging photographer. But just as important is how attuned a gift is to the person\u2019s tastes and needs (she never wants a present to become clutter, she said), and how it\u2019s given.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI always think about the presentation and how it\u2019s wrapped,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole experience to me is getting a gift and seeing something so beautiful and a really thoughtful note accompanied with the gift.\u201d Below, she reveals her gifting secrets.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN: What\u2019s the best gift you\u2019ve ever received?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: My husband gave me this necklace I wear every day. I got it for the holidays last year. And it\u2019s something that\u2019s personalized \u2014 it has the initials of my three boys, my husband, and my initials and has this little star in the middle. I wear it every day, and it\u2019s my good luck charm. It keeps me safe and my family close.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n CNN: What is the best gift you\u2019ve ever given?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: There\u2019s this ceramic artist in Europe, and the name of her company is called The English Boys. She does these really amazing hand-painted ceramics. And several times, I\u2019ve given a set with a tea pot, cups, saucers and plates. And it\u2019s a great little ensemble for dessert or small bites. And then I have her write the name of every family member on it, and everyone really loves that.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN: Who is the hardest person in your family or friend circle to buy for?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: Oh my god, my husband.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN: What makes it so challenging?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: He\u2019s simple. He loves exercise and working out, so I know to give him anything that fits inside that box. But he\u2019s definitely very particular.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n CNN: How do you approach gift giving to someone you don\u2019t know very well?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: I love giving throws \u2014 and we actually designed some really nice, luxurious throws. It\u2019s something that everyone loves, and they\u2019re like, \u2018That throw you gave me, we still use it and we snuggle with it, and I travel with it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN: What\u2019s a great gift that costs nothing?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: A card. Our family, we make our own cards and it\u2019s something we\u2019ve always done, and now my boys do it. Anytime there\u2019s any holiday, we all make our cards and the envelopes they go in. It\u2019s so thoughtful and sweet, and that\u2019s a gift in itself.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN: Do you have any traditions or rituals around the holidays?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: I always have a holiday party with all my girlfriends. We do it two or three weeks before Christmas. A couple of my friends are really good cooks, and so they make the food. It\u2019s such a nice time to reflect on the year and the things we want to do in the following year. It\u2019s a really special moment.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN: If you\u2019re celebrating with loved ones around a table, what are the most important components of the celebration?\n <\/p>\n

\n KW: Honestly, the most important part of any celebration around a table is that everything speaks the same language. It\u2019s never just the food or flowers or a great bottle of wine \u2014 it\u2019s a full, multi-sensory experience. The menu, the tablescape, the lighting, the playlist, they all have to be in conversation with each other. You\u2019re essentially telling a story, and every element is a character that supports the narrative.\n <\/p>\n

\n This interview has been edited for clarity.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 As part of CNN Style\u2019s Art of Gifting series, selected tastemakers share their top tips for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-320532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}