Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production – Details, episodes & analysis

Join me, Ariel Okin, interior designer, editor and writer, as I kick off season three of my design podcast, Talk Shop. Each week, I welcome the foremost tastemakers from around the globe to chat about how they built their businesses, where they find inspiration for new projects, and key pieces of advice they’ve learned along the way. And you don’t have to wait long, as we welcome our first guest of season three next Wednesday, September 25th. 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. See you soon!

In our final episode for the season, the theme is all about lighting a room, live from our second panel from the Fenimore Lane Design Summit, held at the Mayflower Inn & Spa. In partnership with Mitzi, Ariel is joined by fellow Mitzi Tastemaker, Anthony D’Argenzio of Zio and Sons, on the how-tos of decorative lighting and how they've styled some of the most popular fixtures from their Mitzi Tastemaker collections. With a special nod to our moderator Luxe Magazine’s Grace Beuley Hunt. Tune in for their bright and lively discussion! 

Thank you again for joining us for this season and stay tuned for season three coming this Fall!

Follow our panelist and moderator:

Anthony D’Argenzio: https://www.instagram.com/zioandsons/

Grace Beuley Hunt: https://www.instagram.com/gracebeuley/

Learn more about Mitzi’s ceiling, wall and lighting offers: https://mitzi.com/

And their Tastemakers: https://mitzi.com/Tastemakers

On this week’s episode of Talk Shop, we’re headed to the Northwest and welcoming Seattle-based designer Heidi Caillier to the show. A master of pattern and tone, Heidi is known for her unexpected blend of elements and styles, with her layered, lived-in spaces feeling well-traveled, timeless, and fresh. Drawing on the sentiment of nostalgia, Caillier believes that decor and furniture should possess a timeless quality which grows with the home. 

Before starting her Seattle-based full-service interior design firm, Heidi Caillier came to the design world through her blog, which would lead to her first job at a design firm. After working under designers for a few years, Heidi would eventually start her own studio. 

Aided by a small team from her studio in Seattle, Heidi oversees high-end residential and hospitality projects across the US. And while location, architecture, and lifestyle inform the creative direction, it is the desires and lifestyle of every client which always steers the narrative.

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Learn more about Heidi’s Firm: https://heidicaillierdesign.com/

And pick up a copy of her debut book, Heidi Caillier: Memories of Home: Interiors: https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847873470/

This week Ariel welcomes an admirer of design with a different perspective– the client side. Annie Meyers-Shyer has meticulously been documenting the renovation of her family’s historic home in sunny Los Angeles on her instagram account, @thisoakhouse – and it’s quickly become a fan favorite, amassing tens of thousands of followers in a matter of weeks. 

Originally from LA, Annie comes from a life grown up in Hollywood, thanks to her filmmaking parents, the iconic writer, director and producer Nancy Meyers and her father, also a writer, director and producer, Charles Shyer. Annie’s love for design and fashion has followed her from a young age, as a fresh out of college editor at Harper's Bazaar to working on the PR team at Chanel, and has most recently landed her in the form of a modern day design oracle. Ariel sat down with Annie to chat all things interiors, home inspiration, renovation musts and don'ts, and more!

Follow Annie at https://www.instagram.com/thisoakhouse

This week on Talk Shop, Ariel welcomes one of the most talented names in design, the queen of contemporary American decorating, Bunny Williams. Known for balancing refined beauty, welcoming livable appeal, and attention to detail, Bunny is one of Architectural Digest’s “AD100 Hall of Fame” members, among many other accolades.

Born and raised in the countryside near Charlottesville, Virginia, Bunny moved to New York after college and kicked off her career at the antique gallery Stair & Co., followed by 22 years with the iconic design firm, Parish-Hadley Associates. In 1998, Bunny founded her own firm, Bunny Williams Inc, and design history was made. Last year, Bunny welcomed business partner Elizabeth Lawrence to join her under the firm’s new name, Williams Lawrence. Bunny’s businesses include Bunny Williams Home, the firm’s line of furnishings, lighting, art, and accessories; and licensed product lines with Ballard Designs, Lee Jofa, Dash & Albert, Currey & Company, and Mirror Home. 

And if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, Bunny is the author of eight design books and is a sought-after speaker and mentor on decoration, gardening, and entertaining. Her most recent book,  “Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden,”, leads readers on an intimate look at her much celebrated home and gardens in the Connecticut Berkshires that she has spent the last 40 years developing. 

Learn more about Bunny’s firm, Williams Lawrence: https://williamslawrence.com/

Plus order a copy of your own of “Life in the Garden”: https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847899692

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Join Ariel and Fenimore Lane at the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, CT for a celebration of design on Saturday, May 18th. Pick up your tickets now: https://aubergeresorts.com/mayflower/experiences/fenimore-lane-design-summit/

On this week’s episode of Talk Shop, Ariel is joined by one of the nation's most beloved and leading experts on contemporary classical architecture, Gil Schafer. A member of Architectural Digest’s AD100, Gil’s work is often referred to as the pinnacle of traditional architecture in today’s time. With a Masters in Architecture from Yale, Gil studied under industry legends, and before founding his own firm, worked for several highly respected firms, including spending (nearly) a decade at Ferguson & Shamamian Architects. 

Gil founded G. P. Schafer Architect in 2002, which in 2023 was renamed Schafer Buccellato Architects. The firm’s passion for integrating landscape and interior decoration into the architecture of a project is a significant hallmark of their work — and as Gil says, what makes a great home isn’t its size, or its features necessarily – it’s being a place that you can feel at home in both the big and small moments of life.

Gil’s recent book, “Home At Last: Enduring Design for the New American House,” is available now. Pick up your copy at: https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847899784/

And learn more about Gil and his firm: https://schaferbuccellato.com/ 

For our first episode of season two, Ariel welcomes award-winning AD100 interior designer to the stars, Brigette Romanek. Based in Los Angeles, Brigette founded her eponymous firm in 2018, and over the last five years has proven her uncanny ability to create stunning interiors that delight without sacrificing livability.
Never trendy, her spaces are fresh, functional, and aesthetically alive – and her star-studded client list is expansive, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Joe Jonas, Christian Bale, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, just to name a few. Ariel and Brigette chat about how her years of traveling and pursuing different creative careers with gusto have inspired her approach to design. Livable Luxe, Brigette’s first book, is available now. A collection of personal stories and distinctive residential interiors that highlight the luxurious yet casual homes in her roster from Los Angeles to New York, Brigette's book is a beautiful compendium of her firm's work. 

Join me, Ariel Okin, interior designer, editor and writer, as I kick off season two of my design podcast, Talk Shop. Each week, I welcome the foremost tastemakers from around the globe to chat about how they built their businesses, where they find inspiration for new projects, and key pieces of advice they’ve learned along the way. And you don’t have to wait long, as episode one of the new season is coming this Wednesday, February 21st. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. See you soon!

To wrap our first season of Talk Shop, Ariel welcomes Madeleine Luckel, a senior design editor at Architectural Digest, where she covers national and international design, including overseeing web-exclusive home tours and an archive-focused newsletter. With a master of Arts in Costume Studies from NYU and a BA in Classics from Brown University, Madeleine has previously worked at Vogue and Vogue.com where she covered a variety of design-related topics.

Along with being one of the loveliest people we know – Madeleine holds an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion and textiles that rivals any historian. Join Ariel as the two chat about Madeleine’s sense of style and joie de vivre, her fascinating career path, and where she finds inspiration. 

Thank you again for joining us for the first season and stay tuned for season 2 coming in 2024!

On the next episode of Talk Shop, Ariel Okin welcomes the brilliant interiors writer, editor and stylist, Mieke ten Have.

Mieke parlayed her editorial eye into creative direction for interior designers, architects, and home brands, after years working as a magazine editor. Mieke is a frequent contributor to Architectural Digest and House & Garden UK, among other publications, along with being a contributing writer to several books. 

Describing her style as “Granny-chic”, Mieke's design sensibility is all about pieces that are beautiful, strange, and conversation starting. You can spot her floral arrangements a mile away, and her personal style and sense of space and the way it can translate on a page is truly singular in the industry. In her downtime not jetting off to shoots around the globe, Mieke lives between Manhattan, where she grew up, and Dutchess County, New York, with her husband and two beautiful children.