Susanna Salk has an eye famous for recognizing style and chronicling it for her design-loving audience. Her three coffee table books, numerous interviews with icons like Iris Apfel and Michael S. Smith, and Today Show series devoted to decorating tips make her nothing less than a consummate expert on the workings of successful design. I have devoured each of Salk’s gorgeous and diverse compendiums, however it was her book on children’s rooms that transformed her from style maven to design genius. Her ability to captivate my interest and stoke my aesthetic fire on the subject of kids’ decor is memorable, and a sure measure of her great talent: finding inspiration in the unexpected.
Image credit: William Abranowicz/Art + Commerce, Rozzoli, Weekend Retreats
mydeco: You’ve written 3 enormously successful books on interior style; which did you identify with most?
SS: They are like my children, so I love them for different reasons: with WASP Style I loved writing the text. Assouline really controlled the selection of images. I just gave it thumbs up or thumbs down and tried to keep up.
Image credit: Assouline
With Weekend Retreats I was involved every step of the way, from the shoots, to finding the right houses I loved which had already been shot, writing the chapter texts, all the captions, creating the right layout: you really have to love every step as it is a tremendous amount of work!
Image credit: Rizzoli
By the time Room for Children came along, I really felt comfortable with the process and I loved culling images of children’s rooms from around the world: I knew it was a topic which hadn’t been fully explored yet because I immediately got such enthusiastic responses from designers and parents alike.
Image credit: Rizzoli
It was incredibly exciting knowing I may have been on to something new. So each book has been as much a learning process as a chance to be both editor, writer, and stylist: lucky!
mydeco: Do your books grow out of rooms you are entranced by or do you first come up with the theme and then start searching for inspiration?
Image credit: William Abranowicz/Art + Commerce, Rozzoli, Weekend Retreats
SS: I usually already have a subject idea and it grows from there into a visual proposal: often a book starts out with a pitch as one thing to my editors and then grows into something slightly different (like in Weekend Retreats). But in the case of Room for Children, I felt very strongly about creating a coffee table book of children’s rooms from the get-go and after a few meetings trying to convince Rizzoli, they happily jumped on board.
Image credit: Rizzoli, from Salk’s own children’s room
mydeco: You’ve done so many wonderful interviews and pieces on various designers and tastemakers with 1st Dibs. Who was your most memorable person to profile?
SS: Gloria Vanderbilt; I got to see her in her iconic apartment: every nook and cranny of it. I could have stayed there and basked in her energy and creativity all day.
Image credit: 1stdibs
mydeco: If you could own any painting, which one would it be?
SS: It would be a tie between a Frida Kahlo or a Robert Rauschenberg.
Image credit: Tate
mydeco: For someone so steeped and educated in design, have you ever considered becoming a decorator?
Susanna Salk’s Connecticut living room
SS: Thank you for the compliment. I think I’m good at it in patches because I don’t have to do it professionally and for others! Meaning, I leave the serious business of it to the real pros and take their talent as inspiration and try to help relay advice and inspire people– it’s not as scary and expensive as they think! Encouragement and a few helpful tips (and maybe styling a table/mantel or two!) is where I shine more. Having to draw floor plans and figure out window treatments…not so much, I think.
Fireplace detail. Love the simplicity of the antlers with the gold bowls!
mydeco: Any new books in the works?
SS: Yes, two! I am finishing up a book with famed photographer Oberto Gili which celebrates not only his magical farm house in Italy (where I had the privilege of visiting this past summer) but all the houses from around the world which he has shot from the 70s to present day.
And, I am just starting a very exciting book, also for Rizzoli, called Be Your Own Decorator and Be Inspired by the Greats. Using top designers and tastemakers’ work, I will aim to inspire people to create better rooms. This glossy and intimate book will give readers the luxury of having a unique compilation of the world’s top designers’ work distinguished and discussed via chapter headings on color, balance, whimsy, etc.
Susanna, we can’t wait to read your latest! For more information on the stylish Susanna Salk, make sure to visit her profile.
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