📸 Cameras in hand, Kelly Lentini and Berkeley Minkhorst travel the world to seek and document design inspiration that informs their interiors studio — House of Nomad.
Describing their creative approach as innovative, authentic and adventurous, the co-founders' passion for travel permits them to create characterful spaces that draw influence from a plethora of global cultures. Juxtaposition, after all, is their secret sauce.
Supported by its design assistants and project managers, Zoe and Rebekah, plus their marketing and sales lead, Savannah, the North Carolina based studio serves clients across the breadth of the United States.
Giving the client a push 🫸
"We strive to get to know our client’s personal style, and overall lifestyle, to ensure that the spaces we design will not only reflect them, but also how they live their lives.
We do a style assessment with each client to see how far we can push them, while still being reflective of their unique point of view. Lastly, with every project, we know the most important thing is clear communication from beginning to end. This not only helps guide our clients through the process, but it also ensures that we are always on the same page, making the best decisions we can on our client’s behalf. When there is trust and clear communication it shows in the end result."
It's all in the mix 🔁
"For us, it's always about achieving the right mix. The mix of styles and eras (we love adding in mid-century touches), as well as the mix of textures, patterns and unexpected materials; unique marbles, rattans, woven elements, wools and leathers. The perfect mix creates a unique vibe that is stylish, yet refined.
When you're working on your own space, try to observe the themes of elements — pin-pointing the thing you're seeing a lot of. Is there a lot of wood? Or a lot of fabric upholstery? This can guide you to understanding what contrasting textures, colors or materials you should look for in additional room elements, whether a cocktail table or accent chair.
For example, if you're noticing a lot of wooden elements in your room, and need to purchase a new coffee table, search for something in a different material such as stone, or a colorful lacquered wood. Juxtaposition in design is key."
A local highlight? High Point 🪑
"I think the biggest influence that North Carolina has on our designs is our proximity to High Point Market. We love being able to see, touch, feel and sit in the incredible furniture pieces available to us in the showrooms and vintage stores!".
A visual travel diary 📸
"We find so much of our design inspiration from different textile markets, pottery studios and from the restaurants/hotels we come across!
Our cameras are always ready, whether to document an incredible tile lay pattern in Marrakesh at El Fenn (our favorite spot for design inspiration), or in the textile markets in Peru — where we brought the most beautiful belts, that we have used as fabric tape for one-of-a-kind pillows for our clients.
Travel is a great spark of inspiration for us, and we love looking through our photos from trips as a jumping-off point."
Less bedroom budget 🛌
"When addressing budget limitations, we always encourage our clients to focus on the main level rooms of their home, or where they're going to be spending the majority of their time!
In a kitchen and primary living areas, it's nice to pull-off unique design moments and to splurge a bit on countertops, or a special cocktail table — those things that you'll see and use every single day.
Secondary spaces, like guest bedrooms and guest bathrooms, can still be beautiful, but are great places to make savings. If this is the case, we would recommend choosing a fun paint color instead of pricey wallpaper, or porcelain tiles instead of expensive natural stones."
Blending Finishes ✨
"We think there's an art to blending finishes throughout a home, and that hardware can either help to bridge materials, or it can intentionally clash.
In our recent Carmel Country Club project, we wanted to add a little edge to the natural oak kitchen cabinet fronts, so we used the Knurled KEPLER Pulls and REVILL Knobs in Antique Brass — which was the perfect finish to bridge some of the brighter brass finishes and subdued bronze elements that we had in nearby spaces."
Inspiring Design Peers 🧙♂️
"We just love all things Kelly Wearstler. In fact, we regularly joke: WWKWD?".
And, Laura Gonzalez. We adore her furniture line and all the spaces she creates 🪑
And we both love our collections of coffee table books, whether that's on travel, fashion or interiors. Shout-out to the recent Flamingo Estate book, The Guide to Becoming Alive. Between the photographs and storytelling, it's a book with endless inspiration."