Inside the Mind of a Visionary Interior Designer

Visionary interior designer Drew McGukin worked with architect Scott Bromley to build a weekend retreat on Fire Island. Located about 60 miles from New York City, the car-free island has a history of cedar-clad modern homes that helped direct McGukin’s design decisions. Beyond the full story in Cambria Style, we sat down with McGukin to ask about his personal design style and how he approaches material selection in projects.

Cambria Style: What’s your favorite way to add personality to a space?
Drew McGukin: That’s an easy one! Wall coverings! They can be wild or somber or textural. It’s a great way to make a space your own.

CS: How does travel or culture inspire your design?
DM: You learn so much from other cultures about scale and you learn about functionality from travel. For instance, in this house, we did a hotel-style open closet system. You’re just here for a few days so you don’t need a walk-in closet with room for 94 pairs of shoes, but you need a place to stow your suitcase, some open shelves for your clothes and a drop station for your watch and phone.

CS: How do you select materials for a project?
DM: I’m always embracing the architecture and the location. For Fire Island, I wanted clean, bright, sandy, and natural tones. The second consideration I have is to weave those materials throughout the house. You don’t want to live in a frenetic house that looks like it was built by Instagram.

CS: Where do you find unique materials?
DM: I want to see a handmade quality in what I choose. I look for a textural element with light and movement. Typically, I’m going to start with artisans who are touching and making things. In today’s market, you can look at something and decide if it was AI generated or if it still has a human attached to it.

CS: How do you prioritize sustainability?
DM: I always ask if a piece will survive for at least 10 years. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a strictly green product, but if you’re going to go to the time, energy, and expense of working with someone like me, then what we choose needs to last for 10 years at a minimum.

CS: Are there any emerging trends or design philosophies that are currently inspiring your work?
DM: Noise reduction is a big thing and by noise, I mean visual noise. I love the idea of calmer, more serene environments, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have color, texture, pattern, and all those things. But my work is evolving to design healthy, calm, serene environments that provide a warm and inviting sensibility.

CS: What’s the vibe in your dream dinner party space?
DM: It’s really focused on the table, the conversation, and the food. I like a room where the mood and the energy don’t pull you away from that. The whole purpose of a dinner party is fellowship and togetherness.

CS: For your Fire Island house, what made Cambria the ideal material?
DM: It’s the durability and wearability combined with its more modern designs that made it a great choice.

CS: How did you select the color and pattern of quartz surfaces to suit the house’s aesthetic?
DM: I wanted it to be earthy and light. I thought about sand and when water or wind moves over the sand, what are those patterns like? That’s what I was looking for in the quartz selections.

CS: What are your thoughts on the evolution of quartz surfaces—are there new patterns, finishes, or innovations you’re excited about?
DM: I’m intrigued with the combination of metal inserted into quartz [Alloy Collection™]. I think that’s very interesting. Also, the fabrication methodologies that have textural changes. They now have the ability to seam different things together to create different shapes. It’s evolving from just the material to the execution.