The Art of Effortless-Looking Interiors

On a recent project featured in Cambria Style magazine, designer Brooke Voss created a personalized trackside clubhouse out of a huge, nondescript space. It became equal parts family sanctuary and entertainment machine, designed to host everyone from weekend loungers to full grids of automotive enthusiasts. Here, she discusses the design principles at the heart of this project—and that guide her work on the whole. 

How do you help clients identify what they genuinely love?

My goal is to figure out exactly what makes you tick—what do you love?—and then create a space that is the very best version of that. You can play around with trendy pieces here and there, but I think everything else should be classic and totally suit you. If you invest in a property you love and you invest in the things that you love, they never go out of style.

How do you decide when to challenge conventional design principles?

It gets people excited to do something a little different, something super unique—but if everything is a showstopper, it starts to feel like a fun house. It’s so imperative to work with a designer who can help you identify those “go for it” moments and other places that still need to be incredible but simpler. We’re using just a few crayons in the box, right? Here, we created this beautiful backdrop of cabinetry with a lovely, timeless stain color and beautiful Cambria that has a soft pattern to it. I knew that we were going to make big plays in other places, so we needed a quieter envelope for the big punches of color.

How does your technical fluency change the way you design, specify, and problem-solve throughout a project?

It’s only good design if it can actually be implemented. I want to have a seat at the table with the architect and the builder, and I want to speak in their language and respect where they’re coming from. My job is simply to help them implement the design as I see it.

How do you uncover a client’s authentic style, especially when they may not have the language to articulate it themselves?

Everything starts conceptually on paper, two-dimensional. But modeling has completely shifted the way that design presentation can happen. People can put on virtual reality goggles, walk through a space, and visualize how everything will come together and whether it’s giving off the right mood. Sometimes I wonder how we ever did design without that technology!

As a travel bug, what guidance would you give designers trying to develop a more worldly design perspective?

If you’re traveling and think to yourself, “I just love this piece,” buy it! Whatever it is, buy it, and you’ll find a spot for it. That’s how you layer personality into a space: not to be too pragmatic or feel like you’re handcuffed to specific details.

What’s a quiet luxury more people miss?

Invest in key pieces with great quality. Buy a fantastic sofa or custom cabinetry. Then you can layer in secondary pieces of lower quality, and nobody would be the wiser. You’re playing a little bit of the “high and low” game, like wearing a J. Crew T-shirt with a Chanel necklace. It’s really about investing in those pieces that you’re going to interact with all the time.

The hardest thing to make look effortless?

Crisp, sparse modern design is so challenging, because there’s nowhere to hide with trim and millwork and details. When you pull off sleek design perfectly, it looks effortless. But if you have not paid attention to every single detail, it’s just so cold and stark and obvious.

What’s your signal that a project is truly finished?

When you walk into a space and don’t instantly start making a mental checklist. I shouldn’t want to rearrange a shelf or pull out the Windex.