Your living spaces are defined as luxurious—is living in the room compatible with creating a luxurious living space?

Eric: Luxury and living are not at odds. The greatest luxury is comfort and security and being with family. If I create that by putting cashmere on the walls, or install a deep tufted velvet sofa, something that is luxurious to the touch, to me that is the luxury aspect. The living comes from putting the family into the room.

"COLOUR ADDS DEPTH TO A ROOM."

 - Eric Cohler,
      Principal, Eric Cohler Design

What product collections have you designed?

Eric: Each of the products I've designed have been around my philosophy of putting living into a room. My lighting collection for Visual Comfort is inspired by American 20^th century lighting and nature. The fireplaces I design for Chesneys underscore having a hearth for your home; ethanol fireplaces with a cartridge system are exceptional and very clean. My Lee Jofa fabric collection extends my desire for cosseting as I want people to feel their home is a safe haven that completely envelopes them in luxury. The Stark Carpets collection is key to my process of designing from the ground up—the rug is the base for me.

Do you have a preference in lighting?

Eric: With lighting I tend to mix it up—ceiling fixtures can visually lower the ceiling in a space without height, so no hanging fixtures on ceilings eight feet or under.

In a bedroom I prefer lamps next to the bed and not those on swing arms. And lighting control is a key element to change the space. If you turn a dimmer down slightly, the room changes; turn it up, the room changes again.

Is there one area in the world where you feel the most at home, or that gives you the most inspiration when working there?

Eric: The city that most inspires me is London; there are so many layers to explore—many more than say in New York. My adventures there allow me to really look through all the various facets of the city—the past truly provides prologue for all creativity.

What is your view of other international design?

Eric: I love what the Swedes do with layering. They effortlessly layer Gustavian furniture with 20^th and 21^st century modernism. It all works together as though it was arranged accidentally—it flows. Americans have their own sense of style—traditional, but prepped up a bit.

Do you have a favourite white paint or colour?

Eric: My go-to white is Benjamin Moore's Super White OC-152. For me, it is a fail-safe ceiling colour. If I'm doing a lacquered room, I will use Super White in a high gloss sheen. However, for most ceilings I use flat paint since ceilings are never plumb. A flat sheen level will disguise imperfections.

Lately, I have been painting the baseboard and the doors the same colour as the walls as I want those elements to disappear.

One of my go-to colours is Hale Navy HC-154—for a blue room it never fails me. I also love the entire Benjamin Moore Williamsburg^® Paint Colour Collection.

Tell us why you've been called the "original Mixmaster."

Eric: Almost two decades ago I was dubbed the Mixmaster by Traditional Home’s then editor-in-chief Ann Maine. I have an unusual ability to mix disparate objects together and making them look like they're part of a cohesive whole. For example, sometimes if you put an 18th century chair next to a 20th century commode, it doesn't look right, but I seem to be able to make it look natural and incredibly stylish.

The “secret” is my ability to create fusion. Analogous to fusion and foods, it's the way you mix the ingredients together and create a cohesive, delicious meal. I can't really explain my process because it's innate. It is likely a gift from my grandmother, who possessed a great sense of style and design.

Share some of the highlights from your home design process.

Eric: First of all, when designing a room, include more furniture and objects than necessary—and then edit mercilessly. I’d also advise to listen to your client carefully, but don’t make the “mistake” of including them as a member of the design team; try to keep their objectivity in place.

In my classes, I always start with an equation: POV=POV². This is my formula for success. We all need to have a point of view. Diana Vreeland said that whether you have good taste or bad taste, it doesn’t really matter…as long as you have some kind of taste. The POV² concept is the power of vision—which grows from your point of view. If I have a vision as a designer, and am able to translate it so the client understands it fully, I’ve done my job.