Meet the Masters of the Art of Quiet Luxury
Quiet luxury is the term used to describe a new generation of high-end design—one where the understated becomes elevated, where flashiness falls away, and where quality craftsmanship and custom comfort reign. With its subdued palettes and lived-in elegance, quiet luxury first leapt off the runway and into home interiors more than a year ago, but the defining traits of this trend are here to stay.
Read on to hear from designers how they’re embracing and evolving this trend toward discreet decadence, and listen in as Director of Color Marketing Sue Wadden discusses this macro trend at length with NYC-based luxury designer Nicholas Obeid and our December Designer of the Month, Megan Conceicao of Leo Rose Interior Design, in our latest episode of Colormixology™, our design and color podcast.
Defining Quiet Luxury, in the Words of Designers
The term “luxury” has long been synonymous with “expensive,” but modern designers’ definitions of the word have become more nuanced as the trend has trickled into the home design space. As it is in so many aspects of interior design, bringing luxury to life is about balance—and often open to interpretation.
By traditional definitions, wealth does play a role, but that doesn’t mean that a tighter budget prohibits access to a little luxury. “The privilege of owning a beautiful old home and having the resources to bring it back to life is a luxury in and of itself,” say Megan Kearns and Rachel Del Vecchio of Fox & Fern Interiors. “To the busy mom of three, or young couple purchasing their first home, luxury is having a well-thought out, functional space with a timeless design that makes their life easier and more enjoyable.”
Haley Shabankar at Brovia Interiors says that, with luxury, the difference is in the finer points, not just the finer things. “Luxury, to me, is about attention to detail and creating spaces that feel effortless yet sophisticated,” the Southern California–based designer says. “I draw inspiration from nature, especially the coastal landscape, incorporating organic materials and clean lines. In every space, I aim to bring a sense of calm and refinement.”
On the latest episode of our podcast, NYC-based high-end designer Nicholas Obeid sums up the trend of “quiet luxury” beautifully: “It should whisper,” he tells Director of Color Marketing Sue Wadden. “It’s not a loud scream of luxury. It’s a Loro Piana soft wool. It’s not a big, gleaming brass chandelier, but maybe it’s a brass cuff detail on a chair. It’s a relaxed layout and floor plan—nothing too symmetrical or perfect. It’s all beautiful things; investing in your home, but in a less pretentious or literal way, and it’s really more about sumptuous textures and materials. It can be expensive, valuable, and rare, but it needs to be subtle, discreet and not so obvious.”
Modern Luxury as a State of Mind, Not Just a Status Symbol
A common response among the designers we spoke to was that luxury is defined less by the opulence we see and more by what a space makes us feel. For Marie Flanigan, those feelings are comfort, inspiration, and ease, whether in the tactile warmth of natural materials, the perfect curve of a custom piece, or the soft glow of layered lighting. “It’s about creating spaces that feel authentic and inviting, where every element is designed to elevate the everyday experience.”
A hallmark of quiet luxury is a certain amount of unseen effort, taking added time and care to create spaces that are nothing short of extraordinary. For a client’s newly constructed custom home in the Royden Oaks neighborhood of Houston, Texas, designer Letecia Ellis Haywood found opportunities to infuse quiet luxury by emphasizing a few intricate details that leveled up the interior. “The wall panel detail in the primary bathroom was sampled three times before receiving final approval and being installed,” she tells us. “The panel grid, painted in Anew Gray SW 7030 (243-C2), was layered with textured wall covering, completing this unique design detail.”
Nicholas Obeid is known and revered equally for his interior design work and his inspired furnishings, and he says that a pendant light he’s created is the perfect example of how sometimes the more difficult route can be the most rewarding:
“I’ve prototyped this pendant five times to get it right,” he says on our podcast. “The artisan hands it over to a very talented woman within his own family who stitches the parchment onto a hand-bent metal frame over the course of 20 hours. It would be so much easier for me to use a roll of parchment paper that’s in the same style, but I’m finding a lot of positive feedback from designers who understand the depth of tone and texture to this parchment, which emits the most beautiful glow as a lighting fixture. And that’s reaping the most rewards for the effort.”
Crafting Quiet Luxury for Commercial Spaces
Less-overt opulence has gained popularity in commercial spaces as well, and when we asked Liz Goldberg of CAROLYNLEONA what she thinks of when we mention “luxury,” she said that much of what makes a space feel high-end comes from the planning that goes into the process. “When the space planning is thoughtful, you ensure that everything fits perfectly and a mix of scale is involved,” she says. “We educate our clients to understand that not one piece makes the design, but the way the entire design comes together is what creates the true feeling of a beautiful and well-designed space.”
In a recent office design project, Goldberg says her team intended for the design of the executive meeting room to reflect the business’s timeless confidence and big dreams for continued success—but the room they were working with wasn’t very big itself. “We had to get creative to tastefully solve the challenge of seating enough people for presentations and meetings while accommodating overflow when needed. We set forth to deliver functionality without sacrificing the overall sense of success, luxury, and the aesthetic of custom design.”
It’s these almost unnoticeable details, just as much as the more apparent elements of a quietly luxurious design, that make it noteworthy. Invisible, functional touches and a pared-back aesthetic also allow the most exceptional aspects of an environment to take center stage: the uniqueness of the client’s interests and the particular purpose of the space itself.
For Megan Conceicao, designing the Nemacolin Resort Welcome Center required her to create an intimate space that infused approachability into a luxury resort setting. “The goal was to set the tone for an exceptional stay from the moment of arrival,” our December Designer of the Month says. “A refined sense of quiet luxury took center stage in the quest to strike a perfect balance, blending the grandeur of the principal buildings with the inviting comfort of a home.”
Design by and photo courtesy of Megan Conceicao.
“Understated aesthetics are a dream for a designer like me, who likes to get to know the client well,” Conceicao says. “Once you understand what is important to the client, you understand what the space needs to feel like and to express. Spaces will never duplicate when you are creating a space that is unique to its end user whether minimalist or not.”
Finding Luxury in Longevity
Contemporary concepts of luxury can be distilled down to two key qualities: expert-level craftsmanship and a commitment to more environmentally conscious design. In the case of the Ansonborough Charleston, a recent Studio 11 Design project, these two principles came together throughout the historic building’s refurbishment. “Luxury in this case meant blurring the lines between old and new,” says designer Kellie Sirna. “Given the Ansonborough aims to capture the essence of the city of Charleston, it was important to elevate and celebrate the space in a lavish way.”
The point of luxury trending “quieter,” Sirna says, is that it’s more personal than ever. “This approach directly correlates to longevity and enhances the experience of a space and the timeless luxury of understated elegance,” says Sirna. “As quiet luxury emphasizes high-quality, natural materials, and local craftsmanship—in addition to a strong narrative focused on deliberate, timeless design choices that don’t adhere to fleeting trends—its intersection with sustainability is profound, practical, and naturally harmonious.”
Design by Kellie Sirna. Photos by Rob Kaufman.
Marie Flanigan couldn’t agree more. “Quality and craftsmanship are the foundation of any design that aims to be both elegant and effortless. Investing in well-made pieces means they will last and age gracefully, reducing the need for constant replacements. Quiet luxury is about being thoughtful and intentional in every choice, which naturally aligns with sustainable design.”
The Understated, Elegant Colors of Quiet Luxury
When it comes to crafting an atmosphere of quintessential quiet luxury, nothing quite compares to the perfect subdued color palette that lets the beautiful bespoke elements and heirloom-quality craftsmanship shine. “I approach understated luxury by focusing on balance and restraint,” Haley Shabankar says, “always seeking ways to introduce new textures, materials and forms that complement the minimalist aesthetic without cluttering the space.”
But “restraint” doesn’t have to mean “colorless.” Letecia Ellis Haywood says that, with heaps of natural light suffusing a space, she found her color options expanding. “With a tremendous amount of natural light, we were able to select colors that evolved throughout the day, choosing a matte finish that, together with the bold Grays Harbor SW 6236 (222-C6), created a rich, velvet-like appearance on the walls.”
“I gravitate toward desaturated colors that feel almost like neutrals,” says Nicholas Obeid of most of his designs. “Not purple, but mauve; not bright orange, it’s brick. It’s not emerald, it’s olive. All of these add dynamism to a room that, if you first look at it, you don’t really consider it to be colorful. It’s muted, but there’s definitely depth of color, it’s just a little less in your face.”
For Megan Conceicao, it’s all about contrasting neutrals, pairing the light and airy with the deep and rich. “When it comes to quiet luxury, neutrals always sing. I love to utilize creamy light neutrals and then contrast them with deep saturated browns, greens and blacks. The high contrast adds the element of luxe. Neutrals work because they can easily be layered onto and built upon which lends itself well to the textured quiet luxury look.”
Marie Flanigan employed this layered neutral technique in her own home, saturating the smaller spaces, like the butler’s pantry, with Aurora Brown SW 2837 on all the cabinetry. “These intentional bursts add depth and interest without overwhelming the calm, cohesive feel of the home. I find that muted, earthy hues feel more luxurious because they ground a space andallow the architecture and craftsmanship to take center stage. It’s about creating a sense of calm and timelessness through color while still inviting a bit of the unexpected.”
Looking for a little more on quiet luxury? Be sure to listen to the latest episode of our design and color podcast, Colormixology™, wherever you get your podcasts, and start dreaming up your next quietly luxurious color palette with designer-exclusive large-sized color samples, complimentary with your PRO+ account.
Top image: Design by Marie Flanigan. Photo by Julie Soefer.