Stephen Mitchell is co-founder of DESIGNLUSH. He holds a degree in both Business Management & Fashion Design from the American College for the Applied Arts in London. Prior to DESIGNLUSH he served as Vice President and Director of Operations of Sublime American Design LLC; his industry involvement includes Museum Shop Management for the Smithsonian, Director of Operations for LS Collection America, District Manager for The Nature Company as well as private retail and design consulting.

Robin Baron: Hi Stephen, Tell me about what you do… Stephen Mitchell: We design and fabricate custom contemporary furniture, lighting and home décor as well as offer full scale interior design services. RB: What are you working on right now? SM: We are working on five residential projects at the moment (three in NY, one Las Vegas and one in the Hamptons). We are also launching and showcasing four new Designer Works for ICFF in May. RB: What was the inspiration behind your DIFFA’s Dining by Design table? SM: GOLDLUSH was inspired by the 60’s Fashions of Paco Robanne and the James Bond film Goldfinger.

RB: What do you love most about what you do? SM: I love both the creative process and the finished result. I love working with our design team and clients to come up with an idea and then see that idea through to the finished product – it is VERY rewarding! RB: How would you describe your home décor? SM: Cool, luxe and inviting – minimal, sophisticated, warm and, I hope, comfortable!! RB: What design elements in your home have you personalized? SM: Pretty much everything – in New York you kind of have to as we have these strange cut up spaces that are next to impossible to design! Luckily we have a REALLY good source to get that sort of thing done!! We had to custom design our table & sofa to fit in our elevator and then it took about a year to decide on the perfect rug for the living room – designing for yourself is ALWAYS hardest!

RB: What is the one thing in your home everyone comments on? SM: Our Patagonian Sheepskin Pouf – Everyone immediately throws themselves on it and falls in love. It’s basically an adult luxury bean bag made out of very dense and amazing Patagonian Sheepskin…it is pretty fabulous - I must admit…. RB: What do you put on your shelves? SM: I have an extreme aversion to tchotchkes so there’s nothing like that. It either has to be a pretty amazing and unusual piece of art or an item of sentiment like a picture frame or something. The only thing that comes to mind is my ceramic sculpture of Trio of Tongues by an artist I found in South America - Truthfully I’m really not a “shelf” person. RB: What does fabulous mean to you? SM: Anything that moves and or inspires you – something that you cannot believe you have lived without or want to have or experience FOREVER!! Fabulous, in my opinion is used too loosely these days but it is supposed to mean something really extraordinary that is BEYOND!! Unimaginable look, feel, experience – something memorable that you feel lucky to have encountered. That’s what it means to me, anyway.

RB: Anything else really that you’d want to include about your company would be wonderful! SM: Really we just want to be known as a luxury contemporary platform and source for interesting and innovative design – most of which is made here in America and can be custom made to be as unique as our clients who enjoy them.