We discovered years ago that the clients we please most are the ones who feel very connected to their homes—the ones who believe their home must represent them. The ones to whom no attention to detail is insignificant or unimportant. We call them our “Gotta Be Me” clients, and we love them.

My team and I feel happiest when we’re working with clients who want to be involved at every level of the design process. They have a great capacity to trust and never micromanage because they appreciate our expertise—but they also have opinions about everything. Their opinions and their style become the guardrails for our work. You might be surprised by how far apart those rails can be, though. Our clients are wild. They push us, and we push them, to greater and greater heights of design fun, fantasy, and detail.

Keeping witches out? We want them to come in!

One of our current projects is a freestanding writer’s studio—its own little temple to imagination—complete with Victorian Gothic Revival details from buttresses to soaring vaults. Think steep roofs, pointed arches, and gingerbread trim. The structure takes cues from the Gothic Revival tradition, where everyday homes borrowed the grandeur of castles and cathedrals.

Because this is a returning client, we already know she’s game for all ideas that are astute, insightful, and personal. Within this fantastical little building, I suggested a personal favorite detail—a witches stair.

The “witches stair” has an origin shrouded in folklore. The myth goes that witches couldn’t climb alternating-tread stairs because the uneven pattern would confuse them. The truth? These stairs were a clever architectural solution for small spaces—steep, efficient, and elegant in their way. (You can read more about the real story of witches stairs and their surprising practicality.) We decided to reclaim the myth. In our version, the witches are welcome.

Design stories like this—where folklore meets functionality—remind me of why interior design is so important for creating the perfect home. It’s about building spaces that reflect personality, history, and a sense of humor all at once.

Stained glass flames – yes please!

Another example of a client pushing the envelope (and we are here for it) was a client who, when we were discussing incorporating stained glass into her project at the doors to her art studio, announced that she would like stained glass FLAMES! Yes please!

This particular client’s enthusiasm sparked one of those unforgettable “only at Amity” moments—where a spark of an idea turns into a true collaboration of art, story, and design. It reminded us that great design happens when a client’s personality leads the way and the result feels unmistakably them.

Paper maché and peacocks

From there, our work with other “Gotta Be Me” clients only grows wilder. We’ve had the privilege of creating masterpieces of paper maché, including detailing a TV frame in faux branches, adding flowers and vines to a bookcase, making staghorn ferns to hang from the walls, and customizing perches for clients’ taxidermy peacocks—plural.

Each of these projects feels like stepping into a different world—where imagination and expertise meet, and where the only rule is that nothing is too much. Our studio has always been drawn to creative expression that borders on camp.

Dreamers, meet doers

What sparks our clients’ creativity, I think, is our ability to pull it off. It’s not just that we dream with them—it’s that we deliver. From a custom tufted velvet forty-foot sofa to Matisse-inspired corbel shelves designed to cradle a china collection, we make the impossible tangible.

Sometimes I stop mid-project and think, How did I get this lucky? To have clients who dream in color and trust me to build it in real life—it’s the best kind of work. Building the expertise to accomplish those dreams over the last thirty years has been time well spent.

One thing will always remain true: the best projects happen when clients and designers share a sense of curiosity, a touch of mischief, and encourage each other to keep being curious about how to achieve what we desire.

My clients might be “extra,” but I say bring it. After all, design isn’t about holding back—it’s about going all in, together. 

Show-offs? Absolutely. And we’re proud of it.