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Reputed for making waves in the media, Robert Verdi is a leading lifestyle expert, celebrity stylist and television personality. Verdi stands alone as the sole expert to bridge all-three major style categories: fashion, entertaining and home design. He is the go-to style guru for celebrities like Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Bethenny Frankel, Kathy Griffin and Hugh Jackman. Famous for his wit & wisdom, Verdi has become one of the most highly recognizable faces in the world of fashion and design today. Listen to Verdi on newly launched First Comes Fashion on Martha Stewart Living Radio or virtually attend one of Robert’s TWEET THIS! Twitter Parties. Contributing writer Nancy Cost interviews this month’s Guest Curator, Robert Verdi.

As a style and design guru, what do you think makes art compelling in a room?

Art is the X factor in a room, it’s what personality is to a person. Unlike anything else in a design environment, to all who enter the room, art shares your deepest thoughts and gives insight into what you love the most.

When you redesign a room, what role does artwork play?

Sometimes I create a minimal environment with neutral colors and use bold and brazen artwork. Other times, I create vibrant interiors and use subtly in the environment. Either way, art is the punctuation to the room.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Mel Bochner, Andrew Moore, Guido Mocafico, and Roxanne Lowit.

What general misconceptions do you run into regarding buying art?

People think that art is supposed to match the room. Instead, I believe it’s purpose is to reveal passion.

Of the celebrities you’ve worked with who has the most fun art collection?

Do you really have to ask??? Me, of course!

Along the lines of Fashion Police, what ‘citations’ do you most often give regarding how art is displayed at home?

Often, people use cheap frames and they don’t spend the extra money on non-glare glass. People also hang their art too high on the walls. There, I’ve just solved all the world’s problems, haven’t I?

What was the first piece of art you bought?

“Irascible” by Mel Bochner

Have you ever purchased artwork on line?

Yes!

What’s hanging on your walls at home?

A small fortune.

What would our readers be surprised to know about you?

That I’m straight… just kidding. I’ve been told that I’m not nearly as scary as people expect.

What’s the best way for everyday folks like us to cultivate taste and style?

Go with your gut. When you find something you like whether its, folk art, mid century modern, or turn of the century French, learn more about it, read more, and educate yourself on it.

What tips can you give our readers for starting a great art collection?

By a piece of art that you love and be able to speak about it to anyone who asks you a question about it.

Always on the prowl for the latest and greatest finds, Delta Sky Magazine’s Global Lifestyle Editor Jason Oliver Nixon is a style authority, foodie, world traveler, and self-professed wallpaper addict. Co-owner of interior design firm John Loecke Inc., Jason’s keen eye is caught by color, energy, passion, and verve. Check out his style in the SHO House: Weeds Lounge going live on September 7. Contributing writer Nancy Cost interviews this month’s Guest Curator, Jason Oliver Nixon.

How did you develop such a keen sense of style?

I am lucky enough to have super-cool parents who exposed me to everything, from art-house films to amazing, far-flung restaurants and gobs of travel. We would have Robert Rauschenberg come to dinner, we met Eudora Welty, we’d spend summers at Oxford where my mom was getting her PhD, and we’d hang out with my grandfather who was in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s most traveled man in a wheelchair.” We were odd ducks, and it was spectacular.

When did you first realize you had great taste?

Yikes, I can’t own up to that yet. I often throw dinner parties where I serve Popeye’s fried chicken and Prosecco with Håagen-Dazs bars, and that sort of sums me up. Maximal impact, minimal cash.

With a history in publishing, what inspired you to start an interior design business?

I always knew that I also wanted to run my own interior design firm. And after ten amazing years in publishing, I was finally able to hang up my own shingle.

What is your interior design philosophy?

Our designs reflect a respect for tradition tempered with bold splashes of color and playful patterns. Our designs also demonstrate a passion for fun and vitality. Banish the beige and the boring! Saturate your world in color-rich whimsy and sophistication. Most importantly, have fun with your home. We love glamour and style and are able to bring that passion to the most contemporary of home as well as the ultra-traditional. Frankly, we are all about the “F” words: frisky, fabulous and fun to be around.

What role does artwork play in your interiors?

Artwork is key. There’s no better way to accessorize your walls than with an ever-changing array of artwork.

What are your favorite art museums or galleries around the world?

I am obsessed with the Victoria & Albert, the Leighton House Museum, and Sir John Soane’s Museum, all in London. Also, the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston and The Getty in Los Angeles always send me over the moon.

What would our readers be most surprised to find out about your home?

Wallpaper covers nearly every ceiling in my home. And I collect tea towels.

As a style guru, what advice do you have for someone starting an art collection?

Have fun, take chances and buy what appeals to you. Be eclectic with your purchases and mix and match bold graphics with the soft and traditional. Dive in.

You have a dream job and you have experience in so many different areas of style. What frontier will you conquer next?

I want my own product line. I want to be the next Dorothy Draper with the marketing skills of Lady Gaga and Martha Stewart.

What inspires you in the worlds of art and design?

Music is key, I often pull inspiration from what I am currently listening to. I recently did up a couch based upon La Roux’s “Bulletproof” video, and Bryan Ferry and Goldfrapp have influenced many a living room.

What was the first piece of artwork you purchased? Where is it now?

My first purchases were a Michele Oka Doner gilt sculpture shaped like thorns and a black-and-white Lee Friedlander photograph of roses. The Oka Doner piece and the Friedlander photograph are both in my bathroom. I love putting artwork in unexpected places. I even have art hanging in my closet.

Being the busy jet-setter that you are, how, when and where do you find the time to shop for artwork?

While on the road, I am constantly hitting flea markets, department stores, and bazaars. I always make the time to sniff out the local scene. For me, having a world view is uber-important to my design lexicon.

Which hotel that you have been to recently has fantastic art?

I love the Chambers in Minneapolis—a crazy mix of video installations and a bespoke soundtrack and an ever-changing display of photographs and paintings. Very clever. And I would never leave Blake’s in London if my credit card could handle the expenditure.

What are your favorite cities for good food?

London. Mexico City. Antigua, Guatemala. Des Moines, Iowa.

What are your favorite restaurants?

Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, Florida, the Mountain Brook Inn in Bovina, New York’s Saturday-only dinners, and the Fat Duck in Bray, England.

Besides NYC, what is your favorite US city for culture? Why?

Chicago. I love the museums, the architecture, the glamour, the excitement. It’s far cooler than New York.

What’s your favorite design magazine?

The World of Interiors, hands down.

Does a Global Lifestyle Editor for Delta always fly First Class?

At least in my mind, if not always in reality. I don’t really need first class, I’d rather have a rich experience and lots of adventure.

Anything exciting coming up that you want to tell our readers about?

I am off to India for a month in November, working on getting my Italian passport, designing an amazing home in New Orleans, and putting the finishing touches on the Weeds Lounge at the Showtime House opening in New York in early September. I wake up every day, and it’s a fabulous adventure. I am very lucky.

Elizabeth Bauer is a noted interior designer and owner of the Elizabeth Bauer Design shop in New York. Her personal style is best described as modern in a traditional silhouette. Contributing writer Nancy Cost interviews Elizabeth for this month’s guest curator piece.

Where do you start when transforming a room: furniture, paint color, or art? Or somewhere else entirely?

I usually start with tear sheets from clients of what they like and don’t like. Next I think about fabric, wallpaper or a rug that reminds me of the client’s personality.

You’re a believer in unique and one-of-a-kind items. Do you apply that to buying art as well?

Absolutely. Everyone can buy what I call ‘gift shop art’. You don’t want to do that. Spend time investigating until you find things you really like.

What was the first piece of art you bought?

It’s over my sofa, a long French oil painting of Bastille Day. I bought it for almost nothing at one of Sotheby’s auctions. It’s one my favorite pieces. I picked the fabric on my sofa because of it.

What role should art play in an interior? How important is it?

It’s very important. Art is like the clothes you wear. Art defines and finishes the space. It says so much about a person – where you’ve traveled and what your interests are.

You have a phenomenal eye for pattern and color. What is your approach to mixing these in the home?

It’s about weight and scale. It’s about the saturation of colors in a pattern and the scale of the pattern. Mix scale.

What’s your advice on how to build an art collection?

Buy what you like!

Is it possible to have a great looking home, including art, on a small budget?

Yes! Good art doesn’t have to be expensive. I like to buy original art. There is value, quality, and integrity in original art. There’s a lot to choose from out there; we don’t have to buy posters on crappy paper.

When you have a wide range of options in front of you like at a flea market, how do you decide what to buy?

You have to learn to trust your eye. It’s hard to learn. I doubt myself all the time. Since I buy original items, if I don’t buy something I love, then I regret it. But when you finally buy, then you’ve defined that moment and you know what you like. If you don’t buy it and you keep thinking about it, go back and if it’s there buy it. If it’s not, then it’s not meant to be.

You mix styles a lot. When you mix styles of art, how do you know when it works?

There aren’t any rules. Buy what you like. ‘Liking it’ becomes the common thread and then it’ll work with your other things.

What is your best advice for making a home accessible and fun?

I like using vintage pieces because they are so unique. Shiny lacquer finishes or glass is fun too. I like reflection.

What designers do you admire?

Tony Duquette, David Hicks, Albert Hadley, and Kelly Wearstler.

What do you like about using Zatista?

I love the Art Explorer. It will show you similar work based on your likes, and that’s genius! It reminds me of Pandora Radio, to be able to do that with art is amazing!

Do I have to spend a lot of money to have good art?

Not at all! Cost doesn’t matter. Good art is only defined by price if you let it.

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Ryan Korban is a 25 year old rising star in the design world. His interiors confidently merge an 18th century aesthetic, with the bold, brash, and shiny. Contributing writer Joe Conway interviews Ryan for this month’s guest curator piece.

How do you typically describe your approach to decorating and what role does art play in your approach?

Because there are so many mediums within art and so many different directions, art plays a huge role in what I do. I feel like I can experiment with art in ways that are more advanced and varied than say with many fabrics I might use.

Design is sometimes viewed as a very stale industry or one that’s primarily reserved for an older or a more conservative group; my approach to design is to bring a sexiness and a youthful edge to interiors.

Do you typically design around a client’s collection or specific work, or let the design lead to the eventual placement of the art ?

I never like to base a room around a specific work as this feels like a more conservative approach to decorating. If I decorate and then find a place for art, it becomes more of an evolution and ends up going in an unexpected, and interesting spot. For me, the unexpected is what makes the design process exciting.

You’re known for doing really great work with smaller spaces. Do you have any secrets you can reveal?

I think that for a small space the trick with art is to go really big. In small spaces, and I work with them so much, going floor-to-ceiling really creates a lot of drama. The pieces consume the space—and I mean ‘consume’ in the best of ways. I tend to either cover the walls in art or try and use very large pieces that literally go from floor to ceiling.

It’s also all about putting things in unexpected spaces– like hanging a painting on the door to a closet, or placing a painting behind a lamp where you would think it’s being blocked visually. It’s the notion of an unpredictable placement in a small space that creates interest.

Do you have a favorite piece of art or artist of all time?

I love Francis Bacon, he’s one of my favorites. I love John Currin. I love work going back to Renoir. I love Jenny Seville. I love a real painter, that’s what I respond to. I can appreciate a really amazing abstract—I use them all the time—but then again that it comes from someone who’s a great painter.

Francis Bacon, Self-Portrait - 1971	Jenny Saville, Rosetta 2 - 2006
John Currin, The Hobo - 1999

I’m not into the art with magazine cutouts with ink splashed over it. I enjoy modern art, but not the sort that makes obvious pop-culture statements and that sort of thing.

What advice would you give someone who is interesting in starting their own art collection?

When people first start, they tend to go for what’s popular. I think it’s important to really look around and find something you connect with and pieces that evoke some emotion in you.

How do you describe your style and how do you feel that style relates to design and art?

I am often asked to describe my style and many try and label it as “Mid-Century” or “18th Century”. For me, I think my aesthetic boils down to three words: sexy, romantic, and fantasy.

I’m trying to blur the lines between interior design, fashion and art. I want to help people realize that interior design is this cool thing that hasn’t always been represented in the energetic and youthful way that fashion or art has.

April Issue, Page 192

You worked on a makeover story in this month’s issue of Real Simple Magazine, how was Zatista a useful resource for you?

I use images from Zatista on mood-boards and client proposals. If I’m looking for an abstract, or an oil on canvas, all I have to do is search and I have an entire database that’s also available for purchase, it’s the perfect resource.

I also tend to work with younger clients. Purchasing art for them is a new and exciting endeavor. It’s a great way to get them started thinking about art without feeling intimidated or turned off by the seriousness of the New York art world.

In your opinion, does the ability to purchase original art online bring anything new to the art world that we haven’t seen thus far?

Having high-end and lower-end price points co-exist in one place. A venue where I can buy a $100 painting and a $10,000 painting for the same client in the same day is amazing.

Do you have a favor place to look at art? Galleries or museums in New York?

My favorite gallery or room is the European period room at the Metropolitan Museum. That’s obviously within the realm of interior design, but for actual art I love the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, it’s so beautiful there and the British Museum as well.

Parting Thoughts?

As an interior designer you want to give somebody something that they really love. This is a huge inspiration. You’re working with all of these different prices points: some people have massive budgets and some people have very small budgets.

I think the one thing I try to do is give people design that feels priceless, design that is so special, you can’t really put a price tag on it.