To highlight some of the talented African-American interior designers in the country, Architectural Digest Magazine and the Black Interior Designers Network (BIDN) launched The Iconic Home, an online show house. The project aims to give the designers more visibility, while showing their expertise.
As the magazine stated, the project imagines a sustainable family home in upstate New York designed by Elizabeth Graziolo, the founder of Yellow House Architects.
AD and BIDN selected 13 top talents from across the U.S. with expertise in interiors, landscape, and architecture.
“Each one envisioned a space within the home, imagining how a family may live both stylishly and sustainably.”
You can visit their designer projects on The Iconic Home online show house here. We wanted to show love to the men and women mentioned in the project. Here are 13 Black interior designers that you should have on your radar.
1. Arianne Bellizaire
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWTOpXuJlge/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Bellizaire is an award-winning designer. She is described as a professional who prides herself on her collaborative approach to, and humanistic take on, design.
Both qualities are an asset for a complex project like The Iconic Home, for which she designed the kitchen, according to Architectural Digest and the Black Interior Designers.
In 2017, Bellizaire won the Villeroy & Boch Challenge, where she was recognized for her adeptness with color.
2. Danielle Colding
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUqQkpVpwEC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Colding founded her own firm in 2006, according to Architectural Digest and the Black Interior Designers. The residential and commercial designer, who was tasked with The Iconic Home’s Great Room this fall, is known for embracing eclecticism in her work, regularly incorporating antique and vintage items.
3. Joan Goodwin
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWRT1IEpvvs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
AD reported that Goodwin’s inspiration for her work is traveling. According to the magazine, she has cultivated expertise over more than 30 years in the design industry, working on homes and even churches—know-how that earned her a nomination for BIDN’s Interior Design Icon.
Goodwin, who is from South Carolina, currently serves on BIDN’s board.
4. Rasheeda Gray
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUYfXSoreHw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Philadelphia-based Gray Space Interiors’ owner, Gray, has an MBA and spent 15 years working in marketing and communications. Gray’s classic aesthetic has been featured on HGTV and A&E, in addition to publications like AD and Elle Decor.
5. Elizabeth Graziolo
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB2jibkpEG_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Recognized by AD as “One to Watch,” Graziolo is the founder of Yellow House Architects, a New York City–based studio. Before establishing her own firm, Graziolo was a partner at Peter Pennoyer Architects and also spent time at Cicognani Kalla Architects.
She is a graduate of the Cooper Union, where she is now a trustee. In 2018, she received the City of Design Award from the Museum of the City of New York, an honor recognizing “those who have made New York the design capital of the world.”
6. Andre Hilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVWIIYmFlBw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Considered one of the country’s top 20 African American interior designers, Hilton creates elevated, layered interiors, which he refers to as “cities.”
“I want my clients to be eager to touch, sit, feel, see, and enjoy everything around them,” he told AD, “just as they would in their city of choice.”
7. Breegan Jane
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfuR9drbyM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
As AD reported, Jane runs her own practice out of Los Angeles, handling residential and commercial commissions alike.
She is an ambassador for the Sustainable Furnishings Council, and her work not only has savvy, but style too, according to AD. She has appeared on HGTV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
8. Travis London
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT8L34iJYRh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Travis London, Miami and Los Angeles–based Studio London Co.’s founder, is known for embracing play, bold art, and vibrant color, are the result of a well-honed eye, according AD.
9. Keia McSwain
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTnxiSXsGby/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
President of BIDN, McSwain was crucial to the development of The Iconic Home, according to AD. McSwain and her work have been featured widely in the press, from AD to Business of Home, Vogue, and House Beautiful, to name a few. Her firm, Kimberly + Cameron Interiors, offers comprehensive design services between the East and West coasts.
10. DuVäl Reynolds
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT-QBvypXZP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
According to AD, Virginia–based Reynolds is rightly a rising star of the design scene. Now in its fourth year in business, DuVäl Design has tackled residential and light commercial work, with a trademark flair for welcoming,
11. Alvin Wayne
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT7HgMyrRSA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
New York City–based designer Alvin Wayne was trained at SCAD, where he studied interior design. As AD reports, Wayne creates comfortable yet stylish spaces both through traditional meetings and through virtual consults.
12. Mikel Welch
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTqDen7pxCs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Welch pairs rustic and vintage pieces with slick contemporary styles, an aesthetic he refers to as “primitive modern.” Having celebrity clientele—including Oprah Winfrey and former first lady Michelle Obama—Welch’s style has been catnip for press: The telegenic designer has made appearances on TLC, HGTV, and Good Morning America.
13. Sara Zewde
https://www.instagram.com/p/COGzJeRs23D/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Zewde, a Harvard GSD alum (and now assistant professor at the school) has expertise in urbanism and landscape. She has earned her accolades, including the National Olmsted Scholar Award in 2014 and being named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow.
