Talk Shop: Anna Logan // One Kings Lane
ABOUT ANNA
Anna Logan is a New York City-based editor and writer who has been writing about interiors since she was a teenager. This southern girl found a new home in Manhattan when she moved to the big city to take a market editor job at Traditional Home magazine. After a few years at TH, Anna bounced around writing freelance design stories before landing as a market editor for One Kings Lane, where she continues to tell stories about all things beautiful. We became fast friends with the design aficionado at industry events, and we’re so excited to get the chance to sit down with her for this fun #talkshop! See Anna’s favorite design resources, books, and more below!
Describe your style in three words or less:
Eclectic, southern, whimsical.
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
My mother. My house growing up was decked out in Schumacher and Brunschwig & Fils. She has the best taste of anyone I know.
My time in magazines. Learning how to put fabrics together under the watchful eye of Tori Mellott taught me everything I need to know about using color and pattern.
My stylish friends. This community of designers and design-lovers has forever changed the way I approach interiors and fashion. Off the top of my head, people like Nan Phillip, Molly Bates, and Julia Duke have all influenced the way I think about space, color, pattern, and our industry.
How did you start working in design media and what is your favorite thing about what you do:
I have been writing since I was a kid. The funny thing is, I originally went to school to be a political journalist. I switched my focus to interior design after interning at a local magazine. I spent the entire summer writing about the beautiful homes in my small town and never looked back. I love being able to document what is considered stylish and beautiful right now. My inner history nerd clung onto the principle that news is the first draft of history, a common refrain all young journalists are taught. I like to apply that philosophy to the design world. Interior design is just another form of art, and I’m a historian explaining it for the next generation.
Do you have a mentor in your career:
The great thing about this industry is that you learn so much from so many different people. To say that I have a single mentor would be a disservice to all the people who have taught me along the way. Tori Mellott, my first boss in the design world, taught me so much about magazines, pattern, and color. Publicists like Elizabeth Blitzer and Christina Juarez also helped usher me in the ways of the world when I was just starting. I am eternally grateful to all of them.
What does your home say about you:
“This girl has a vintage addiction.” In all seriousness, I’m looking around at the things in my apartment, and I think the only truly new things I own are my mattress and bed frame. Everything else is either carefully selected vintage or second-hand.
Where do you find inspiration:
I could spend a thousand hours in The Met and still not be satisfied. If I’m not there, I’m sitting on my couch, three hours deep into an Instagram scroll through the explore page. You’d be amazed at what you can find on Instagram.
Who are your style icons:
Rebecca Gardener for entertaining. Pierce & Ward, Beata Heuman, and my mother for interior design.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
Good wine in great glasses.
Do you collect anything:
I collect too many things but some favorites include table linens, original art, and vintage objet.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
@verandamag, @picturesisawandloved, @justinablakeneyhome, @beataheuman.
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
I always stress the rule of rug sizing. The wrong sized rug can ruin even the most well-designed spaces. I also do not believe in matching things. Everything should work together but feel unexpected.
What are you working on right now:
I’m always working on the One Kings Lane blog! We actually just partnered with Miranda Kerr on the exclusive launch of her furniture collection. We have some really exciting stories and partnerships coming up that I can’t wait to share with y’all.
Wardrobe staples:
I live for long dresses because they are easy and make me feel like I’m a well-to-do Victorian lady of a grand estate instead of a millennial living in her Upper East Side studio apartment.
Best interior advice you ever received:
Always buy art when you travel.
Best career advice you ever received:
Find your people. They will take care of you.
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
Always buy a new sofa. Everything else can be vintage.
Your greatest extravagance:
I spend entirely too much money on tableware.
Favorite places to shop for home:
One Kings Lane, of course! Also, Scott Antique Market in Atlanta. I hardly buy anything new for my home, and Scott's is a literal treasure trove. My latest acquisition is an 18th-century card table with stunning inlay. I'm using it as my entryway table at the moment.
Most prized possession and why:
The emerald and diamond ring I wear every day. My mother and I designed it with the help of our family jeweler. All the stones we used came from old family jewelry, and I feel so connected to the women in my family when I wear it.
Your interiors motto:
Always buy vintage and don’t be afraid of color.
Your life motto:
“Decide what to be and go be it.” — Avett Brothers. It is such a beautiful sentiment and the philosophy by which I live my life.
Advice for someone looking to define their own interior style:
Lucy Bamman mentioned this in her Talk Shop and it is so true that I have to reiterate it. Go spend time in the D&D Building (or whatever your local version of that is). Immersing yourself in fabric and learning about color theory is the first step in defining your style.
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: My famous (which is actually Ina Garten’s famous) Boeuf Bourguignon
Drink: Pamplemousse LaCroix during the day, Cabernet at night.
Film: Father of the Bride
Hotel: Bitter End Yacht Club
City: Paris in Spring, Apalachicola in Summer, New York in Fall + Winter.
Bedding: Matouk
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): I’m southern, so anything other than sweet tea would be blasphemy.
Playlist: The Avett Brothers, Kacey Musgraves, and Maggie Rogers.
Weekend Activity: Museums + Dinner Parties
Design Book: I have to go with the original design bible, Domino: The Book of Decorating.
