BARRY DIXON- by Susanna Salk for 1stdibs
 “I am a traditionalist at heart but I refuse to regurgitate museum style rooms,” says Virginia-based designer Barry Dixon. “I want to bravely showcase things from the past but create rooms for the 21st century.” Dixon doesn’t just meet his expectations but continually surpasses them with interiors that feel timeless: “You can not design for the present without looking to the past and thinking about the future.”

With his father a metallurgist for the Rothschild family, Dixon spent much of his childhood abroad in such far-reaching places as India, Korea, and South Africa (where he graduated high school) and as a result, has a life-long insight into cultural inspiration, be it a plane ride or car ride away. “If you want to be creative,” he says. “go someplace…anyplace. Visit Harpers Ferry or Morocco. Either way, you will come back with an idea.”

He also took a design education from his own backyard growing up in Tennessee. “My mother and grandmother were both heavily into their interiors and used family things to create a hospitable environment,” says Dixon who remembers when House Beautiful magazine came over to shoot their home. But it was when the family moved to another continent that Dixon witnessed the power of personalizing new spaces: “My parents were unpacking all of our things in a thatched roofed home in South Africa, combining everything we had just collected in India with the pieces we already had growing up in the U.S. Suddenly the room came alive; the new mixture made it all seem so fresh.”  It was then that Dixon saw the emotional power that good design can have on the tenor of a room. Not to mention interaction. “A room should start a conversation before people actually start exchanging words,” says Dixon. Indeed the rooms he has created for his clientele are full of design dialogue that is both diverse and cohesive.

Having earned an art history and design degree from the University of Mississippi, Dixon went on to work for his mentor, acclaimed designer Bob Waldron. “He had a great stable of clients such as Kitty Carlyle Hart and Clare Booth Luce,” says Dixon. “I learned how to work with people and sell what I was creating by watching Bob.” Waldron’s eventual retirement was the push Dixon needed out of the nest and into his own.

In his recently published book Barry Dixon Interiors, (Gibbs Smith), Dixon highlights his fourteen year old firm’s portfolio: from a St. Bart’s villa to an Arts and Crafts estate in Virginia. The graceful spaces aren’t just glossily documented but brought to life via Dixon’s design narrative with collaborator Brian Coleman, not to mention tip sheets that encourage, never pontificate. The book features Dixon’s first-ever project (a Cotswolds-inspired home in Virginia), and culminates in his own abode: Elway Hall, a 20,000 square foot fin de siècle estate in Warrenton, Virginia. No matter the location or style, Dixon’s commitment to creating rooms with sustainable meaning is crystal clear: “It can’t just be an arrangement of pretty things,” says Dixon who is presently juggling projects from Beijing to Moscow. “I love how small the world feels now and how I can work on so many different kinds of projects. I choose what intimidates me most as I know that is what will educate me best,” says Dixon. “It ultimately makes me a stronger designer.”

YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH LAYERING SUBTLE COLORS AND TEXTURES: WHAT'S THE BEST APPROACH TO DO THIS?
Find your favorite fabric, the “star” of the show and then select the “supporting cast” of players.

WHATS THE MOST UNDERRATED DESIGN ACCESSORY?
Lamps.  When lit, they call so much attention to themselves, so select carefully.

HOW CAN I GET OVER MY FEAR OF MIXING DIFFERENT PATTERNS IN ONE ROOM?
Mix large, medium, and small prints and patterns with common colors.  Choose low contrast prints if you’re timid!

HOW TO YOU BRING AN ENTRY TO LIFE?
 Have a core, a “vortex” to your foyer (a center table, a console on a center wall) and layer in a dramatic episode- a sculpture, or an oversized branch in a vase.

GIVE US THREE TIME PERIODS YOU WOULDN'T EXPECT TO WORK WELL TOGETHER  BUT DO.
Arts & Crafts with organic modern; Art nouveau with mid-century modern;  Baroque with uber-contemporary.

WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO ENLIVEN SOME ANTIQUE PIECES I LOVE BUT SUDDENLY FEEL IS TOO SERIOUS?
Put a jazzy pair of lamps or vases on a stuffy buffet and change the hardware.  Cover a period chair in a vibrant, contemporary fabric.

THE MOST UNUSUAL OBJECT I'VE BOUGHT ON 1stdibs:
 An 18th century carved Italian marble mantle.