March 17, 2024Bay Area interior designer Heather Hilliard decided to start her own design firm at possibly the worst time — the 2008 recession. The launch was her husband’s suggestion, made after she had been working at a large interior design firm for six years. It turned out to be a good call.
Hilliard received her first residential commission following her creation of just one room: an artful, classically appointed penthouse for the 2009 edition of the San Francisco Decorator Showcase. (She obtained her spot not by invitation but by having the chutzpah to submit a presentation for a room to the showcase’s review board, which promptly gave her the thumbs up.)
She quickly amassed a following. In the past dozen-plus years, she’s conceived interiors for hillside mansions in the Bay Area, sprawling vacation homes in Jackson Hole and Tahoe, a private winery in northern California and polished apartments in New York City. “I’m a reluctant entrepreneur,” says the designer, who employs a team of 17 at her studio in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood.
Hilliard, who grew up outside Philadelphia, took a somewhat circuitous path to a career in design, one that was informed by her love of the arts and that allowed her to evolve her point of view as she proceeded.
Her mother, an amateur painter, encouraged her young daughter to take classes in drawing, photography and pottery. After studying art history at LaSalle University, Hilliard worked at the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute of Contemporary Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and then did a stint in public relations for an environmental-sciences organization.
When she moved to San Francisco — attracted by the city’s innovative spirit and natural beauty — Hilliard pivoted to the world of decoration, earning an MFA in interior architecture and design at the Academy of Art University and then landing a job with the Wiseman Group, specialists in high-end residential design.
Her training in art history and her eye for balanced proportions and nuanced palettes inform her composed interiors. A Hilliard space is always well dressed but never overly so.
A young couple’s restored 1900 four-story, 9,000-square-foot house overlooking San Francisco Bay exemplifies her harmonious aesthetic. Here, she paired eclectic contemporary designs with mid-century-modern treasures. “If clients let us, we really like to mix in vintage so a new home feels collected,” Hilliard explains.
In the house’s library, she placed a pair of Betil Dagdelen rainbow-colored coiled-hose chairs, from Cristina Grajales Gallery, on an eye-catching rug by Elizabeth Eakins. And to the otherwise serene living room’s classic furnishings, she added contemporary ivory bouclé Pietro Franceschini stools, found at Galerie Philia. (Providing a bit of 21st-century whimsy here is a Mickey Mouse–inspired sculpture by KAWS.)
The main bedroom, whose walls are bathed in a soulful gray, contains a 1910 tufted-leather sofa by Josef Hoffmann, a cobalt-blue glass bench by Studio BUZAO and a green fiberglass armchair by Faye Toogood. “You feel like you are up in the clouds on a beautiful day,” Hilliard says of the space.
Hilliard imbued another San Francisco home, a four-bedroom Georgian built in 1909, with a fresh yet timeless quality. This is evident in the living room, where she grouped comfy, curvy lounge chairs by Molteni&C and a mid-century-modern armchair from Amy Meier Design with a clean-lined wood cabinet from Jean de Merry.
In an upstairs lounge, Jens Risom armchairs join a shapely contemporary sofa, all overseen by large-scale photographs by Richard Learoyd and Alec Soth. In the library, Hilliard broke loose from the soothing grays and blues that are often seen as her trademark (“I’ve been typecast,” she jokes) in order to honor the husband’s desire for a cozy, moody spot to read.
The furnishings — including a white bookcase by Liaigre, a mid-century-modern armchair upholstered in striated leather and a wavy bronze-legged bench from Jean de Merry — stand out against walls painted a rich ocher. “Ideally, we strive to have a mix of custom pieces we design, unique new works from amazing makers and vintage or antique finds that will last a long time,” Hilliard says. “And then, we layer in art, of course.”
While Hilliard is no stranger to conceiving interiors for large spaces — she’s currently working on a trio of 15,000-square-foot houses in California — a loft-like Manhattan apartment with 16-foot-high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows presented her with a special challenge. “It was a big white box,” Hilliard says of her clients’ three-bedroom pied-à-terre in a Gramercy high-rise.
The homeowners wanted a vibrant, comfortable setting and Hilliard delivered with a mix of contemporary and vintage furnishings, many upholstered in soft, inviting fabrics such as mohair, cashmere, wool bouclé and cotton velvet.
The striking entry gives a hint of the bold design to follow in the rest of the apartment. A quirky stoneware mirror by sculptor Carlos Otero, found at Hostler Burrows, is mounted above a straw-marquetry-inlay credenza from RUDA Studio that Hilliard purchased on 1stDibs and flanked with a pair of keyhole-shaped mahogany chairs by Studio Giancarlo Valle. The unique credenza was handmade in Ukraine during the war, smuggled to Poland and shipped to the U.S. “The straw marquetry feels like a nod to French decor, but the color makes it fresh and contemporary for today,” Hilliard says.
Hilliard delineated various seating zones within the 56-foot-wide living area. In one corner, vintage velvet-covered lounge chairs by Kerstin Hörlin-Holmquist from Galerie Bachmann and soft armchairs from DAGMAR DESIGN surround a cedar-topped cocktail table by Gilles & Boissier.
At the far end, a half-moon-shaped Pierre Augustin Rose sofa upholstered in steel-blue velvet and voluptuous vintage armchairs by MARCO ZANUSO from LUIGIDESIGN convene by the fireplace. Above the mantel, a seven-foot-long artwork by Tara Donovan, in which the artist drew on insect screens, can be mechanically raised to reveal a TV.
The clients “wanted a lot more color than we delivered,” Hilliard confesses. “When we first talked about the color story, they wanted to lacquer the kitchen cabinets in a glossy teal. We suggested using colors sparingly in the furnishings, as a thread that ties everything together. It was such a big space we really had to choose things that complement each other.”
For the dining area, Hilliard commissioned a delicate-looking chandelier from Andreea Braescu. Crafted from dozens of translucent porcelain pieces shaped like gingko leaves, it twinkles at night. “I probably showed them thirty-four pendants before we settled on this one,” she recalls. “We were looking for something that wouldn’t block the view. Plus, it’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door, so it had to hold its own.”
Hilliard’s designs could be said to do the same, holding their own while keeping the long view in mind. “Most clients come to us because our designs are timeless and classic,” she says. “And they want restrained interiors that they don’t feel like they will get tired of in a few years.”
