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Defining Beauty with Mark D. Sikes

With a third book from Mark D. Sikes, which includes a flower-filled house in Kansas, we thought it was the perfect time to check in with the Los Angeles-based interior designer to discuss all things beautiful.
Mark D. Sikes portrait with blue chair

Photo by Stephen Karlisch

FLOWER: In the opening line of your latest book, Forever Beautiful (Rizzoli, 2024), you begin with “Beauty can change the world. It’s a bold statement, but I believe it.” Tell us about how you discovered beauty growing up in Texas and Central Illinois.

Mark D. Sikes: As a child, I took note of beauty and was highly attuned to the world around me. I found green grass and blue skies mesmerizing and thought butterflies were just remark- able; bees and hummingbirds were fascinating to me as well. I studied the colors of birds’ feathers and the colors of the flowers in my grandmother’s cutting garden. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but I saw deeper into these things—beyond just their existence. I also remember being captivated by the Estée Lauder magazine campaigns that Victor Skrebneski photographed with model Karen Graham—her beautiful gowns, the rooms, the gardens. I was a dreamer and a creative. My grandmother always said to me, “I know you’re going to do something.” I spoke a little differently and articulated things distinctively, and she felt my passion and creativity were unique.

A Flower-Filled House

The beauty of nature inspired the interiors of this newly built house in Mission Hills, Kansas, but, “It came in the form of an unlikely source: a collection of centuries-old Imari porcelain,” says designer Mark D. Sikes. The ceramics, embellished with flowers, birds, fish, and mythological creatures, drove his color choices throughout the house. This is just one of the properties featured in Mark’s third book, Forever Beautiful (Rizzoli 2024).

Click any image to enlarge.

Mark D. Sikes designed living room in colors inspired by Imari porcelain

Photo by Amy Neunsinger

“Imari is almost always done in cobalts, irons, reds, and gleaming golds—a fun and unfussy color palette that perfectly suits this wonderful family,” he says.

Imari porcelain and arrangement of chrysanthemums

Photo by Amy Neunsinger

Layered patterns and colors tell a story, even on a tabletop.

Mark D. Sikes designed dining room with coffered ceiling and hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper inspired by porcelain.

Photo by Amy Neunsinger

The porcelain also became the muse for the custom, hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper in the dining room. As the family loves to entertain, Mark designed the space with two tables that can be pushed together with leaves.

Mark D. Sikes tented this guest room in Quadrille’s ‘Arbre de Matisse’ fabric in China Blue. A Moorish mirror hangs over the bedside table.

Photo by Amy Neunsinger

Mark tented the guest room in Quadrille’s ‘Arbre de Matisse’ fabric in China Blue. “It makes it instantly transportive,” he says. “The wall mirror has a Moorish silhouette that speaks of faraway lands.” A slender vase filled with clematis sits on the bedside table.

Mark D. Sikes designed media room with banquette and mod furnishings.

Photo by Amy Neunsinger

Tongue-and-groove paneling and a coffered ceiling were added to the media room to supplyneeded architectural details. “The custom art pieces and corner banquette are drawn from the Imari color palette so they’re in unison with the rest of the home, albeit in more modern silhouettes,” says Mark.

Pattern-on-pattern is very much at play in this powder room, where the designer used several wallpapers by Iksel layered with arrangements of actual Imari plates.

Photo by Amy Neunsinger

Pattern-on-pattern is very much at play in the powder room, where the designer used several wallpapers by Iksel layered with arrangements of actual Imari plates. “It’s an idea we had later in the design process that has had so much creative and innovative impact,” says Mark.

Did you even know that interior design was a career back then?

No, I didn’t! I came to interior design through fashion. I worked at Banana Republic when it was an emerging American classic brand, which was in line with my personal aesthetic. There I cultivated my creative skills while working in visual merchan- dising, marketing, and styling. What I did in those roles was very similar to designing a home—you’re looking at light and dark, soft and hard, while balancing colors, prints, and solids. I was always drawn to interiors, and I was an encyclopedia when it came to iconic interiors of the past. The other thing I learned at BR was the operational side of creativity—the details behind the beauty and how to execute it working with teams of people. I also learned storytelling, which applies to what I am doing today. Every house has its own story.

So you took what you learned at Banana Republic to create your own brand of beauty, and now you’re debuting your third book on the topic. Has your definition of what’s beautiful changed over the years?

I think the things I like today are no different than they were years ago, but of course my aesthetic has evolved and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve also been exposed to much more, especially through travel. All that exposure, though, has not fundamentally changed what I think is beautiful like the color blue and blue-and-white stripes, for example. The essence of who my firm is remains the same since the first book, Beautiful. We’ve been able to share a story and point of view. It’s so natural and authentic to talk about the things you truly love.

Your definition of beauty is the same, but how is Forever Beautiful different from the first two books?

This book really hones in on the power of nature in shaping the interiors of a home and how it inspires each of the 12 chapters in this book, which is laid out by the months of the year. The homes capture our range, but each tells a story that reflects its location. It’s a celebration of nature.

How do flowers inform your work?

I love flowers and floral patterns, and I’m drawn to the prints from Colefax & Fowler in particular—ones we’ve been looking at forever but perhaps take a bit for granted. Floral prints inform the palette of a room, for sure, but the type of fabric can also add a particular atmosphere. If it’s a chintz, it can read more British; linen more casual; silk more formal. Florals symbolize life, growth, and natural beauty. Plus, they make people happy, and we need that feeling more than ever!

Lily of the Valley flowers on blue background

Photo by Sabnya75 | Shutterstock

Mark says, "Lily of the Valley has my heart these days. It signifies the first signs of spring; it looks super delicate, but it's also hardy and strong."

Talk about the importance of details in your work, which you illustrate in the “photo album” approach at the end of each chapter.

I always tell my team that a room needs to unfold over time. Our job is to make the whole picture very serene and beautiful and to tell a story about the person who lives there. As you spend more time in the home, you will start to see more details reveal themselves—but you shouldn’t notice them all right away. You first want to take in the overall atmosphere. We curate every last detail from the way we apply fabric and trim to a piece of furniture to our mix of old and new and patterns and prints. I believe the most magical detail is light, and it’s different in every home—how light enters a room in the morning and how it ends the day. And light is what highlights those other details, of course.

Anything you’ve found beautiful in the last few years that perhaps surprised you?

Ever since the height of Covid, I’ve really appreciated the beauty of walks and taking time to get out in nature. We’ve become so programmed to look down at our phones, but there is so much magic when we look up. You see things a little bit differently. Also, I went to Africa four years ago, and it was an eye-opening experience for me—the realization about the circle of life and how animals respond to each other and need each other. We are not completely in control; we are just part of it all. That mindset brings peace and serenity. It’s a more spiritual way of thinking, but that’s what I am finding beautiful these days.

What can we expect from you going forward when it comes to books?

Forever Beautiful is the end of the “beautiful” trilogy, and we are offering a limited edition gift-boxed set of all three books. I’m not sure the exact direction going forward, but I’ll move into a different realm. I think my next book will be less about big projects and more about visual themes and where I am creatively. I’ll continue showing our work in books because I like playing a part in how it’s presented—picking the images, the font, and the story, which is itself a beautiful thing!

Mark D. Sikes Forever Beautiful book cover

Interview by Alice Welsh Doyle

Forever Beautiful (Rizzoli, 2024) is the latest release from designer Mark D. Sikes. Each of the twelve projects featured showcases his signature style and skillful hand at creating interiors inspired by nature. Buy the Book.

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