Fashion Darling and Aesthete Rachel Antonoff has Mastered the Art of 'Eclectic Elegance' — Here's How You Can Too

Rachel Antonoff is one of my favorite maximalist designers. Here, she reveals her home decor staples, including her favorite quirky plates and luxurious scents

fashion designer rachel antonoff next to multiple home decor items on a colorful background
(Image credit: Getty Images / Taylor Hill | Williams Sonoma, Net-A-Porter, Chairish, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie)

Any self-respecting maximalist knows Rachel Antonoff, the pattern-loving fashion designer with a penchant for kitschy collections, bold and bright colors, and food-themed garments. Her clothes delight and amuse — a rarity for a world increasingly obsessed with neutrals — and offer pattern-obsessed fashion addicts a place to turn when pinstripes just won't cut it.

It comes as little surprise then that her taste in interiors is equally as esoteric and funky, rooted in a love of tastemakers like Diana Vreeland, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Mario Buatta (also known as the "Prince of Chintz").

'I have some friends who are very minimalist, and they've described my taste as, 'Oh you're going to devalue your apartment, like, bring the resale value down',' the designer, who is currently decorating a new home in NYC alongside Remy Renzullo, tells me with a laugh. 'And I'm like, 'That's probably true'.'

She describes her taste as 'eccentric elegance,' an incredibly fitting moniker that succinctly embodies the look she so constantly chases. 'I want prints of prints,' she explains. 'And I want wallpaper everywhere.'

Elsewhere, her new home will be tailored to how she lives, in addition to her trendy (albeit unconventional) taste. 'I think I'm a 'more is more' person, even with things,' she describes. 'I'm very clean, but I don't know that I'm always organized. It's not really an interior design thing, but I feel like, if you need this all the time' — at which point she holds up a tube of Blistex — 'just have it near you. Have one on every table.' In other words, 'design for how you live and not how you want to live.'

To help you live a little more like Rachel, I've rounded up a few of her favorite home staples, from her go-to gift for hosts and housewarmings, to her surprising 'must-have' statue that has survived multiple moves, and the Diptyque candle she can't stop burning. Basically, if you want to channel 'eclectic elegance', consider this your roadmap.

An Eclectically Elegant Rachel Antonoff-Inspired Shopping Edit

Brigid Kennedy
Writer

Brigid Kennedy is a freelance writer and former style editor for Livingetc.com, where she scoured the internet for the best and most stylish deals on home decor and more. She also served as the website's in-house sofa expert, completely revamping and reworking Livingetc's expansive sofa buying guide by interviewing a total of 17 interior designers and sofa experts at top brands like Article and Benchmade Modern; sitting on upwards of 50 sofas across both Pittsburgh and New York City; extensively polling her friends and family for their own sofa-buying anecdotes and product recommendations; and traveling to Dallas, Texas, to tour the floor of a couch factory. In total, she estimates she has spent 40+ hours (and counting!) reading, writing, and talking about couches with accredited sofa connoisseurs o then pass that knowledge on to you. She describes her personal design style as colorful and clean, and in her free time enjoys reading, watching movies, and curating impossibly niche playlists on Spotify. She recently relocated from Manhattan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she's decorating and DIYing a new home downtown.