After ascending to interior design stardom on social media, amassing a celebrity-studded client list, and producing extensive collections of nearly every home product you can think of, it’s hard to imagine anything Sarah Sherman Samuel hasn’t done. But when the vacant lot adjacent to her Grand Rapids, Michigan, home went on the market, she was presented with not one, but two, entirely new opportunities: For the first time since founding her eponymous interior design firm in 2014, Sherman Samuel became her own client as she designed a home from the ground up.
This exercise evolved into a four-bedroom showhouse that the AD100 talent has spent the last three years perfecting. “It became my design laboratory, an off-site workspace, an art gallery, and a glorified guest house…all while saving the trees and view from our current home in the process,” she notes. Dripping in delicious details, each carefully curated room captures the duality of the Sarah Sherman Samuel brand by directly combining her unquestionable knack for interior design with her extensive product range. “It feels like the most pure expression of myself,” she says. While it would be impossible to honor all the clever moves that make this home so swoon-worthy, here are our eight major takeaways from the SSS Showhouse.
1. Materiality as currency
While carte blanche may seem like a designer’s dream come true, having zero constraints to work from presents its own challenges. As a practice focused primarily on the renovation of unique, often historic, properties, SSS had to find a way to imbue the inherent charm and character of an existing build while staying within budget. Leaning into the power of materiality, Sherman Samuel opted for a varied palette of woods, metals, and stones. “Combined with thoughtful, out-of-the box applications,” she notes, “I think incorporating a healthy mix of materials can communicate a sense of luxury that doesn’t have to cost a fortune.” In the showhouse kitchen, relatively simple applications of bold, chunky marble; warmly grained wood; brass fixtures; and painted cabinetry coalesce to form an elegant composition that feels grander than a mere sum of its parts.
2. Curves for days
To continue to cultivate a refined yet accessible vibe, Sherman Samuel employed the power of the curve to make the home feel “a bit warmer” and “more inviting,” incorporating undulations into the architecture as well as the fit-out. In the living room, light from an oversized porthole window illuminates the gently undulating vaulted ceiling. These organic moments are emphasized by the soft edges of seating and the flowing forms of SSS Atelier’s Skimming Stone tables. The door to the entry to the home even includes an undulating pull bar.
3. A statement fireplace
As a rule of thumb, SSS always attempts to incorporate a main event moment into her interior designs. In the case of the showhouse, it’s the enormous, faceted chimney at the heart of the living space. “The execution of this element was actually really simple,” says Sherman Samuel. In keeping with fire code, SSS specified a fire-resistant material for the shaft that was both easily accessible and straightforward to fabricate. “We paired the custom-designed chimney with a basic fire box and were able to create a really special, custom-feeling focal point.”
4. Playing up pattern
While an overall read of the showhouse might lean neutral, the prevalence of bold, vibrant patterns should not be overlooked. As a designer of textiles as well as furniture, SSS has created a number of dynamic prints that she applied across fabric, wallpaper, and bedding. “While I’ll always love a stripe, I think our tiger print will forever be my favorite,” she says of the graphic adorning the walls of the showhouse office. When asked about what’s next in the pattern department, Sherman Samuel teased a heavier emphasis on the floral and botanical motifs she recalls from her early days as a surface designer.
5. Millwork that multitasks
“I tend to rely heavily on custom millwork in all my projects to avoid dead space,” Sherman Samuel says. In the light-filled, limewash guest room, SSS devised a clever solution to address challenging proportions. Rather than wasting perfectly usable square footage or compromising sight lines through the room’s ample windows, she designed a piece of furniture that triples as a desk, room divider, and headboard all at once. Upholstered in a dynamic, leafy fabric from Schumacher, the piece presents a playful pop of color while adding a workspace and electrical capabilities to the auxiliary room.
6. Bring the outside in
“This project was my first time specifying an oiled wood floor,” Sherman Samuel reveals of the rich caramel planks that run throughout the majority of the home. The unfinished product was installed with no sealant and has a hand-scraped texture. “It feels so good underfoot; it’s like having your own personal forest in your house,” she says. Incorporating nature into her practice is of particular importance to Sherman Samuel, who spent many years accustomed to the indoor-outdoor lifestyle of Los Angeles. “Now that I’ve moved to Michigan, I think I’ve put an even greater emphasis on bringing the outdoors in,” she retorts, “especially since you can hardly be outside here for about six months of the year!”
7. Introduce threads of continuity
In addition to the home’s continuous wood flooring, Sherman Samuel replicated a few subtle elements to create cohesion throughout the showhouse. Identical ivory linen was used for drapery in every room. Supported by a minimal black curtain rod and designed with generous pleating, the window treatments quietly unite across primary and secondary spaces. As do a series of eye-catching wood-block doors, designed by Sherman Samuel and fabricated at home by her father, a passionate woodworker; each one incorporates 88 squares of wood on either side.
8. Add a personal touch
“Not only did my dad put each of those doors together by hand,” Sherman Samuel recalls, “he even insisted upon doing so with his own hand-made screw plugs.” The process took about a week per door from start to finish, and made for a bespoke and sentimental addition to the already deeply personal project. It should come as no surprise, then, that when asked about the origins of the dynamic wall treatment in the sage-colored children’s room, Sherman Samuel revealed that she had actually painted it herself. Playfully enveloping the gingham-canopied twin beds, this floral mural proves the power in rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands a little dirty.
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