Home at Last With Tan France: Dream Closet

Hello everyone.

My name is Tan France.

You might know me from the likes of Next in Fashion,

or Queer Eye, but today I'm letting you in

on my most personal project to date,

the build of my dream home, right here in Salt Lake City.

I'm gonna take you through to the likes of my spice kitchen,

my cottage, my closet, the exterior, interior,

and pretty much everything in between.

You're gonna love where we're going with this.

Come join me.

[classical instrumentals]

[door opens]

When I was a kid,

I always knew that I wanted to end up in fashion or style.

I didn't understand

how I was gonna navigate my way through this,

but I wanted to deal with clothes somehow.

I started work at 15, I needed to work at 15,

and I worked a part-time job.

And, then I started doing school part-time,

because we needed money.

And so, therefore, I worked a full-time job from 17.

And, so often I put my dreams to one side

because we didn't come from a wealthy family,

but I always fantasized about what I wanted life to be.

And, that was the motivator for all of my work,

especially when I started my own business,

always seeing this as my North Star,

thinking one day I'm gonna own a home.

[gentle violin]

I'm Tom Fox with the Fox Group,

And I'm Cara Fox. Welcome to our office.

We are helping Tan and Rob build their dream home.

Yay, welcome! Hello Cara, hi.

We sat down with Tom and Cara last year

to talk through every one of the designs

that Rob and I had come up with,

and then to see how that would work in real life.

There are a lot of details where, let's put it this way,

there a first for us,

all these creations are just new and original to this home.

I think the room that will be the most talked about room,

will be his closet.

Okay, sorry Rob had to go.

Baby, you know who it is.

Gotta go when baby calls.

But, can we talk about my closet?

[classical violin]

So, I've been into fashion since I was a kid.

I've been obsessed with it.

I didn't have a closet when I was a kid,

and so I always dreamt of a walk-in closet.

I basically based it on this image.

In Pakistan, you'll see a lot of geometry,

and so I really wanna incorporate that into the design.

For example, the stars, you will see almost everywhere,

all over India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, loads of it.

So, I wanna incorporate that as much as possible.

And then, scalloping, which you see here.

I also love color, but Indian color is a lot of color.

This is a swing.

It's like a daybed.

Hanging from the ceiling.

But, hanging from the ceiling.

So, we have three separate sections of this closet.

It's all in one space, but I wanna divide it up.

The runway section where I want a trifold mirror.

There's this iconic image.

Do you know who this lady is, straight man?

No. [Cara laughs]

Get out!

This woman here is Judy Garland.

Icon.

This trifold mirror is something that I love,

because it gives you a look at the front,

and the side of your outfit, and the back of your outfit.

I know you've done gorgeous closets.

Does this worry you?

Does this feel like the kind of thing

that you've done before?

Tell me about it.

Well, we most definitely haven't done this type

of finished carpentry before.

You've never done this before?

That seems strange for you, here in Utah.

We've done some elaborate finished carpentry.

[Tan] Yeah, I know.

And, some of our guys are the best in the business.

And so, this will be a unique challenge.

But, I am very confident

that we'll be able to execute on what you want.

The appreciation for the details is what's gonna make this,

this room so special.

It's almost like it's layering upon layering of design.

[Tan] Yeah. And, character, and you.

Well, and I think we should stop calling it a closet.

[Designer] Yeah. It's a room.

It's rooms. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tan] And, perfect for Tan France. Yeah.

[classical instrumentals]

Getting to create your own home, to design every space,

to dictate where the stairs will go, where windows will go,

that, I don't take lightly.

I know that I had to work so tirelessly to get to this point

and I honestly didn't think it was ever gonna happen.

That's why this means more to me

than anyone could ever, ever imagine.

I have planned,

what I think is the most beautiful, unique closet.

It's gonna be broken up into three spaces.

[bell dings]

This space, first space,

is the space that's gonna have all of my outerwear,

and my suiting.

This whole back wall is going to be a shoe wall

that I am so excited about.

Will it house all of my shoes? Probably not.

Have I already outgrown this wall? I sure have.

There will be a swing in here.

Not the kind of swing you're thinking of.

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

This space is so important to me

because it's going to have a trifold mirror.

This is where I will create most of my content.

I hate to say content because [dramatically gags]

it is what it is. It's my job.

And, this is where I'm going to have open cabinets,

or open shelving.

We're going to have a massive island in here

that's going to house all of my T-shirts, my underwear.

There's going to be a wall that will house all of my denim.

There's gonna be a wall

that houses all of my extra knitwear.

So, it's going to be such a functional space.

Now, let's bring in Cara and Tom and they can explain more.

My biggest concern

is that I don't want it to feel like

a western take on South Asian.

I want it to feel like you fell into South Asia.

True character. Yeah.

I want you to walk into this room, and think,

Feels like I've entered a Maharaja's Palace.

[Tom] Sure. Yeah.

If the Maharaja had a shopping addiction like I have.

[Cara laughs] Sure.

That's what I want.

So ,I talked about wanting detail on the ceiling.

We're actually gonna bring in a few beams here and here

to separate this space.

So, it has its own kind of identity, right?

You spoke a little bit about the mirror.

[Tan] Yeah.

The mirror's gonna be custom made for you.

And, on the side walls

there's gonna be like a lattice trellis system,

one you'd see in, maybe, India.

[Tan] Yeah. Or Pakistan.

And, then we're gonna create these amazing corbels

that will hold the beams that come across.

[Tan] Yeah.

[Tom] And, all those little intricate details

[Tan] will play to this. Pretty authentic.

[Tom] Yep.

The detailing on the ceiling, the detailing on the walls,

Rob's art.

He's actually the mastermind behind it.

[Cara] He is, yeah.

And, he's driving these beautiful details

that we're gonna take,

and then we have to go to work to bring 'em to life.

Can't wait. Yeah.

It's gonna be gorgeous, It's gonna be gorgeous.

It is.

It's gonna be like no other closet you've ever done.

Ever. Anyone's ever done.

[energetic violin]

So, I am on my way to the property, the build.

I've not seen the house within the last couple of months.

I think what was surprising for me,

is when the drywall went up, the closet downstairs,

Tan's closet, is huge.

I know originally that, like,

they were worried about the size.

Yeah. In the space.

Yeah.

And, this is tan France's closet.

Like, it better be. Oh, it has to be.

It has to be perfect.

I hope it's everything he wants it to be.

'cause you know, in his mind,

he had this, like, amazing vision for this closet.

So I just don't want him to walk in, and be like,

This isn't it. Or, This is it.

I just hope he's happy. I am such a type A person.

I want control of literally everything.

I just hope that whatever has been done

over the last few weeks, is to my liking.

If it's not, there's gonna be a very awkward conversation.

I'm not willing to just say, Sure. That's fine.

It needs to be perfect

To me, I hope when he sees it today,

he can feel the heart and soul that has been put into this.

Oh my gosh.

What if he starts yelling at us, kicks us out of the house?

[Tara laughs]

[suspenseful orchestra music]

Okay, my closet.

How's it coming along, first off?

It's a big space to fill. Not clothes-wise.

I already already filled it. No, not clothes-wise.

Already filled it, already ran out of room.

So, this is where most of my content is created

and so much of my job is creating content.

I'm 40, I turned don't 40 this year.

Don't lie to me. Day over 20.

I turned 40 this year, thank you so much.

Botox, kids, it's amazing.

No, 40 this year,

and so I wanna make sure that at every point, light is good.

We've gone over the mirror placement.

[Tom] Yeah. The angles.

[Tom] Yeah. So that they're adjustable,

so that nothing is harsh.

It's, like, the exact light that you want for content.

Great.

Every other space in the house,

or many of the other space in the house

have a whisper of South Asia.

This is the only space that is fully South Asian.

From what you've seen, is it looking like Vegas?

And, by that, I mean, you know, it's a dodgy knockoff

Disneyland, Vegas. Yeah.

I see your concern.

And, that was, I think, a big concern of ours as well.

Yeah.

This is not like a movie set.

I mean, this is, like, detailed cutout, hand-stenciled,

the finest cabinetry in the world.

[heeled shoes on tile]

I went to Chris's workshop

to see just what the progress was of this new work.

[light violin playing]

Okay. This is for the, my closet?

Mhm.

The, are you calling it, corbels?

[Chris] The corbels for the doorways.

The face will be a clay color.

[Tan] Great.

[Chris] That is this color right here.

[Tan] Great.

[Chris] And, the other side

will be the greenish cream color.

Once it's done, it'll be sanded down, perfectly smoothed?

Yup. Crisp, crisp?

And, this will actually get beveled on the edges here

to soften that edge.

And, then it will get stenciled on the sides.

Oh, and then there's gonna be the little thing

[Chris] at the bottom? Yeah.

I added that in last minute. That's nice.

I thought it looked cool.

So. That's that. Really nice.

Yeah, beautiful.

That is one of my favorite smells in the world.

And, I would just sniff that as a kid.

So, if anyone's ever wondering

why I am bat [beep] crazy, that.

Okay, wow. [heeled shoes on cement floor]

So, this is the CNC machine.

[Tan] This is the one

that gives us all the incredible detail?

Correct, I haven't even taken this off yet.

What is, this is wood, right?

[Chris] What is it? This is HDM.

[Tan] Okay. So, it's a fiberboard.

If we did this in wood, it would crack,

it would expand, contract.

It would get out of control. Okay.

So, this will get placed on a backer,

and these will get painted separately.

[Tan] Okay.

So that we can get a nice smooth finish on the back.

[Tan] Paint this separate. Great.

[Chris] This is the frame which accepts it all.

Wow.

[Chris] So, this will all fit inside that.

That is fricking, can I swear?

It's [beep] gorgeous!

This takes about two hours to cut.

Just that one piece?

Just this one piece takes about two hours to cut.

Wow.

And, there's nine of them in this room, I believe.

Stressed about it? No, no.

I'm feeling good about it.

You have no idea how proud my mom's gonna be. [laughs]

Like, you have no idea. She's gonna love this.

[rich classical violin]

[Tan laughs dramatically]

Hey, how you doing?

[Tan gasps] This is for the mirror room.

Yeah.

Which, these are the two walls flanking the back wall,

which has all the mirrors.

This is just a piece of the puzzle.

There's a lot happening in this space.

Okay.

This is everything, kind of,

[Cart wheels across cement floor]

pre-layered for you to see.

[belly laughs] That is so stupid good!

And, this color is this background.

This will stay white, this will be the clay.

And then, inside of this will be stenciled white.

I can't even articulate it. It's incredible.

That is just bonkers.

All this from an image. I know! That Rob created.

Mhm. That's.

On an iPad. On an iPad. [laughs] Nice.

That's incredible.

Did you ever imagine that you'd be designing Indian work

for any home? [laughs] Nope. But, it's been great.

[classical violin music]

[Tom] We've started the install of the cabinets.

They're well underway.

I think we have more lineal footage of cabinets

in that closet than we put in most people's homes.

[Cara] Entire homes.

Like, it's a special place.

Obviously, we're right in the middle of install, and so.

[Cara] Yeah.

The rest of the baseboards, and the crown,

and the floating detail

through the middle of these cabinets have to come in.

But, it looks pretty great.

Look how the CNC trim work of the little scallop turned out.

[Cara] Perfect skill.

[Tom] I also love how the white oak

is layered behind the glass.

[Cara] Yeah.

And, he'll probably have his clothes

perfectly color-matched inside these things.

Totally.

And, the swing that's gonna be coming

right where I'm standing. Yeah.

Custom white fixtures, custom swing, custom cabinets.

The custom hardware pieces. Stenciling.

Custom stenciling, so. Yeah.

They all have to come together,

all within the next few weeks.

It's gonna be mayhem for sure.

Super excited to see all of Tan's clothes in here.

[scoffs] I'm sure you are.

[gentle violin]

[box contents rustling]

Can you believe it's here, finally?

Let me get everything set up,

let me figure out this wardrobe space,

and then I'm gonna shave things

that are gonna blow your mind.

Good? Good!

I'm thinking I wanna put all of my sneakers up top,

trainers for you Brits,

and my more formal shoes towards the bottom.

And, I know that some of my shoes are insane.

I understand that.

I work in television.

[upbeat jazz band instrumentals]

I put my little handbags there,

'cause I think that that's gorgeous.

I break my knitwear into two categories,

thin knits and chunky knits.

They're color coordinated as well, duh.

And then, I like to separate out my blazers

from my trousers.

So, if my pants are separate, it means,

Okay, I'm choosing this blazer.

Would I wear the matching pants? Absolutely.

But, do I want to see what else is available? I sure do.

And, therefore I'm gonna go with a different color pants.

It just makes dressing a lot easier.

[energetic jazz band instrumentals]

[Cara] I think when styling a closet island,

or any island, any coffee table, really,

it's all about placement,

and making sure we have enough variety.

[energetic jazz band instrumentals]

[closet doors open]

Okay, now that all of my wardrobe is in and situated,

it is time to reveal my closet.

[dreamy, serene music]

Yes, this is a swing in my closet.

I wanted to infuse a bit of South Asian-ness into this.

We typically have swings instead of a sofa.

The color of this is very much traditional.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I wanted to go extra with this closet,

and this was the most extra thing I could think of.

I've kept all of my jazzy footwear here,

so that when you enter the closet,

the lights hit, glistens gorgeously.

This is now finally organized.

We go from sneakers, to sandals, to shoes.

I love everywhere you go in the house,

you're gonna see little details.

And, this one is obviously the geo print

that me and Rob came up with.

And then, we transition from this blue section

into the clay section, which is where I will do my content.

I think this is next level, this detail,

we wanted to have dimension.

So, it looks a lot more dramatic to have this trellis on it,

this lattice work, as opposed to, just, a flat print.

I really wanted it to feel as authentic

as physically possible.

I wanted a tri-fold mirror, initially.

The Fox Group came up with something that I'm obsessed with,

which is this mirror situation.

I think that's a really cool hybrid of east and west, love.

And then, finally,

I wanna bring you into my cream or beige section,

completely over the top, but I think is magical.

So, you'll see we've added this floral detail

that Rob designed for me, for this closet.

And, then we had it painted on.

All of this is, I think, so special, and hand painted.

We've also added the little medallions on top.

I know that this is ludicrous

that I've just got a picture of myself, but it's my closet.

Why not?

And then, this stuff all over here,

it's not completely color coordinated yet,

but I'm working on it.

It's a work-in-progress.

All of my suiting, all of my shirting,

and then all of my separate trousers

that don't go with suits.

And, then in the middle we have my island.

So, on the face of this island,

you'll see it's just a simple western island.

However, on the end,

we've incorporated the geo print lattice work

that I think is just a lovely little touch.

So ,it's not just a very random western piece of island,

or cabinetry, with all this South Asian-ness.

And, if you look above,

yes, we've got the kinda lighting to really give us

what we need, as far as lighting goes.

But, also, these globes,

which are the custom globes from Sienna lighting,

again, with that same geometric print

and pattern that we've got on the side here.

So, it really does tie together, and it's so, so considered.

Cara, Tom, shall we dissect?

[Cara sighs] Yes!

[Tan] Okay. Let's do it!

The amount of work that went into it, tell me about it.

[Tom] So, the past month, particularly in this area,

it has been a zoo, it's been crazy.

All of the finished carpentry details,

all of the finished cabinetry details,

all of the stenciling,

literally every single paint you see in here,

is been done by a small, tiny brush.

Wonderful woman called Marjorie,

who's done all of this detail, she's painted it all for us.

So, everywhere you see a white line,

or a Coble that's got a floral detail, Marjorie did that,

and I think she did the most gorgeous job.

We love her.

[Tom] Well, the beautiful thing is,

every single one of these designs,

it was created by you and Rob.

Every detail in this closet means something to you.

It's special to you. Yeah.

How was hanging a swing?

Simple?

Well, when you said,

Hey, we wanna do this swing in my closet.

That's, that's, that's not a typical.

[Tom And Cara] Ask. Right?

Exciting though, right?

It's Incredible. Very exciting.

It's, it was this old antique swing that tan procured.

We got it here, and then we had to clean it up,

we had to refinish it, then obviously support the chains,

hang it, and make sure that it was perfect in the room.

Do you know what is lovely, is we are both Asian,

and you know how much we love color.

Yes.

Our communities love color.

Yes. And, it can go way too far.

[Cara] Yeah.

I think that we've been really restrained

with how we've used it, where we've used it.

[Cara] Yeah, the colors, I think,

blend so beautifully with each other.

We did it very muted where it needed to be,

but also bold where it could be.

[Tan] Yeah, the custom mill work on the ceiling?

[Tom] It's so detailed and there's some heaviness to it,

but it's not overbearing.

[Cara] I think, yeah.

[Tom] I think, that's what's kind of the trick.

I love everything that your team have done,

but I think this shows their skill

better than anything else in the house.

I think originally when you sat down and said,

Here is the vision for this closet.

Like, I think all our minds were blown.

We're just like, Whoa. This is a lot.

Just, hours and hours

pouring over the cabinetry details alone,

and where to curve, and so many different versions

that we went through. Yeah, oh yeah.

And, so many different colors that we went through.

Oh yeah. Until it was this.

Well, thank you so much for your patience.

I really appreciate it,

as I know this was really, really stressful,

but your team's executed it incredibly.

Thank you, that's so nice. Incredibly.

I can't even tell you how much I appreciate this one,

in particular, 'cause my family have seen pictures of it,

and they get emotional, and they're like,

You incorporated a real part of our culture

into your home.

And, that's mind blowing for our people.

So, thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Now, I love you so much that I'm gonna do you solid.

[Tom] What? Please do.

He looks just fine. Fine, yeah.

[Tan] Lovely, you're a very handsome man, Tom.

Oh, what are we doing?

[Tom] You could look better. Oh boy.

Okay. [hangers slide in closet]

What are we feeling?

I'm excited!

So, I won't turn you into Tan France, I promise.

'Cause if I were to, I'd put you in something wild.

[Cara laughs] But, it's not that.

We need, like, a construction vibe.

[Tom] I like it. The smart architect vibe.

Wait, say no more, say no more, say no more.

I've got something that's custom and perfect.

[Cara gasps]

Okay, I know we're not the same size,

but this is oversized, so don't worry.

[Cara] Oh my. Will you try it on?

Oh, it's a Carhartt.

It's, like, laboring dudes wear Carhartt?

Yeah. Okay. [chuckles] Oh boy.

Is it gonna fit? [gasps]

Hey, I think that's pretty solid.

Elevated construction.

Is this, like, a custom Carhartt jacket?

It sure is, there's only one like it in the world.

thank you so much. Oh, there you go.

Thomas. Yes?

Do you wanna be the first person

that checks out their outfit in my mirror?

Oh, I better. You may.

[Cara] [gasps] Amazing.

You remember when we used to call this runway room?

Yeah. 'cause its. uh-huh, that's right.

Well, you start there, give me your best runway walk.

[Cara laughs] Oh my gosh.

Think something confidence, think style, think chic.

Think powerful, think sexy.

Oh, gorgeous, come on, Tom! [Cara laughs]

[gentle violin]

Originally, Tan was like, I just want a simple,

I'm just gonna, a place where I can just hang up my clothes,

look at 'em, do my work,

and then all of a sudden it's transformed

into a place where he's, like,

Hey, I need this to represent me, where I'm from,

what I've been doing for the past,

you know, several decades.

He wanted it to feel like him.

I think it just exudes Tan.

His life's work is in this closet.

All the memories, sentiments, the awards.

It's a pretty incredible place.

And, it was an honor to bring it to life for him.

Everyone's idea of success is different,

but to me it's those things that I fantasized about

as a kid, and it's not luxury.

It's not about an expensive space.

It's just a space that feels inviting, and put together,

and considered.

You would've shown me this as a kid, and said

One day, that's gonna be your closet.

I wouldn't have slept for a year.

I think this is mind blowing.

[sweet classical instrumentals]

[royal fanfare]

[classical ballroom music]