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Houzz Tour: The Home that Launched Naked Decor
Every room has a personality in Supon Phornirunlit's happy, pet-filled home
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
Meet Supon Phornirunlit, a designer who gave up his award-winning graphic design business to take some time off, travel and enjoy life. In reprioritizing the role work played in his life, he realized, "If you love what you do, it's not work." In focusing on his immediate surroundings, a house in the Kalorama (Embassy Row) neighborhood in Washington, D.C., and his passion for keeping things clean and simple while injecting his sense of humor, he inadvertently launched a new business, Naked Decor.
Phornirunlit's love for pop art, clever hotel design, animals and laughs makes his home a stylish, modern nest with delightful surprises around every corner. His line of pop-inspired accessories has been embraced by designers and press alike. He brings the happy into the home, making it easy for anyone to switch up props and other accessories to completely change a room's look. Let's take a look at how his passion for decorating his home helped him create a job that doesn't feel like work.
Phornirunlit's love for pop art, clever hotel design, animals and laughs makes his home a stylish, modern nest with delightful surprises around every corner. His line of pop-inspired accessories has been embraced by designers and press alike. He brings the happy into the home, making it easy for anyone to switch up props and other accessories to completely change a room's look. Let's take a look at how his passion for decorating his home helped him create a job that doesn't feel like work.
Here's Phornirunlit and two of his dogs, Toto and Taylor. He has had up to four pets at a time, and you'll soon see how much they influence his work.
Houzz at a Glance:
Who lives here? Supon Phornirunlit and a menagerie of beloved pets
Style and location: Postmodern house built in 1963 in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; it has never undergone a major architectural renovation.
Size: 3 stories, 4 bedrooms, 4 baths
Houzz at a Glance:
Who lives here? Supon Phornirunlit and a menagerie of beloved pets
Style and location: Postmodern house built in 1963 in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; it has never undergone a major architectural renovation.
Size: 3 stories, 4 bedrooms, 4 baths
This is the room that launched Phornirunlit's latest business, Naked Decor. He entered a picture of his living room in a magazine contest and won. Soon after, there was high demand for the "Live Like a Queen" pillows he had made for himself. He started to fill orders for them, and Naked Decor was born.
"I loved the draping in a boutique hotel where I stayed in Miami," he says. This inspired the 20-foot-long wall of curtains across two sides of this room and its expansive windows.
"I loved the draping in a boutique hotel where I stayed in Miami," he says. This inspired the 20-foot-long wall of curtains across two sides of this room and its expansive windows.
| Phornirunlit loves to use props and switch them out for different looks (play "spot the difference" with this image and the one above to see how he does this). "Real men are not afraid of pink!" he says. He found these larger-than-life poodles in Mexico and had quite a time in customs convincing officials not to cut them open. "They were packed in boxes with their heads sticking out!" he laughs. Luckily, they made it across the border intact. The sofas and chairs are from Crate and Barrel, and the tripod lamp with the faux-feathered shade is from Thailand. The dog-related pillows and trays in this image are by Naked Decor. |
| "I like to create different sections in a large room like this one," Phornirunlit says. "I never want a seating to force people to arrange themselves like they are all sitting around a campfire." He also likes oversize pieces that make a big visual impact — for example, the large, striped ottoman in this room. |
Now that Phornirunlit runs his business out of his home, the living room also serves as a reception area and conference room. This adjacent room, connected via French doors, serves as his office. In addition to the easy flow from one room to the other, this lets in the natural light from the living room.
| This darker, first-floor sitting room has more of a private, man-cave vibe. Phornirunlit calls it "a pop take on rustic." The room was inspired by camping, which also inspired his Oh Deer pillow seen on the sofa. "No animals were harmed in decorating this room," he says. The trophies are cast in resin, and the rug's zebra pattern is painted on. |
| The other end of the room contains this dining area. "I wanted to do something fun at full-dog size," says Phornirunlit. Thus, the Happy Hot Dog Display Tray was created to pose proudly atop a tablescape. He bought the George Rodrigue blue dog painting more than 15 years ago, before the artist's popularity exploded. During parties, the curtains and doors between the sitting room and the deck are opened up, allowing for free flow between indoors and out. |
| What is behind all those curtains in the sitting room? An incredible, 8-inch-deep reflecting pool, inspired by one he'd seen in a hotel lobby in Thailand. "This was once a simple 800-square-foot deck, with 200 to 300 potted plants on it," Phornirunlit explains. "I realized it took about two hours a day to make sure they were all watered and decided to make a change." The reflecting pool is surrounded by a delightful mix of repeated elements including inexpensive chairs from IKEA adorned with Warhol-esque Chairman Mao pillows, elephant-shaped umbrella stands, $10 umbrellas from Pier 1, and a Buddha figure from Thailand. The crystal ball lights are solar. |
| The kitchen renovation is Phornirunlit's latest project. "This 7-foot-high subway sign from Restoration Hardware was my inspiration," he says. What followed were black granite counters and mini glass subway tiles, which take on just a hint of green. |
The kitchen restoration was prompted by a lack of storage. Rather than opening it up to the adjacent sitting room, he used the wall for cabinets and kept things bright by using lots of white, reflective surfaces like glass tiles, stainless steel appliances and lots of lighting solutions. Note the lights under and inside the cabinets.
| Clear glass on cabinet doors gave Phornirunlit an opportunity to infuse color and playfulness into the kitchen via his tiki mug and martini shaker collections. The kitchen also allowed him to use tiles leftover from a client's project, an example of his balance of practicality and whimsy. |
| The original laundry room "was a mess, and I needed additional storage for the house," Phornirunlit says. Cabinets fill the 84-square-foot space. After choosing the red front-loading washer and dryer, he realized using black granite flooring was a great way to provide punctuating contrast. |
"Every room in the house has its own personality," Phornirunlit says. This guest room has Thai accents, such as the temple doors with hand-painted Buddhas and the intricate quilt on the bed. Throughout the home, he ties everything together with modern pieces, like the Puzzle Chairs by David Kawecki and the Knoll Toothpick Table. The rug was a $10 score from Urban Outfitters.
| Next to the Buddha guest room is this room that Phornirunlit dubs "The Addams Family Black and White Room." He painted all of the natural wood furniture black and white and added the silver chrome hardware to the dresser. Black trim adds crisp borders and emphasizes straight lines. The rug is assembled using FLOR tiles. "I like FLOR. You can make a rug as big as the room, and with up to four animals around, I can cut out and replace one piece of it whenever necessary," Phornirunlit says. |
| When Phornirunlit realized that the tiles he liked at Home Depot Expo were more than half off, he remodeled all of his bathrooms at once, giving each one a different feel via the colors he chose. This bathroom is next to the black-and-white bedroom, which inspired its glam and minimal palette. As much fun as Phornirunlit likes to have with décor, he keeps resale in mind so that major renovations will not be required if he ever wants to sell the house. |
These hornlike sconces by Philippe Starck were already in the house when Phornirunlit moved in. "The wall looks like a smiley face, with the bird serving as the red lipstick," he says. If you look closely, you'll see that the wall on the right is covered in the same tile in white. The skylight in the ceiling of this third-floor bedroom bathes the room in natural light, which is reflected by the tiles.
| The drama of high hotel design influenced Phornirunlit in this bathroom, where he covered the entire wall in the same blue tile. |
| The pop appeal in the master bedroom is punched up by the Campbell's soup renderings, done by Andy Warhol's former assistant, Steve Kaufman. Again, FLOR tiles expand the rug to the size of the room and can be replaced when stained. Have you guessed why he named his company Naked Decor? Beyond believing that sex sells, Phornirunlit explains "when you move into your house, it is naked and bare." His accessories dress the home, transforming furnishings into fun outfits for rooms. More: Houzz Tour: When MoMA is Your Next Door Neighbor Houzz Tour: New Spanish Style in San Sebastián Houzz Tour: A Mid-Century Modern Getaway Houzz Tour: A Colorful Cottage in the Hamptons |
Ideabook published on Nov. 14, 2011.
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ps I cannot imagine how you keep those gorgeous white rugs like that with your little dogs. I have just got a little schnoodle (miniature schnauzer/toy poodle) she is constantly bringing in little leaves or sticks or grass and dropping them all over my sisal :)
PS. attached a photo of my little schnoodle Poppy....and no that isn't her basket she has a cosy one, I was just messing around with a cute photo.
I adore that fab white bed, with the Jetson's legs, in the Master Bedroom. Could you please tell me where it is from?
simple and spacious