I’d say I started stalking Amy Meier around 2020. I remember coming across one of the pedestals from her debut collection, which stopped me dead in my tracks. I wanted to purchase one for my personal home but could only afford to rent one for a photoshoot. The photo is below and I still think it was worth every penny.
Her portfolio is the one I keep coming back to when I’m trying to remember what “refined” is actually supposed to look like — restrained rooms, organic materials, neutral palettes. The version of her I’d built in my head from Instagram was: gracious, talented, probably a little serious. The version that walked into our studio was: gracious, talented, and a great hang. We laughed, we yapped, we shopped, and we somehow got the conversation down to two minutes when we could have done an hour-long podcast. Thank god for our Editor.
Welcome to The Rolodex — the series where I ask designers the questions you actually want answered. Not “what inspires you” per se (respectfully, we’ve all heard enough about travel and nature). THE REAL STUFF. The vendors! The trade secrets!! The paint colors they’d stake their reputation on!
This week: Amy Meier. The San Diego–based designer behind Amy Meier Design, founder of Shop Amy Meier, and AD100 winner. Follow her at @amymeierdesign and @shopamymeier.
Mountain Peak White or Cloud Cover by Benjamin Moore
No paint. Call de Gournay instead.
Amy’s read on moody paint: don’t. If a room wants depth, put a hand-painted scene on the walls and let that do the heavy lifting. de Gournay is the London-based house that has been painting silks and papers for forty years and remains the call when a client can stretch into a real wall moment.
Spruce Painting
A painter at this level is more contractor than craftsman — the person who turns a paint specification into a finished room without ten back-and-forths over the trim. Contact Amy’s standing pick on their website, here.
No surprise here, Rolodex Favorite Stoneland makes the list (Jake Arnold + Brigette Romanek + me all agree its the best). The LA-based yard is doing the kind of slab inventory that pulls designers in from outside the region — Amy’s in San Diego and still drives up.
Compass Marble & Granite — for the rare imports
This was new information even for me, a professional! Compass is a dealer, not a specific stone. This is where Amy goes when a project needs something specifically not on the LA / NYC shortlists — a marble from a regional Italian quarry that hasn’t been imported in volume, a colorway you’ve seen in one Cesar Casati interior and nowhere else. Her first call when her client says “find me something nobody on the project has used before.”
You know all those marble vanities you seen on the pages of Architectural Digest but dont know where to purchase? This is the call, divas!
The Italian fabricator with stateside reach — the firm you call when the slab is in California but the bookmatching needs to be done the way it’s done in Verona.
If you’re a homeowner, maybeee leave this rec to the professionals. You will likely need rounds of drawings and elevations to be able to work with this team of craftsman.
Nesci is the Indianapolis-based designer / artist working in metal and aluminum at a scale that crosses from furniture into sculpture — I’m personally saving him for an upcoming stainless steel kitchen project. LOOK AT THE DETAILING ON THE FLOATING CABINET.
Munsch Homes (San Diego) + Jackson Le Roy (Utah)
TWO HUGE REVEALS; Munsch is the San Diego pick for her hometown projects. Jackson Le Roy is the Utah call for her fully custom ground up builds and beyond.
Valley Studio (drapery + upholstery) + Custom Craft Upholstery (upholstery + outdoor)
Valley Studio is beloved by the LA design community and Amy is co-signing them here. I will warn you Dear Reader, that Valley is expensive and has long lead times. But it is true that it’s usually worth the wait.
Amy' tips us off to Custom Craft, a new rec for me, specifically for her outdoor needs. GREAT TIP. Sounds like custom outdoor cushions and teak restoration work is what she’s used them for to date. I’ll be honest the fact that she names them in the same breath as her indoor drapery workroom is the signal that her exterior rooms are getting the same spec attention as her interiors, and that has me rethinking everything I know about design tbh.
A horse stable. Or a rural compound.
I’m putting words in Amy’s mouth here — Amy’s aesthetic translates almost perfectly to the horse-girl / Western-vernacular brief. If anyone in our extended universe is sitting on a stable in Santa Ynez, a ranch in Aspen, or a working property in Texas Hill Country: I’ll route the introduction. She is ready.
To hear what she actually said….
Know a designer who deserves the Rolodex treatment? Reply to this email. I’m always building the list.
See you Tuesday for The Brief.
Sarah Weichel
Founder, Swike
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