Leslie Driscoll Designs Inspired Interiors For The Art of Living

If you ask a person working in a professional field for which they're truly passionate, 'When did you decide you wanted to pursue this line of work,' they'll likely take you back in time to a moment or a mentor. Leslie Driscoll, owner of Stonington Borough-based Driscoll Design, recalled how she first discovered her talent for interior design when she was in middle school. "That was when I first had an inkling that I really liked space planning. I didn't know what space planning was, but I was already creating spaces," she said. "I was making paths through the woods where I'd built a fort, or building a dollhouse with my father, which I'd then decorate. For me, it wasn't really about playing with the dolls in the dollhouse, it was about creating rooms for the dolls. Later, when my parents gave me my own room, because I was the older sister, they let me paint and decorate it the way I wanted to." Driscoll also had some unofficial interior design mentors in those formidable years. She shared memories of her grandparents, who lived in distinctive styles of houses—one that leaned contemporary, one that was more traditional. She appreciated their flair and senses of style. When tragedy struck her immediate family, and their home partially perished in a fire, her mother enlisted the help of a local interior designer to make the rebuilt structure feel like home. "It was a split-level, with a front door that opened and you could see straight to the back door. This designer came in and helped make it much less 'bowling alley' in feel by creating angles. She also took a very personal approach. She built a planter box for the houseplants my mother loved. She changed the configuration so we could incorporate a piano. She designed a pedestal for a sculpture. So, it wasn't just bringing in furniture and painting the walls." Driscoll went on to study interior design at the University of Delaware. By the late 1990s, she'd moved north and landed a job with Patrick Gallagher Design in Stonington Borough. And in 2000, she started her own design firm. Driscoll's clientele hails from all along the Rhode Island and Connecticut coasts and as far south as New York City. For much of her career, she's worked on both residential and commercial projects. Since the COVID pandemic, her focus has shifted primarily to residential clients, and many call upon her to transform primary and second-home residences. "Sometimes, I just help people sort through things and get them started by spending a few hours of consultation time with them. Other times, I become deeply immersed in long-term, even multi-year, projects. I'm working on a home in Watch Hill—a grand old house built in the 1800s, a classic shingle-style colonial. We started by taking out all of the interior walls, except for the supporting ones, and redesigned the floor plan so that we could choose where to put all the rooms, including the kitchen and baths, for all four floors. This will likely be a two- to three-year project," Driscoll estimated. "I'm working with another client who recently moved to Mystic from Massachusetts. We're primarily focused on how to display their extensive art collection. It's an opportunity for them to see their art in a whole new way," she added. Asked about her design process and what she thinks about when she sees a space for the first time, Driscoll said she considers proportions, how furnishings or appliances could be arranged, and how the space will be used. For example, she'll ask the client about how the room will be used for entertaining and how many people may require seating. Driscoll often collaborates with Mark King, a decorative artist renowned for his special interior finishes—hand-painted murals, gold gilding, silver leafing, precision striping and other techniques for creating a truly unique and personalized spatial experience. "I like working with local artisans and craftsmen who can build unique one-of-a-kind things. I design a lot of furniture and lighting. I try to tease out my client's tastes and then coalesce it into something cohesive and harmonizing," she explained. "I'm really focused on bringing out the clients' desires and lifestyles, so that they walk into the space, and it feels like their space, and not Leslie Driscoll's space." Personally, Driscoll said she's particularly partial to "New England architecture, design and style." Her design aesthetic is color-forward. For a client's Mason's Island home, she drew inspiration from the colors in a David Hockney painting, "Portrait of an Artist." "It's a painting of a man standing by a pool, with a mountainside in the background. The palette just blew me away, so I bought the postcard and showed it to my client and said, 'This is the perfect palette for your house,'" Driscoll said. Recently, she's incorporated two favorite paint colors from Benjamin Moore into her designs, including Monterey White [HC-27], a color she describes as "a soft, buttery yellow, with just a drop of green." "You can put it in any type of home, and it feels fresh and modern," she said. "Art or white trim and moldings look fabulous on it. … Another color I love is Flora [AF-470] by Benjamin Moore. It's a blue-green color that I've used in our studio here." "I have a hard time with just all-white walls. Some people do it really successfully, but I prefer to work with color, whether it's paint color or artwork, colorful textiles or rugs," she added. A tip for Welcome Home readers, courtesy of Driscoll: If you're considering a new color for a room in your home, consider choosing complementary colors from a curated collection of colors by Farrow & Ball, or colors from Benjamin Moore's historical collection. "These are wonderful palettes, where every color works together." Expert Design Tips for Freshening a Room this Summer Interior Designer Leslie Driscoll suggest a few easy and inexpensive ways to update a room when the seasons change to spring and summer: ·&emsp;&emsp;Consider adding a beautiful slipcover to a sofa, which will soften the space and add a pop of color. ·&emsp;&emsp;Swap out an area rug for one that's lighter in texture and color—more seasonally appropriate. ·&emsp;&emsp;Add new window treatments, even if it's just a simple valance. Blinds can provide privacy and filter light, but the addition of fabric softens the architecture and can tie in with the rest of the room's furnishings and textiles. ·&emsp;&emsp;Tune in to YouTube channels dedicated to architecture and design. Take notes about the furnishings, rugs, fabrics, and wall colors you discover there, and then replicate them at home.