As part of our interview series, My Happy Home, we sat down with Dara Huang to find out her biggest tips for transforming a rental into a calm and cosy space, plus what we would find in her bedroom drawer.
Dara is an American architect, interior designer and entrepreneur living in London with her young son. As well as catering to global clients, ranging from the world's most famous brands to billionaires, Dara has her own architecture practice, Design Haus Liberty, as well as an upcoming decor and furniture business called Dara Maison.
Currently, the architect is a judge on The Big Interiors Battle on Channel 4 hosted by AJ Odudu.
What makes you happiest at home?
DH: That's easy – spending time with my son. He makes me so happy. Honestly, I could be a stay-at-home mum, for sure.
Tell us about your childhood home
DH: It was very normal, stable, sweet and modest. It was a small house. I was born and grew up in Titusville, as my dad worked for NASA and that's where NASA is, in Cape Canaveral. And then we moved to Orlando and I grew up in a slightly bigger house. I had a wonderful childhood: riding my bikes, playing outside, eating dinner with my family every night. It was very typical, so I had zero complaints.
When you get home, what is the first thing you like to do?
DH: Well there's the first thing that I like to do and then there's the first thing that I actually do. When I get home, I like to say that I put my keys and coat away but I'm just kidding. I always have bags of stuff with me, so I just throw everything to the side. Then it really depends on if I'm with my son or if I'm alone.
Usually you're just so busy outside when you live in London doing all these activities, that your sole purpose for being at home is really to put everything down, change, go to the next event, grab a bite to eat, feed the kids and then try and balance it all.
It's so funny but I never realised this – after you have kids, you notice how the bathroom has actually become your place of solitude – to close the door and be like 'no one bother me! I'm just going to look at my phone on the toilet forever!'
Sometimes it's just about getting that personal space to be like, 'what did I miss?' because you get lots of messages and you're like, 'who needs me? What's the priority? What's going on?' So, a lot of the time, when I get home it's looking at that. And then doing homework, if I have my son, as I co-parent.
My absolute dream is to just come home, watch Netflix and order food. But I probably do that once a quarter. I mean, that's what my life has come down to, it's like a dream. I am getting there, I wish I could say that is my life but it's not yet.
Which room do you spend most of your time in? How did you decorate this space?
DH: I definitely think that your living room is probably crucial because if you have family, you want to spend a lot of time having a meal together. I think that's still really important, it's a multi-functional room.
It's really important that it's nice and cosy. It doesn't matter if it's a rental, you can do a gazillion hacks to make it yours. I changed my pendant light to a really nice decorative one, even though it's a rental. I think environment is so important.
Also, try and get some lamps because you really want that indirect light at night. I think that artwork is really important too – I always have oversized linen artwork.
I like cream and off-white. I have a ginormous toy closet built in the back of the room to hide all of the toys because it multi-functions as a playroom as well. And I just make sure that it is comfortable because I like candlelight. I like having people over and making it warm and cosy. We have cashmere blankets, throws, rugs, things that make people want to chill and have a cup of tea. I like relaxing and a lot of neutrals.
Describe the view outside your bedroom window?
DH: It's an internal view where I'm looking at another building. When I look down, the view is someone's garden. That's so London isn't it?! I've moved quite a lot and I've always had a nice view out of my bedroom window. But right now, because the view wasn't great and the layout of the room was a bit awkward, I pushed my bed against the window. So, instead of seeing someone's garden and the back of a building, all I see is the sunlight coming in, which is really nice. And then, in front of the bed, there's a fireplace which is a nice view. Making it comfy is key.
What would we find in your bedside table?
DH: You'll find water, which is a new thing for me. I started drinking two litres of water a day as it is so good for your skin. You'll also find my iPhone, unfortunately. I hate to be one of those people but I am. You'll also find a bunch of chargers.
Eucalyptus oil is by my bed too because it's nice if you're having trouble sleeping, which I do, as I clearly have too much going on in my head. The smell of eucalyptus oil is really nice, as is my LLIO pillow spray, which smells lovely.
What is the best decorating advice you have ever received?
DH: It depends. Because I was an architect and taught myself interiors, I was just kind of winging it. I asked a friend who is an interior designer what to do, and she told me that they order everything and put it into a storage unit, including everything right down to the toilet brush. They order all of it online and then stick it in the storage and deploy it in one day. This was around 10 years ago when I first started.
If you're going into interiors, that's the way that you do it. You don't buy things one by one and sit on site and wait for deliveries, you just get it sent to one storage unit and then you deploy it over a week. So, we'll have picture hangers, furniture movers – we can literally do the entire flat in a week, including the styling, the artwork – it is turnkey down to the forks and spoons. It's like the most amazing transformation. For interiors, business-wise, that was the best advice.
What I have noticed about personal interiors is that sometimes your interiors are what you would pick for your clothing or things that attract you. For example, you might find yourself always buying a red bag instead of a black or beige one. I'm a very neutral person, but some people love colour when it comes to how they dress. I think that has a lot to say about what you like and that should be in your interiors. It's just like a good rule of thumb to look at what you're buying and what attracts you. Surround yourself with that.
What is the best home bargain you've ever snapped up?
DH: I'm all about a home bargain. I have like a million. I go to great lengths to make sure that everything is nice and perfect. But then when it comes to me, I like cheap and cheerful and quick and easy because I don't have the bandwidth or the time to get it all sampled. I just kind of like things now.
And I sketch everything, actually on my iPhone and then I send it out and get things. Everything I have is cheap and cheerful. You name it, a cushion, a doorknob, I got a great deal.
One of the best and most cost-effective things that you can do is change your lightbulbs in your house. When I move into a rental, the first thing that I do is replace the lightbulbs and make sure that they are all 2700k, which is like a tint of light. And I ensure that they all match. That already reduces so much anxiety for me.
The second thing that I do is to add shelves. You might think that that sounds expensive but I actually have a handyman I always use. He cuts the boards on-site and just adds L-brackets from somewhere like B&Q.
I always fill up the space either side of a fireplace with shelves. I don't always ask my landlord, but I'll always put it back. Often, if I've changed something in a rental, the landlord has been so wowed he has asked me to keep it. For example, I added a giant kitchen island in my last rental and they were like, this is amazing. It was beautiful but so cheap.
I also add large scale mirrors. If it's a tight space, such as a hallway or bathroom, for example, I just tell my handyman. You can buy them on Amazon and you just put them in places that are dark or where you need to add some space and light. I love full length mirrors, they just add such depth.
Once you've added the mirrors, shelves and changed your lightbulbs, that's step number one in a rental.
What is your most treasured possession at home? Why is it so special?
DH: My most treasured possession is my son – I guess that's an obvious answer. I've really separated myself from being attached to objects. I think it's because my previous house was robbed, and a lot of the items stolen were very sentimental. Whether it was my grandmother's watch or gifts from my mother, they were things that meant a lot to me.
My mum has always said that you can't take those things to the grave. You need to separate yourself from them as they are just objects. And so, I think that the most sentimental thing for me in the house are my memories that I create. For example, a funny picture that I had framed – a moment. Those are quite special. Those are the most meaningful things. When your children grow up and you put a little mark on the wall of their height, you just wish that you could take those things with you forever.
What would top your list for the worst decor trend?
DH: I don't know where to start. I do always say that there is a market for everything because unfortunately there is a lot of bad taste out there. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it is bad – it could be bad to me but great to somebody else.
What I don't really like is a lot of fake things, like purple lights, different coloured crystals, shiny metals. Things that look cheap really irritate me but they're not always cheap because a lot of rich people out there have a taste for that. I can't deal with faux things, lots of colours, shiny, bright or glistening things.
Are you green-fingered?
DH: I love gardening, even though I have no backyard. My flat also faces north, so I tend to kill the trees inside. I am, however, huge on plants. I think that everyone needs a plant in their house. Add a spike light from Amazon, it will give you such incredible ambience, it's wonderful.
If you could have a snoop around anyone's house, whose would it be and why?
DH: I love snooping in people's houses — it's one of my favourite things to do. Do you ever go to your friend's house and you're washing your hands and just look behind the mirror, thinking, 'I wonder what's in here?' Like, why do people have that curiosity? I don't know.
I want to say something wild like David Bowie. I'm just curious about the way that people live and do things and their oddities, or even what they're picking their teeth with. I’m very observant when I walk into people's bathrooms, I feel like I'm walking into their personal space. So basically, the answer is anybody's house.
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The Living Room Edit
