Star Quality

"Everyone deserves a little glamour in their life,” says Jeff Andrews, a celebrated interior designer who lives and works in Los Angeles. “Cultivating your sense of that might require finding your voice with design,” he says. “Beauty is relative and selective. It’s a feeling or a state of mind about things that bring you happiness.”

The former dancer and choreographer translated his sense of grace and style into a successful interior design business that emerged from his personal home decorating projects. “I would move almost every year and redo everything in the new apartment,” says Andrews. “It was a passion of mine, so when I segued out of my choreography career, I moved right into design.”

His first professional design client was Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale. “Eleanor had just bought a house in LA’s Beachwood Canyon and wanted some help, so I jumped in!” says Andrews. The two became good friends, and Andrews designed other homes for her in New York City, The Hamptons, and Minnesota. “Working on Eleanor’s projects gave me my designer legs and helped me find confidence in my abilities.”

Since his burst into this new career, Andrews has worked with hundreds of clients and published a design book, The New Glamour: Interiors with Star Quality. He has also launched furniture, rug, wallcovering, wood tile, and hardware collections and has twice been on the Elle Décor A-List of top interior designers in the world.

One of Andrews’ talents is deciphering what his clients need through the images and inspirations they share with him. “I try to discern how they will live in the space, how they entertain, what their home goals are.” Once he can “get into their head,” he will then put his own spin on their home. “There are common threads that go through all my different projects,” he says. “But I want the owner’s personality to be front and center. It’s more like a silent signature from me.”

Andrews considered a home an extension of the people who live there. “You have to be surrounded by things that bring you joy on a daily basis,” he says. “Everything has to be curated and collected. I don't like things that are overly bold or are dramatic just to make a statement,” Andrews believes a really good room is beautiful when you first walk in, but if you sit down and spend some time there, the more you notice. “Then you start understanding the concept and layers of design infused into it.”

While he has worked with many wonderful people from all walks of life, Andrews counts numerous celebrities, such as Lady Gaga, Kaley Cuoco, Ryan Seacrest, Kris Jenner, and Kourtney Kardashian, among his clients. He feels there is a shorthand for working with other creatives. “There's this artistic language that you have, a visual connection,” he says. “There is a momentum to the process, which is very intense but also exciting and rewarding.”

Designing Lady Gaga’s Malibu mansion last year definitely provided some wow factor, but one special home project he recently unveiled is his own. Andrews and his husband, Emmy Award-winning casting director Ken Miller, bought their 1930s Spanish-style home in a chic Mid-City area of Los Angeles three years ago. It has been a labor of love and skill to transform the interior into what Andrews calls a “classic, eclectic, and personalized space.”

Not surprisingly, because of his professional background, he says he likes a space to be well choreographed, with elements of surprise and drama, but still making structural sense overall. Andrews’ home has a sleek sophistication mixed with an homage to the classic era of the house. Every room informs the others with recurring tones of silver, wheat, ochre, slate, and traditional black and white.

The living room is composed of soft gray and taupe fabrics and drapes, dark wood floors, and walls painted with Strong White from Farrow and Ball that lead to a detailed tray ceiling. Statement art pieces lend color and flair.

The dining room has another spectacular decorative ceiling, an abstract zebra-print-inspired rug, and a floor-to-ceiling framed mirror against the far wall. Mirrors are a recurring design element in Andrews’ work. “I feel like there’s a bit of magic to mirrors,” he says. “The bouncing of reflections, the way they mimic windows, and how the natural light changes with the reflections, providing an entirely different perspective to a room.”

The dramatic blacks and whites of the dining room lead naturally to the heart of the home, Andrews’ bespoke kitchen. Tucked at the back of the house with a wide bank of French doors that open to the delightful garden and pool area, the kitchen offers a stunning mixture of high-impact design and homey comfort.

Retaining the curvature typical of the 1930s, the kitchen has been transformed with black limestone floors, cabinets in a mink gray-brown, and dramatic swirled white and black soapstone for the stovetop backsplash and countertops. Additional colors appear in the Heron Blue Heath Ceramics tile on the back of the kitchen island, reflecting the cool of the pool outside and the various ceramic pieces from Matthias Kaiser scattered across the prep areas.

Andrews has outfitted his home kitchen with a Sub-Zero refrigerator and wine storage unit, Wolf range and Convection Steam Oven, and Cove dishwasher, embracing the creative opportunities available with Sub-Zero’s integrated panels. “I truly appreciate the beauty and adaptability of the brand’s panel-ready Designer Series.”

“Appliances are utilitarian luxury items,” he continues, “and my choices came down to the high quality of these products.” His clients also want similar supremely functional, state-of-the-art kitchens. “With Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove, everything integrates seamlessly,” says Andrews. “The design level is so elevated, and the quality is so impeccable, it’s a no-brainer when choosing their suite of products for my clients’ high-end kitchens.”

“I think, as a designer, it’s important to align yourself with reputable companies like Sub-Zero, that you can count on,” says Andrews. “The more successful you become, the bigger your projects, the more people recognize you, there are more opportunities to be influential.”

Andrews believes it is also essential to cultivate relationships with smaller artists and artisans. “I like to find talented people who make furniture and lighting and artists who work in glass, stone, and ceramic mediums,” he says, stressing the value of aligning with producers of incredible items of high quality and design. “You want to speak the same creative language and ultimately offer your clients the highest quality design.”

As he outlined in The New Glamour, Andrews hopes to inspire everyone to reach for the stars, whatever that may look like. “You don’t have to live in Hollywood to want a glamorous- feeling life,” he says. “You can feel that in your soul, in your home. There are no rules for making a cohesive design that's beautiful but also liveable. You just have to experiment with what makes you happy.”