Amber Lewis on the 6 Principles That Shape Her Approach to Interior Design – and the 1 She Says Matters Most in Your Own Home

Where do you start when designing your home? It’s an overwhelming place to be, albeit an exciting one. And while all the small decisions you make along the way will be what brings your spaces together, the overall approach can impact how you even consider which small decisions to look at in the first place.

While the decorating process will look slightly different for everyone, the often mammoth task of home design is best understood through the lens of an interior designer. In her latest book, Interiors: Curated Spaces from Start to Finish, designer Amber Lewis takes us on her design journey. It’s not just a celebration of beautiful finished spaces, but also a deep dive into how we got there – the full ride, ‘messy, layered, occasionally maddening but always meaningful,’ she explains.

To structure that journey, Amber organizes the book around what she calls the ‘Six Ps’ – the stages every project goes through, no matter its size, scale or style.

From renovations to redesigns, 'I organize my whole process by what I lovingly call the Six Ps,' Amber tells Homes & Gardens, 'because every project, no matter how big, small, messy, or magical, passes through these same chaotic but crucial stages.'

First of the 6 Ps is Ponder', which Amber describes as 'the spark' and the idea itself. Next is the 'Play' stage, where ideas are explored. This step involves fabric swatches, color schemes, and plenty of mood boards. Third is 'Procure'. This is when the shopping starts, from flea markets to furniture showrooms.

The next stage is 'Patience & Panic', which is the bit that feels out of your hands – waiting for pieces to arrive to see if your vision worked. The fifth step is 'Pull It Together', when the install week finally comes around. Last comes 'Pride', when the project is finished, and you can finally admire your work.

'Ponder is the spark – the daydream, the big "okay, we're doing this" moment,' explains Amber. 'Play is where things get messy in the best way: swatches and wild ideas flying around, some wins, some flops, and way too many mood boards. Procure is the shopping Olympics – vintage treasure hunts, custom pieces, flea market euphoria, and that moment when the perfect thing finds its forever home.'

'Then Patience & Panic is equal parts waiting out lead times and screaming internally when something finally arrives... and it's wrong. It always happens, always. Pull It Together is the magical, mad dash of install week, when we transcend spreadsheets and actually outfit the spaces. And Pride is the good kind of tears – the camera clicks, the client hugs, the "we freaking did it" moment.'

When asked what inspired her decorating principles, Amber said, 'Honestly, it came out of necessity. I needed a loose framework to organize the chaos – a way to break the process into steps that were both intuitive and repeatable. That's not to say I don't shift gears midstream, because I do, or that everything always goes smoothly, because it doesn't.'

'But starting with a clear, focused vision is what anchors every decision that follows. Over the years, my team and I have designed homes all over the country – near the beach, tucked into mountain towns, on quiet suburban streets – and no matter how different those projects were, they all moved through the same six stages. Naming them gave me a way to talk about the parts of the job that usually stay invisible, especially all that mental work that happens long before the first swatch is ever pulled.'

'In practice, it's less a straight line and more a rhythm. Ponder and Play happen early and can overlap a lot – I'm dreaming up the vision while also testing it against fabrics and finishes in real time. Procure and Patience & Panic tend to run in parallel too; you're sourcing constantly while also managing everything that's already on order and, inevitably, wrong. Pull It Together is the compression point – install week – where every decision made in the earlier Ps finally gets to prove itself in the room. And Pride is the payoff, but it's also brief; the second a project wraps, I'm usually already Pondering the next one.'

If there was one to really take note of in your own project, it's Ponder, Amber says. 'I'd tell a reader not to skip Ponder. It's tempting to jump straight to Pinterest boards and paint chips, but that invisible phase – figuring out what a room actually needs to feel like before you buy a single thing – is what keeps you from ending up with a house full of things you don't love together.

'And if I had to pick one P for a DIY decorator to really lean into, it's Play,' she adds. 'Give yourself permission to make mistakes with samples and mood boards before you commit real money. And go in expecting some version of Patience + Panic – something will be discontinued, something will arrive damaged, and that's not a sign you did it wrong. That's just the process.'

'Sourcing vintage is one of the most satisfying parts of my job, and I split it into two approaches. When I'm hunting for something specific – say, a 1960s French Art Deco light fixture in a particular size and finish – I go online. That kind of find isn't sitting at your neighborhood flea market with your name on it. I rely on sites like Chairish, 1stDibs, Etsy, and eBay, and I use detailed, genre-specific search terms – the more refined, the better your odds. Pinterest has actually become a great source too since it's gotten so commerce-friendly; smart keyword searches there can turn up vendors you'd never have found otherwise.'

'When I'm sourcing for inspiration, or shopping for several projects at once that haven't even been fully imagined yet, I hit the ground – brocantes, flea markets, antique fairs,' Amber says. 'There's no algorithm there. It's instinct and your eye for something that stops you in your tracks, even before you know where it's going. Honestly, I often just buy the thing because I love it, not because I have a spot for it yet.'

'For art specifically, I work with vendors like Creative Art Partners and IG Art – they're the true subject-matter experts, and they help fill in the pieces that need real curatorial knowledge rather than just a good eye.'

'Pulling it together is honestly the part of the job where nothing is left to chance. By that point, every big decision has been made and signed off on – so it becomes about the tiniest choices. Do we put an extra throw blanket at the end of the bed? Do we keep this vase on this side table with these particular florals? We style every built-in, and we always laugh about how many books it actually takes to fill a shelf properly.'

'My biggest tip for a reader trying to get that "finished" feeling at home,' Amber says, 'it's never one big move, it's a dozen small ones. Layer in things that don't match perfectly – a vintage find next to something new, a mix of textures on a bed, books and objects on a shelf that look collected rather than purchased all at once. Those aren't just finishing touches – they're the elements that make a house actually feel like a home rather than a showroom. And I'd remind readers, as I remind myself: a home is never really finished. That's part of what makes it feel lived-in.'

Shop the Amber Lewis Edit

Amber's '6 Ps' inform every part of her design process, from the initial consultation to the final reveal. But there's one step that's her favorite. 'Pulling It Together is genuinely my favorite part of the whole process,' she says. 'The team is buzzing, there's a rhythm to the chaos, and everything finally starts finding its place. It's where all the earlier work – the Pondering, the Playing, the Procuring, the Patience-testing – gets to prove itself in real time. It's not about designing anymore at that point; it's about delivering. Making sure the space doesn't just photograph beautifully, but actually feels like home.'

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