An Interview With Pam Pierce Of MILIEU Magazine

Pam Pierce has been a favorite designer not only in real life, but here in blog land. Joni Webb of Cote de Texas has done many wonderful posts about this Houston based decorator. I think those posts launched a thousand pale linen slipcovers with deep drop ruffle skirts. I have loved Pam since I first saw her own kitchen featured in a magazine, especially the antique cow head hanging there. I tried to do my own version of it in my kitchen with a Stray Dog Design hot pink papier mache bull head, but alas it did not work. I also love the way Pam uses antiques and traditional elements in a very modern and refined way. That girl has an excellent eye and skill for editing a room,

Pam Pierce made linen slipcovers with ruffles modern and chic - photo by Peter Vitale

Love this Pam Pierce kitchen - so many rustic antique elements that look modern and refined - photo by Peter Vitale

I know many of you have this image of Pam Pierce's kitchen on your blog or Pinterest board - photo by Stephen Karlisch

I love this Saarinen table with an antique chair and this pink curved banquette in a room done by Pam Pierce - photo by Peter Vitale

But I digress. This post is about the fabulous new magazine MILIEU that Pam has started. I believe in supporting things in print, buying actual books, and subscribing to shelter magazines. Sure I love the vast visual web of the Web: Blogs, Facebook, Pinterest, Houzz, and all the rest of it. You can go down the rabbit hole of looking at images for hours on your computer, that can turn into days. But there is nothing like spending time leafing through a magazine, or reading a book you hold in your hands.

Pam Pierce in The New York Times

So when MILIEU was announced in The New York Times, I instantly subscribed. I loved the magazine as soon as I held it in my hands. It is so interesting and fabulous to have a designer steering the ship. Pam has had her work appear in many magazines, so she is a veteran of photo shoots, and looking for editorial content. Her eye is impeccable, and the large format in MILIEU is a dream for all of us visual vamps.

Designer Shannon Bowers in MILIEU- photo by Peter Vitale - You know I love the Mouille chandelier!

The gorgeous photography, is often done by Pam's long time collaborator Peter Vitale (who is Editor at Large for MILIEU). Pam chooses to use full pages to show a space. It is a visual palette cleanser compared to all the layouts that favor many tiny images on a page.

Spoiler alert. I know Peter Vitale. He and I worked together in New York, I as I stylist for him. So I have been a fan of his for many, many years. Spoiler alert. I recently met Pam Pierce here in New Orleans. And clutch your pearls, she was here with Peter to shoot one of my design projects that is going to be featured in the Fall issue of MILIEU! So my dear wonderful vamp readers, subscribe today to MILIEU! I would say subscribe anyway because it is a gorgeous magazine, but now really subscribe so you can please cheer me on!

Pam was not only a delight to work with, but she was a wellspring of inspiration for me. It was great to see her in action. I put myself in the role of stylist for her and Peter, and we had a wonderful time shooting together. She shared so much with me, and encouraged me in a generous mentor like way. Even though we are close in age, I feel very much her junior in regards to interior design. She has thirty years under her belt, compared to my five.  Yes, I made the jump from many years of event design and styling to interior decorating and design just five short years ago.

The shoot was good for me. With Alberto gone my confidence has been shaken. The shoot was planned before he died, and he was so proud and so excited for me. I am getting to the other side of it, and having Pam and Peter, and his assistant Harry around me was a tremendous uptick in this whole process of grief. While we were all together, I asked Pam if I could do a short interview with her for the blog....

I love this cover!

VV - You are a successful well-known interior designer based in Houston, with an amazing career that spans 30 years. Why are you doing a national in-print shelter magazine now?

Pam -Yes, I worked in interior design for over 30 years, and do love it. It truly is my passion. I decided to start MILIEU because I was ready for a new challenge. Magazines have always appealed to me, and sadly, many of the shelter publications that I loved were shutting down. From my perspective as a designer, I felt we needed a new shelter magazine that kept in mind my goal of finding the best and most exciting talent there is to offer.

VV - Your own design work has appeared in Veranda many times which features many beautiful homes in the South that have a particular refined traditional style. What I love about Milieu is that you expand on that point of view. What attracts you to a home you want to feature in Milieu?

Pam - When choosing a home to feature, the only thing I look for is basic, exciting, and good design – no matter the style.

VV - In a recent issue you used a model on the cover, very much like a great fashion magazine would. I think this is exciting and revolutionary for a shelter magazine. What was the thought process for that cover?

Pam - As we all know, in every issue of a magazine, there are many photos that are considered before making the final decision. I have come to realize that when you see a certain shot, you just know it’s meant to be. There was really no specific thought process involved – I just knew it had that “wow” factor. That’s what I think all magazines ultimately want – for people to walk up to the newsstand, or receive their copy in the mail, and to get excited as soon as they see that cover. Another thing to take into account is that we here at MILIEU do not have a strict set of rules that we follow (laughs).

Pam says, "...we here at MILIEU do not have a strict set of rules..." - photo by Maxine Helfman

VV - You and I are in the same age group, and it seems like our generation is living long enough to have second and even third act careers. What would you tell people who are considering re-inventing their working life? No one wants to retire anymore, even if the have the money to do so. 

A bedroom in a Belgian home where the owners who designed it want to be Anon - Love the the color! - photo by Claude Smekens

    Pam - I just say – Find your passion. If you would like to retire and do whatever makes you happy, that’s exactly what you should do. It just wasn’t for me. Many of my friends have retired and have second homes, but I decided that MILIEU would be my second home. I love to work, and this has been an exciting time in my life. I get the opportunity to travel, visit new places, and meet wonderful people – the homeowners and designers that turn a house into a home. I can’t think of a better way to spend my days. 
      One of the highlights of this journey has been to meet you, Valorie, and to get to shoot one of your fabulous/stunning/marvelous projects that will be featured in our Fall (anniversary) issue. 
__________

Valorie here, I hope you love all the images I posted, and enjoyed the interview with Pam. Check out her web site Pierce Designs and Associates and spend some time looking at her body of work, and go to Cote de Texas for some in depth posts about Pam as only Joni can do them. And of course run don't walk to get MILIEU.

Designer Ladye Kay Allen in MILIEU - photo by Peter Vitale

You know you want to subscribe to MILIEU! 
Do it today!