B is for Bunny (Too)

Without a doubt, New York interior designer Bunny Williams's home at 1 Point of Rocks Road is the most photographed house (and garden) in Falls Village. And Bunny is, without a doubt, a rock star of design--she's sort of the Mick Jagger of the decorating world--because she has impeccable taste and her rooms are never trendy or tiresome. She has just published a new, sumptuous coffee-table book called Bunny Williams' Point of View, which is a retrospective of her extraordinary career. Though Bunny's clients often live like royalty (or like rock stars), the book is surprisingly practical and laced with a common sense approach to interior design that can be used by people with limited (or unlimited) budgets. I was lucky enough to help Bunny write this book and spent many Sunday mornings in her cozy living room working on the manuscript. I got to observe up close how Bunny lives and she is disciplined, gracious and grounded. Her house seems lavish at first, but it is unbelievably comfortable whether you are a human being or a canine, for her dogs all have their favorites chairs and sofas. I learned many things from working with Bunny, but the most important lesson was that a home must be welcoming in every sense of the world. She tries to teach all of her clients this but they don't always get it. Bunny believes that when you invite someone into your home, they should feel at home too. Bunny tried to convey this to a reporter for The New York Times which published a story about her called "Can Taste Be Taught? on the cover of its "House & Home" section this week, but the reporter had difficulty accepting that Bunny's philosophy is relevant to ordinary people. Trust me, it is. Though Bunny is an authority on the high life, she is also very down to earth.