There’s an iconic scene in the 2006 film the devil wears prada in which the movie’s main protagonist, played by Meryl Streep, icily schools Anne Hathaway’s doe-eyed fashion skeptic on the ripple effect of runway fashion into the mainstream. Streep’s point, to put it simply, was to enlighten Hathaway’s character about the real-world importance of something that Hathaway believed to be frivolous, irrelevant and—really, when you cut to the crux of it—beneath her high-minded ideals.
As someone who spent years in the fashion industry and pattern making, that scene has always spoken to Candice Keilin’s soul. She’s watched for decades as silhouettes, colors, patterns and materials have trickled from runway to real way—and, ultimately, into home décor and interior design.
That progression is one that Keilin understands from both sides—and one that her own career has followed. Drawing on her lifelong love of design, coupled with the instincts she honed during her time in fashion—an eye for color, pattern, texture, shape and the way even seemingly disparate elements work together—Keilin now applies those skills to interiors. Nearly 16 years into her career, the South African-born, Atlanta-based designer has developed an aesthetic rooted in layered, highly personalized spaces that balance forecasted trends with what has endured for centuries.
That signature has become foundational to Candice Keilin & Bonnet Designs, the firm that Keilin runs alongside her sister and business partner, Narissa Bonnet. Bonnet joined the team more than a decade ago, bringing a degree and professional background in architecture to complement Keilin’s more fashion-trained eye and adding a technical perspective to the firm’s creative process.
Those differences extend to their individual aesthetics, with Bonnet favoring a cleaner, less embellished approach than her sister. Rather than creating conflict, however, those dissimilarities have become one of the partnership’s strengths. “We are so different personality-wise, but I think that’s why we actually balance each other out well,” says Bonnet. “We can reach both ends of the spectrum for our clients, bringing our different viewpoints and passions into the project. What I’ve come to love about interior design, in contrast to architecture, is how we breathe life into the walls.”
The varied influences behind the firm’s work extend well beyond interiors themselves. For Keilin, much of it comes from a lifelong fascination with the past. A lover of “old things,” as Keilin herself puts it, the former history major draws heavily on the past in the way she looks at design. Fine detail, artistry, quality and craftsmanship are all part of what drives Keilin’s passion for her work, and the opportunity to connect those often bygone elements with sleek modernity has been her greatest moment to shine.
“I love the detail that you find in different eras of the past,” says Keilin. “They say the devil is in the details, and I think today, the way I see our clients moving—even with a more curated look—they’re looking for bespoke finishes that are so referential of the past. They’re looking for detail, even in a new take on it. It’s bringing history together with the new in a modern way, and I think we find ourselves in a very interesting space with design right now because we get to be innovative and creative while still drawing from the old, which is really what drew me to interior design.”
One of Keilin’s greatest fascinations is natural stone and the quarrying process that yields the marble, granite and quartzite that have become so highly sought in luxury homes. “I’m captivated by it,” she says. “I’d recommend watching a YouTube video of how stone is excavated from the earth—it’s incredibly beautiful. Having seen that process, when you go to a stone yard and look at a stone slab, you begin to think about where it came from. It’s this piece of the earth that’s magnificent, like the best art you could ever find. And it’s one of my favorite parts of the process, taking my clients to select stone and explain it to them. They’re usually fascinated when I bring it to life, and we start to talk about the mystery of it.”
In fact, stone—intensely colored and patterned, unique stone slabs—has become one of the greatest trends that Keilin has seen of late that she believes will not be momentary or fleeting, but rather an enduring element of home design. “I think homeowners are looking for something more interesting,” she says. “They’re looking for the most interesting, decadent stone, different cuts on the slabs and ways to do bullnoses and different treatments, rather than just doing a mitered edge. I think those layers and details—integrating stone with wood or a metal finish—are among the trends we’re seeing. In kitchens, bathrooms, walls and floors, the end user is looking for detail.”
Detail. For Keilin, it’s a full-circle return to materials and processes that have been in use for centuries but were abandoned for a time in the interest of cost efficiency and so-called modernity. “We’re pulling from history and what we used to do—using quarried stone,” she says. “Years ago, there was so much detail, but we’ve put it into a modern context. I think these are old choices, presented in new ways through the colors and veining and even the finishes. These elements also show a homeowner’s personality, which is key in interior design. There was a trend at one point where everyone almost had the same thing—the same cabinets and the same cookie-cutter countertops. I think we’ve moved away from that, and it’s beautiful to see. When you open a magazine or go into homes now, you’re starting to see different homes with different personalities and textures coming through.”
Despite their differing aesthetics, it’s a philosophy the sisters share. “There’s a growing appreciation for detail and craftsmanship and things that will stand the test of time, in a sense,” Keilin says. “What we do is not so much simply about the look of something but also about how a thing is crafted, and what story it carries and tells in the context of your home.”
Personality and texture are more than buzzwords for Keilin, who believes that the two elements are pivotal to good design. So much so, in fact, that she has even designed custom carpets for her clients and had them milled in Tennessee as one-off designs. “If I can’t find the right color, texture or pattern, I make it,” says Keilin, who is now in the process of creating her own branded line of custom wallpaper, which utilizes her pattern-making and drawing skills on grasscloth, luxury papers and embroidered paper. “In designing the wallpaper, I envisioned being able to offer our clients something unique and innovative that also matches my color palette,” she says.
It’s an extension of what Candice Keilin & Bonnet Designs is all about: personal, layered design that is unfindable anywhere else. Through years of experience, the design house has evolved with time and perspective to become a stronger version of itself, built on a collaborative relationship between partners as well as designer and client. Theirs is a proven formula of watching what’s past, what’s now and what is to come, and creating from that a design that is functional, beautiful and enduring. *
Liesel Schmidt is a freelance writer and book editor based in Navarre, Florida. She is the author of three novels.
