Brad Sherman on Kitchen and Home Design

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Today: Brad Sherman of B. Sherman Workshop talks interior design, styling, and what's in his fridge.

Brad Sherman is an interior design mastermind. We know because we were lucky enough to get him to design our office. His goal is to provide his clients with great interiors on a budget while also being environmentally conscious, which means you likely find him spending his weekends scouring flea markets for interesting finds. 

We recently spoke with Brad about his design, style techniques, and how he likes to showcase his work.

What’s your biggest kitchen styling pet peeve?
Plastic fruit. Period. 

What can we always find in your kitchen?
I was going to say something chic like coffee and sugar from Monmouth in London (which is true), but while hosting a dinner party last night I got called out for always having ketchup packets in my fridge. Always. I have to admit, I don’t like ketchup out of the bottle, and much prefer a fresh cold packet on the occasions I need it.  

What’s the best “find” you’ve ever gotten at a flea market or vintage store? 
A set of perfectly seasoned cast iron skillets, almost a century old.

More: Learn how to season your cast iron skillet here.

Any tips for shopping flea markets? 
Make conversation and keep in touch. Vendors know a lot about a lot, and I’ve learned so much about the utility of all the odd kitchen items you find at a flea market. All those mini dishes and oddly shaped utensils have a specific purpose, which can be fun to display and use when you have guests. Some of my best finds have been because I've kept in touch with vendors. I tell them what I'm on the hunt for and give them my contact information. Many times they’ll follow up when they find what I’m looking for.

What's one thing we can do to make our kitchens instantly better? 
Change your faucet. It will change your life.

In most rentals, it’s not easy to fit a decent sized pot or water filter under the tap, making it impossible to fill with water. For around $150, you can buy a gooseneck fixture. They’re easy to install yourself if you know how to work a wrench.

It will instantly add style and greatly improve the way your kitchen functions.

Lighting can be hard to change in rentals -- what’s an easy way to remedy less-than-ideal overhead lighting?

Ribbon LEDs for under cabinet lighting. It comes in a warm white, easily plugs in, sticks to the underside of your cabinetry, can be cut to any size, uses very little energy, and at 3mm thick it hides nicely out of sight. 

How to you bring your design to life on your website?
It’s all about the images, and Squarespace provides a clean crisp template for me to showcase my work.

Top photo by Eric Moran; all others by James Ransom.

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