Talk Shop: Alyssa Clough // Semihandmade
Photo by Cody Guilfoyle
ABOUT ALYSSA
Alyssa Clough has worked in the design industry for almost a decade, and most recently joined the team at Semihandmade as the Director of Content and Growth this past fall. There, she oversees their new blog, SemiStories, and all of the brand’s social media channels.
Clough’s media expertise was developed over the course of her five years at Domino Magazine, where she managed their Instagram account, as well as an engaged Pinterest audience of millions. She can be credited with concepting and launching @Reno_Notebook, the magazine’s year-old Instagram handle devoted to all things renovation-related.
During her time at Domino, she developed a deep interest in and understanding of home design, focusing personally on sustainable living, cultivating a colorful, collected aesthetic, and the value of a good vintage find—just take a look at her gorgeous apartment in Brooklyn! We loved chatting with Alyssa about her career start, her perspective on the industry, and why you shouldn’t be afraid of color. Check it out below!
Describe your style in three words or less:
Happy, uniquely me.
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
Definitely growing up in a beige household. I was raised in neutral spaces and have always craved color and boldness that I think my childhood spaces sometimes lacked that I now try to subconsciously (or really, consciously) compensate for.
Starting at Domino Magazine in 2015 and meeting all of my incredible former coworkers who make so much magic and are so true to themselves and their design styles. I like to say when I started at Domino, I had never heard anyone use the word “inspire”. People were like, “What’s inspiring you right now?” And I was like, excuse me? Nobody had ever asked me that before in my life. It was my first real exposure to people who embraced creativity in a different way.
Getting to know and accepting myself, my tastes, and what I like. I think it’s hard to live in a world where people are constantly praising one type of being, or one type of aesthetic, and you like something that maybe doesn’t fall into the category of what’s trending or what the people around you are drawn to. Just writing this is giving me major flashbacks to when extreme minimalism was in! Not. For. Me. Embracing color and what I want to be surrounded by was a huge influence on my aesthetic.
How did you start in the industry, and/or what is your favorite thing about what you do:
I started at Semihandmade this past September after five years at Domino. I currently oversee our blog and our social channels. And I love that I get to inspire our readers and followers to make their homes even just a little bit more “them” or even to take on bigger projects like a full kitchen or bathroom renovation.
What does your home say about you:
I live alone and I really designed it for me, as my own refuge from the city. When quarantine kicked off last March, it marked a year in my space and I was so grateful to have a comfortable home that made me feel safe and like myself. It also certainly has an air of not taking myself, or this place, too seriously. I mean, there are big shapes on the wall (muraled by another Domino alum, Elaina Sullivan). I don’t thrive in restraint and I think it shows in my home!
Where do you find inspiration:
Really, nature. Museums. Concerts. Exploring new places. Just being out in the world, which is difficult these days. It’s easy to just rush through life and the streets you frequent, but the more you pay attention when you’re walking around your own neighborhood, there’s always a color combination or a plant placement to inspire something in your own life. I also love looking into apartments in New York. It is a reflex I don’t even think about anymore—it’s one of my favorite hobbies. It’s been sad to not travel and get to walk through new places with fresh eyes, but I’ve been trying to make the most of it in NYC and the road trips I’ve been able to take safely.
Who are your style icons:
Definitely Iris Apfel vibes, Martha Stewart attitude, and Frances Merrill of Reath Design’s overall aesthetic and palette.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
Always a few more bottles of wine than you think you need, and two rounds of snacks. The first, for the beginning of the night, and the second, for when everyone is just hungry (again). I have a great rooftop and safely entertained there this summer. I picked up these melamine cups the last time I was in Paris at Merci and they were essential—each a different muted pastel, shatterproof, dishwasher safe. It made hosting people easy on me and the environment. I’m all about no-fuss entertaining with items that you don’t have to throw away at the end of the night, especially when it comes to hosting outdoors.
Do you collect anything:
Plants, I have 40. I just keep adding more and more and I’m not quite sure how I keep finding space for the new guys, but I always do. Being in New York and not always having access to nature, it’s a great way to bring some green back in. I also love inheriting plants—from friends who move away, from old offices or pop-ups, I feel like I have a plant family.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
Right now, I would say @pierre_augustin_rose, @loftandthought, @heidicallierdesign, @nightpalm, @sarah_balineum, @hiltoncarter, @maijkah.
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
The measurement stuff: What size rug to buy and how to arrange furniture on it, the right height to hang things, taking care to have your curtains graze the floor. It’s those small details that make a big difference and if you’re doing it yourself, is a tiny bit more research. Otherwise, I think there’s a time and place to break most rules that have been created and circulated.
What are you working on right now:
My parents’ new home! They tend to move every few years and are currently settling down in Arizona into a space that needs some updating. The architecture is awesome, but the fixtures are all.. not so great. Their style and the personality of the house is different from mine, and I’m excited to flex some different design muscles and lean into some Southwestern vibes.
Wardrobe staples:
Vintage midi dresses, Doc Martens, and sweatsuits.
Favorite fabric/wallpaper:
Sn Schwarzwald col.1 verdure fabric by Dedar. I almost upholstered chairs I have in this fabric and and still think about it all the time.
Best interior advice you ever received:
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! I read that in some article or magazine and have no idea who said it, but it really resonated with me. Because as you can maybe guess after looking at my apartment, there was a point in my life where I wanted to do everything all at once in the same space. And over time, I realized I’d have a next home and I could save ideas for future projects, just because I had an idea or loved a color didn’t mean it needed to be in my current space. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Best career advice you ever received:
Work for people whose lives you want. I think paying attention to how people at the top live tells you a lot. Not only if you would one day want to have their job, but also looking at their integrity, how they treat their colleagues, how they balance their personal life with their work. Someone gave me that advice as I was graduating college and I’ve never forgotten it.
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
I try to invest in the things I know I’ll keep for a lifetime (or at least a very, very long time). My first big purchase for my current apartment was a rug from the ABC Carpet & Home sale. I’ll keep it forever, it’s perfect. I save on things that I know might not make it with me to my next place. I’m a big Facebook Marketplace person and know there will always be someone to give a second life to the pieces that I no longer need or are attached to.
Your greatest extravagance:
Being in the sun, signed off my phone. I am a rechargeable battery and need time in the sun. I always joke in a past life I was a beach bum. You could leave me on the beach with no phone and I would just stay forever. As a former social media manager, being offline is such a luxury. I really value those moments where I can disconnect and read or listen to music in the sun.
Favorite places to shop for home:
Vintage on Instagram. I remember years ago when there were like, 5 accounts doing it? Now there are more than I even know of and I treat keeping up with all of them like a full-time job. My most recent purchases were from @renewfinds in Greenpoint (art for my gallery wall!) and @penelopeirenevintage (two baskets for my parents!).
Most prized possession and why:
New: My coffee table. I couldn't find anything that was just right and had it custom made by Sam Keene (who I found on Instagram, naturally) and it was worth every penny. It makes the space and also makes me so, so happy.
Old: My grandpa was a woodworker and made this incredible hutch that was in my grandparents’ kitchen over their breakfast table for my entire life. So many of my memories with them are sitting around that table eating ice cream and playing cards. Now, it’s in my bedroom and is storage for all of my glasses. I think he’d get a kick out of its current home and function!
Your interiors motto:
Go for it. Friends text me all the time asking my opinion and if they love it (they always do) and I just say go for it. If you love a piece, you’ll find a way to make it work in your home.
Your life motto:
Live in the present. Wasting time ruminating on the past or worrying about the future won’t benefit you or anyone around you. I did a lot of work to get to a place where I trust myself in the present to be making the best decisions for my future self and always carry lessons from the past, but don’t obsess over them.
Advice for someone looking to define their own interior style:
Evaluate your past homes and what you liked about them, what you would do differently now. Even your office spaces and what made you like, or dislike, those places. Consider how you want to feel in your home and commit some time to thinking about what makes you happy. Is it color? Bare walls? Artwork? You don’t have to choose one style or one word to define what you like.
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: A big bowl of pasta
Drink: Red wine
Film: I love staying on top of all the new movies that come out, but don’t have one favorite. My favorite book is Do Cool Sh*t by Miki Agrawal. I remember reading it and really feeling for the first time that I could do whatever I wanted with my life, however I wanted, and didn’t need anyone’s permission to do so.
Hotel: Any Ace Hotel, they’re all uniquely perfect
City: Paris
Bedding: The Citizenry linen
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): I only drink cold coffee and have started brewing my own in quarantine! To be fair, it’s adding grounds to water and letting it sit for a long time. I’m still proud, though, and take joy in composting the grounds. I have one cup of cold brew each morning and love winding down with a cup of ginger tea and a book at night.
Playlist: I tend to listen to a lot of music seasonally, usually based on when I saw that artist perform live. Two years ago I saw Maggie Rogers in New York, so I’m playing a lot of her right now. Very nostalgic for live music!
Weekend Activity: Sleeping in and having a lazy morning in bed before some afternoon yoga.
Design Book: I just ordered Anni and Josef Albers: Equal and Unequal, and can’t wait to open it up.
