In Living Color
ABOUT HOLLY
Holly Hollingsworth Phillips is a
residential interior designer, coowner of The English Room and
author of the popular blog, “Musings
of a Design Aficionado.” She has
completed homes all along the
East Coast, which range from supermodern to very traditional while
keeping it true to her colorful, eclectic and elegant style. Holly says,
“Color makes people happy!” She
loves mixing the tradition of the past
with the modern style of the future.
Holly has worked in design from a
very early age. Her mother, Nancy
Hollingsworth, is a well-known interior designer, and specializes in the
English Country style. Childhood
play dates would turn into magical
discussions with mothers while they
moved around furniture. She accompanied her mother to antiques shows
and went on her first European
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PEACHY
buying trip at age 12. Holly’s childhood home was designed by Mario
Buatta, also known as “The Prince of
Chintz.” She has fond memories of
introducing Mr. Buatta to Chick-fil-a
nuggets while discussing “decorating” as a third grader. Her lifelong
passion for the decorative arts has
never waned and led her to the profession of interior design.
Holly’s early experience includes
working with Alexandra Stoddard
and at Sotheby’s in New York City.
In addition to completing a Mint
Museum Senior Study, she also
studied at the Atlanta Decorative
Arts Center. After graduating with
a degree in Art History from Rollins
College, Holly attended the Sotheby’s 17th and 18th century decorative arts program in London. She has
also completed The Winter Institute
at Winterthur, which provided exposure to one of the most complete
collections of American Antiques in
existence. Her first “professional”
job was with Travis & Company in
Atlanta where she ran the Antiques
side of the showroom. She earned
another degree in Interior Design
from the American College for the
Applied Arts in Atlanta. In 1999,
Holly joined her mother full time at
the English Room in Charlotte. n