13 Things Sarah Ellison, Furniture and Interiors Designer, Would Buy Again

When Australian interiors and furniture designer Sarah Ellison turns on her camera for her Lucky 13 interview, she’s inadvertently giving me travel style inspiration. She’s Zooming from a hotel room in a white T-shirt stamped with Jil Sander’s graphic logo and a pair of aviator reading glasses. It’s simple, yet pulled together—and, as she tells me, a window to her general design sensibility. “If there’s any brand that explains my interior style,” she says, “it’s Jil Sander. I love something that’s dramatic, but with a simplicity to it. It’s very much a sculptural minimalism, and that’s how I design interiors as well.”

Sculptural shapes and tonality are just two pillars of Ellison’s interior and personal style. What turns a simple room into a space, she explains, are the details you absorb with every sense. Rooms you want to stay in need to have a beautiful candle burning, a carefully selected soundtrack, and materials you can’t hep but touch—it’s all about the ambiance. “Essentially, I love a space that really fits into that aesthetic where it’s minimal, but there’s a sensory element to everything.” Her taste is now arriving in homes through 70s-chic furniture she’s created for Design Within Reach, including her latest creation, a deep “Float’ sofa in “Piccolo” brown shade custom-made by Pantone for the piece. Ellison gets into the power of her statement sofa, and the other minimalist items she’s loving now, ahead.