Thom Filicia on "Decorating from the Floor Up"

If one of the Fab Five from Bravo's hit makeover show Queer Eye could be said to be the hardest working, it would have to be interior designer Thom Filicia. While the rest of the cast went out for shopping and spa visits, Filicia stayed behind to make over a home on a tight schedule. Already a rising designer in New York before the show began, Filicia has since been elevated to the top ranks of American interior design, and was named one of House Beautiful's Top 100 American Designers and House & Garden's Top 50 "Tastemakers" for 2006. Perhaps it's no surprise that the indefatigable designer is busy growing his business and hosting a new design show on The Style Network before the final season of Queer Eye even airs. He's also started a new lecture series in partnership with fine rugmaker Karastan, which he brings to Boston this weekend, on finding design inspiration at your feet. The busy designer found time to tell Bay Windows about the talk, the magic carpet ride of fame and the importance of good lighting.

Q: Have you spent much time in Boston?
A: Actually one of my very good friends owns a company in Boston called Sauces 'n' Love. They make organic pasta sauces. I used to go to Nantucket in the summers. And I've done some work in Boston, and I'll be looking at a potential project in Beacon Hill next week. So I like Boston, I'm a big fan.

Q: And you're going to teach us Bostonians how to decorate?
A: "Decorating from the floor up." This is my second one, so I'm excited. I don't know if you know my new show on Style Network, Dress My Nest. It's for women who don't have a great handle on interior design but have a more defined fashion sense. So I use their fashion style to help define their interior style.

Q: That's such a great idea, how did you come up with that?
A: After Queer Eye, there were a couple of networks that were talking with me, and Style Network was interested in this ... because I would talk about this in some of the lectures that I was doing, about how fashion is a great inspiration, and how when you're communicating with someone about design it's easy to explain when you talk about fashion, because that's something that people are comfortable with. So Style Network proposed the idea and I loved it. We did 10 episodes, the fifth one is out right now, and we're talking about a second season. And of course Queer Eye has another season, we have 16 more episodes this summer and a Mr. Queer Eye pageant in our final episode. So anyway, I'm doing these Karastan speaking engagements, and the idea is similar to Dress My Nest. It's for people starting interior design projects who are unsure about inspiration or color or style. The idea is that you pick a rug that you love, and it becomes the aesthetic point of view for the room. You pull your colors out of it, you pull your textures out of it ... it becomes your road map. And it's easy to pick out a rug you love, and go from there.

Q: Just like starting from a favorite outfit.
A: Yes, or when men pick a tie they love and build their outfit around it, or women start with a favorite scarf or handbag. It gives a starting point, and a reference.

Q: The workshop is described as interactive, what does that mean?
A: We're going to actually build a room. I use a computer program, a sophisticated CAD [Computer Aided Design] program. We start with an empty room, then we put the rug in and people see how we build the room from the floor up. It's really cool.

Q: I hadn't really thought of that, that interior design has been impacted by technology like that.
A: It's amazing. In the near future, we'll be able to decorate rooms like this and show them completed. Then the client will sign off on it and we'll pull it together. In the next five or six years it'll really change how the world of interior design works. But what's fun about it now is to have people watch it happen in an hour seminar. It was fun in Chicago, so it should be fun in Boston.

Q: Boston is a party town.
A: Bostonians like to have fun. Really, every time I'm there I'm like, "Somebody, save my liver." I need liver 911.

Q: To go back to Dress My Nest, I have to ask you - I don't get The Style Network so I've only been able to see one episode, and it was the one with the woman obsessed with Hello, Kitty - was that a typical episode?
A: The whole idea is, it's not about people with great fashion. Or bad fashion. It's about people with a distinct sensibility. That's so we're not just doing fashionistas. We have quirky people, we have people who are sexy or all business. Some of them are quirkier than others. That's what keeps it spicy. So what'd you think of the Hello Kitty gal?

Q: I thought she was kind of difficult, but it sounds like you enjoyed the challenge.
A: I love it. I like a situation where I don't know what I'm going to do. And I'm sure the viewers like that. It's fun. There's always a way to turn what you do and what you love into something positive. Unless it's really bizarre. But it's been 100 episodes of Queer Eye and 10 Dress My Nest and I've enjoyed every makeover so far.

Q: So you haven't met the nut you can't crack?
A: I haven't, but I'm sure it will happen. And I dread it, because I take this seriously. It's not just TV. I'm a designer and I'm invested in the design process. It's not just a publicity stunt, it's what I do. I want it to be fun and entertaining, but I also want it to be informative and for people to take away something positive.

Q: It doesn't sound like you've had a chance to take a breath, but how do you feel about Queer Eye now, looking back?
A: Oh my gosh, Queer Eye is probably the most amazing thing I'll ever do in my professional life. It was a totally organic thing. I wasn't a celebrity, I had no television experience, I had never designed a room for TV. I put my name and my reputation on the line, and exposed a part of my life that I had never done at such a level - it was basically putting your sexuality on television. And I made four great friends and learned a lot about television, a world I knew nothing about. I won an Emmy award, something I didn't think was possible for an interior designer. The most amazing part was getting letters from families saying, 'Thank you because you've opened our eyes.' It was amazing, and we didn't have a political agenda. I think that's why it was received the way it was, because it was sincere. All the media attention, it was like an out-of-body experience for some time. I don't know if I'll ever have that impact professionally again. But it opened doors for me, and opened people's minds.

Q: How is it different now, working without a team?
A: Working with five was great because we had this great dynamic, on and off camera. We were five guys who knew nothing about television and we were all in it together. We were like brothers growing up in an industry and it was comforting having those four other people. We grew up fast, and now I can do something like this on my own. Things keep evolving. I'm enjoying this new show. We shoot in L.A, so that's a whole new world for me to learn about.

Q: What is your biggest design pet peeve?
A: People making choices based on what they think other people will like. You have to make decisions based on what you love, and you have to represent yourself in your home. Your home should tell your story.