In the BOH series What I Love, we’re asking designers to build us a mood board of what’s inspiring them right now.
Nina Takesh crafts timeless interiors with a modern edge. The Los Angeles–based designer references a wide range of aesthetic styles, including European classicism and contemporary coastal interiors, in her character-rich spaces. “I’m drawn to the tension between old and new,” she tells Business of Home.
She designed her current mood board with that ethos, beginning with an 18th century–inspired wall mural she created for BelarteStudio. “I love the idea that a 1960s drawing, a modern concrete cabinet and a century-old pair of tongs can exist in the same room and nothing feels out of place,” says Takesh.
Antique pieces infuse the scheme with retro appeal, while avant-garde elements, such as a sculptural ceramic sconce and a satin brass electrical outlet, plant it firmly in the 21st century. “This mix is where I feel most like myself as a designer,” she explains. “In the space between periods, materials and intentions, where the only rule is that everything has to have been worth making.”
Here, the designer breaks down the details, from a cherry red leather pillow to a silver-plated cutlery holder in the shape of a bread roll.
1. L’AIR DES JARDINS WALL MURAL IN SUNBAKED IVORY BY NINA TAKESH FOR BELARTESTUDIO
“This mural is where the whole board began. The botanical scale, the rust and cream, the way it sits somewhere between an antique silk panel and something completely contemporary—it captures the kind of tension I am always chasing.”
2. CHERRY LEATHER PILLOW BY NICKEY KEHOE
“The cherry leather connects the board back to the deep burgundy tones in the mural and adds the kind of richness that only comes from a material that gets better with age.”
3. LARGE REPRISE PENDANT WITH TARNISHED SILVER FINISH AND SUEDE IN ICE BY APPARATUS STUDIO
“Apparatus understands how to make something that reads as both functional and sculptural. The Reprise feels like it belongs in the same room as a 1960s drawing and a concrete cabinet.”
4. LUCIA KNOB II WITH PEWTER FINISH BY LO & CO
“A knob shaped by hand before it was cast in brass is the kind of detail that changes how a whole piece of furniture feels. I chose it because it proves that the smallest decisions are often the most important ones.”
5. ANTIQUE ASPARAGUS TONGS
“This represents something I strongly believe in: a tool made for one specific purpose, with real craft behind it, from a time when that was considered completely normal. That idea runs through everything on this board.”
6. RIVA CABINET IN AVORIO BY PATRICIA URQUIOLA FOR CIMENTO
“Concrete is one of the most honest materials there is, and Urquiola uses it without apology. This piece brings a weight and seriousness to the board that makes everything around it look more considered.”
7. LE PETIT PAIN SILVER CUTLERY HOLDER BY FERDIE
“I chose this because it has wit and craft in equal measure. A bread roll in silver that functions as a cutlery holder is a very specific kind of object, and those are always the ones that make a room interesting.”
8. CROISÉ CHAIR IN MISIA CUIVRE JACQUARD AND MOHAIR BY NINA TAKESH
“I designed the Croisé with a low, crossed base and a seat that sits close to the ground, and the fabric is what makes it feel at home here. The silhouette references something midcentury but the woven texture reads as entirely now, which is the kind of tension this whole board is built around.”
9. SHAI SCONCE IN BONE BY SIN
“Virginia Sin makes objects that look like they came from a different time without trying to. The folded clay form is entirely contemporary but it has the feeling of something found rather than designed, which is why it works here.”
10. KÆDO 001 VESSEL BY CONCRETE POETICS
“Concrete formed into an ikebana vessel is exactly the kind of old-meets-new pairing I find most interesting. The terra-cotta pink surprises you and the material grounds it, which is a difficult balance to get right.”
11. MILLIEU SOFA IN MISIA IVORY BOUCLETTE BY NINA TAKESH
“I designed the Millieu to feel like it has always been in the room. The rolled arms reference something older but the bouclette keeps it current, and that balance is what this whole board is about.”
12. UNTITLED VINTAGE ARTWORK BY ANNA ZEMÁNKOVÁ AT GLADSTONE GALLERY
“Zemánková's work sits in that rare category of art that looks like it could not have been made any other way. The organic forms, the obsessive detail, the way they sit somewhere between botanical study and pure imagination place it in direct conversation with the mural and give the board something no designed object could.”
13. VISCONTI ARMCHAIR IN PIERRE FREY PALLADIO VELVET BY EBUR
“I have been obsessing over tassel details lately because they do something to a room that almost nothing else does. This chair with its tassel detail is exactly the kind of old-world gesture that feels completely fresh in the right context.”
14. GROUND CONTROL IN-WALL OUTLET IN SATIN BRASS WITH TWO POWER RECEPTACLES IN BLACK BY JUNIPER
“I think the things we treat as purely functional deserve the same attention as everything else. The satin brass is proof that infrastructure can be a design decision.”
15. THE BRASS PANTRY IN CHAMPAGNE BRASS AND WARM BRASS METAL FINISHES AND SILVERED OAK WOOD FINISH BY AMUNEAL
“I am always looking for storage that functions as furniture. This pantry has an architectural quality that sits comfortably next to both the older and newer objects on this board.”
