How would you describe the Collected Home aesthetic?​

Nina Venice: It’s about creating a curated life in a home that’s inviting, cozy, lived-in and individual. It’s not concerned with trends. It’s about curating the pieces you love, no matter their style or what era they’re from, to design a look that’s uniquely you.

How does Four Hands design its furniture with this look in mind?

Venice: This isn’t a specific design story; it’s more of an overarching insight that flows into and informs every narrative we explore at Four Hands. It’s a way of living, and it encompasses how we create all our pieces. We don’t want to be one-note or get pigeonholed into one look. We design pieces into one of three style houses—Vintage Revival, New Modern and Textural Experience—always making sure they can be seamlessly exchanged with one another. This approach allows us to stay flexible and be open to new styles.

How does designing this way benefit customers?

Venice: It invites them to be freer with their choices and to think outside of a single story or aesthetic. It helps customers construct a narrative that’s unique to them. 

What are the key ideas and words that inspire the Four Hands product development team when designing with the Collected Home ethos in mind? 

Jessica Green: We’re always playing with juxtaposition and balance, creating something new while weaving in influences from the past. We’re painting with broader brushstrokes rather than sticking to one specific era.

Where does the in-house design team find inspiration? 

Venice: We’re always inspired by our travels, whether it’s to markets in Milan or antique shops closer to home in Round Top, Texas. If we see a vintage piece we love, we’ll take an element from it, give it our own twist, and apply it to a piece that brings it into the present day. We’re finding that everything is circular and feels relevant again. The spaces that tell thoughtful, collected stories best are those that blend past, present and future together.

What elements can interior designers expect to find in Four Hands’ Collected Home ethos?

Venice: We’re all about the mix—combining a bit of modern and vintage, then layering in texture for a tactile effect.

Why does mixing modern, vintage and texture work to create a collected look?

Green: It helps establish a breadth of assortment, as well as a more personalized style, in a space. The pieces don’t feel “off the shelf.” They’re complementary and happily juxtaposed. It’s like music: all the different notes and instruments coming together to create a cohesive atmosphere. 

Venice: If your home has only modern pieces, it could look too sleek. And if you have too many vintage-inspired furnishings, it could come across as kitschy. Mixing modern with vintage and even layering in antiques creates an interesting balance.

Let’s talk about texture: How does Four Hands approach it?

Green: Our team provides expert insight by thoughtfully choosing frame and fabric combinations. Everything is intentionally paired with a precise eye. As a result, our customers get to select from a curated assortment of furnishings they won’t find anywhere else. 

What are the key ideas and words that inspire the product development team when designing pieces with texture specifically?​

Green: As with our design process overall, travel influences us a lot. We’re a global company with access to many other repositories of upholstery options, which gives us an unparalleled shopping advantage. We spread the net wide to find the most impactful styles, falling in love with a broad range, and then we come back to Austin and pare it down to only those textures we think will work. And we don’t just put our favorites on every frame. We’re very intentional about pairing fabric and frame in the combination that will look best together.

What does texture contribute to a space, and why is it an important element of Four Hands’ Collected Home look?

Green: Since the disruption of the pandemic, there’s been a need to reclaim peace in our environments. Sensorial textures are physically and emotionally comforting and grounding. Plus, we live in such a digital age, and having something soft and welcoming in a room is a nice contrast to all the screens that are in front of us every day. Texture is tangible. There’s an authenticity to it. The different layers, the pile, have this hint of nostalgia to them. Texture is kinesthetic. It just feels good.