For fans of interior designer Leanne Ford and her no rules approach to decorating — and love of all things vintage and white paint — today’s a big day. The HGTV personality has launched FEEL FREE, a quarterly art- and home-focused print magazine aimed at inspiring creativity and fun in all domestic pursuits.
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“I want people to FEEL FREE to create,” says Ford of this endeavor, which will be available today at over 35,000 newsstands across the United States and Canada. “I want our world to stop aiming for perfection and start aiming for joy. My creative avenue happens to be home — and the love of it — and art, for the love of it. The ability to combine all these values in FEEL FREE to share with the world is a gift for me.”
In each issue, Ford will take readers on a journey to meet her favorite artists and design destinations both near and far. For starters, the inaugural issue includes a behind-the-scenes tour of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, a look into artist Heather Chontos’ French home and studio (a sneak peek of the spread is pictured above), and a profile on the late Sister Mary Corita, a vibrant graphic artist and former nun. There’s also a love letter to white paint — Ford’s signature shade — (as pictured below) and interiors inspiration galore via page after page of smart decorating tips and gorgeous photos.
You can also count on the standard but beloved magazine fodder, from quizzes and how-to features to before and afters and even seasonal playlist recommendations. “These pages are all about creating fully and freely in any genre or avenue,” says Ford. “And [they’re] about reminding all of us that we can do the same.“ There’s even a special Ford twist on the idea of the magazine centerfold: tear-out artwork for you walls!
Ford has partnered with publisher a360media on FEEL FREE, and issues will be available on a quarterly basis. You can also order FEEL FREE online at Magazine Shop.
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HGTV star and designer Leanne Ford has worked with lots of great clients both onscreen and off, but recently, she took on a bedroom makeover for maybe her favorite collaborator of all time — her three-year-old daughter, Ever. “This whole project started when my daughter grew out of her crib and was ready for a big girl bed,” says Ford, who has designed a collection with Crate & Kids that features beds alongside other whimsical but super-cool youth furnishings.
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The only problem? Ford’s designs — even for kids — tend to feature light woods, earthy upholstery fabrics, and a healthy dose of her trademark shade, white. While that makes her pieces sophisticated enough to transition well into adulthood, Ever’s all about pink right now, and she had her mind made up. “I showed the beds to Ever and her first comment was “… but it’s not pink,’” says Ford. “In order to make her new big girl room something that she was excited about, we had to figure out how to add some pink. Everywhere.”
The room had great bones — large windows, wooden floors, soaring ceilings, and a fireplace (swoon!), and Ford loved the way it looked upon moving into her home. All it really needed was a pretty pink glow up, courtesy of Behr paint in shades chosen by Ever herself: Peach Sachet (M200-1) on the walls, Pink Sea Salt (M190-1) on the ceiling, and Ultra Pure White (1850) for the trim. “Hot tip: Don’t take your kid to the [paint] store,” says Ford. “You do first edit there and then only bring colors home that you can handle looking at all day.”
Once the room was painted, Ford got to decorating. For the room’s focal point, she and Ever settled on the Canyon Arched Kids Twin Bed, which clearly isn’t pink. To make her client happy, Ford came up with what she calls a “silly solution” but is actually a brilliant solve. “I bought a bunch of ballet ribbon off of Amazon to tie around the bed frame,” she says. “It adds a sweet softness.”
Ford kept the bedding fairly neutral so the canopy itself — wrapped in pink chiffon — would shine. When it came to the bed’s placement, she actually switched up the layout of the room from how it had been used before, choosing to orient the bed in between the windows on the wall the dresser had been on prior. Floating the bed off the wall also gives the piece even more presence in the space, allowing the drama of the arched shape to take center stage just under the crystal chandelier above and atop the Heja Home Moroccan style rug underfoot.
In lieu of traditional nightstands, a vintage stool with a fabric seat sits bedside. “When looking for vintage to mix in, I tend to shop for pieces that are made of natural materials and have imperfections to add soul,” says Ford. “I look for pieces that compliment the feeling of the space and pieces that feel like the person we are designing the space for.”
If items don’t exactly work with your existing color palette, Ford recommends painting, reupholstering, or ribbon-wrapping, the last of which Ford also did on the antique-looking gold and glass hurricane sconces installed on the bed wall, as shown above. Instead of covering most of the fixture though (like the bed canopy), she simply tied off little bows on each light for an additional coordinating pop of pink.
To bring in extra storage for clothing, Ford added the Canyon Natural Wide Dresser to the mix. She topped this piece with a stunning piece of pink art: a few panels of Gucci’s Heron print wallpaper, which she had framed locally in white wood. Was it a splurge? Yes, but one that was far cheaper than covering the entire room in the pattern. Ford used two other major pieces of statement art in the room as well: a skateboarder photograph by Craig Stecyk, which hangs over the mantel, and an Angela Allen piece over the daybed.
Speaking of that daybed, even the most kid-centric kid’s room wouldn’t be complete without a place for adults to also get in on the playtime fun. The daybed, flush with pillows and a throwbed cushion from Hedgehouse, creates a little nook that’s always ready for cuddles. “We can all get cozy and wind down at night reading together,” says Ford of this spot.
As far as lessons learned during this project, Ford says treating Ever as a co-designer (perhaps she’s the next Leanne Ford Interiors intern?) helped to get her little one invested in — and ultimately thrilled with — the results of the redo. “Don’t be afraid to collaborate with your kid and have them get involved,” says Ford. “I think it’s fun to let them set the tone for their space and then you run with it and show them how to bring it all together.” Her suggestions on doing just that? For starters, beyond letting them pick the palette, get them to make art for the room.
Now Ever’s bedroom is a dream suite for a three-year-old that can also grow up alongside it. “I love how bright, happy, and young but still warm and cozy it feels!” says Ford. “And Ever is so excited about her pink big girl bed!”
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“My inspiration is honestly my life,” says Ford, who left her just-renovated Los Angeles dream home for a farmhouse fixer-upper outside her native Pittsburgh to be closer to family. “Leaving the big city and moving to the country, I’ve embraced the simplicity and joy that’s brought our family, and I was inspired by the style, architecture, weathering, and age of where we’re living right now.”
An appreciation of nature’s beauty has always been an undercurrent in Ford’s aesthetic; in fact, she told me the best artwork is often the view right outside your windows. This time, that ethos is even more present in the new collection’s materials and palette: mixed woods, grasscloth, and Ford’s signature black and white shades punctuated with rust, ochre, brown, and hits of metallics like silver and bronze.
Some of Ford’s most popular pieces are even being introduced in new silhouettes and finishes, like the Fields Settee, which is a whitewashed, loveseat-sized version of a chair from the original collab. “For fall, we wanted to bring back those customer favorites but also extend the line with warmer tones, bleached woods, and things with a cozy, romantic fall vibe,” says Sebastian Brauer, vice president of product design at Crate & Barrel.
Of course, the holidays call for a little bit of sparkle and shine, and Ford’s all for blingy tabletop and accent pieces, even going so far as incorporating a set of disco ball tree ornaments into this range. “Greenery may be my main holiday color, but I’m thinking a silver tree with disco balls on it this year,” she says. “After the holidays, you can even put the little disco balls into a bowl and use that as a table centerpiece year-round.” The line also includes a set of cute metallic bottle brush trees, which have the perfect vintage-inspired look to them if you want to get a little nostalgic for Christmas or the holiday season.
The line is available online and in Crate & Barrel stores starting today. Prices range from $9.95 for small accessories up into the thousands for larger pieces of furniture. You can browse the full collection at Crate & Barrel.
Danielle Blundell is AT’s Home Director and covers decorating and design. She loves homes, heels, the history of art, and hockey—but not necessarily always in that order.
