A career in architecture and appreciation for the creative possibilities of interior spaces, led Dennis Miller to create a showroom experience that would highlight new pieces complementary to multiple design styles and draw attention to the craft and creativity of those who design them as well. His eponymous showroom has welcomed the work of Clodagh, David Rockwell and other design luminaries whose work combines to create the distinctive appeal of Dennis Miller Associates.
Miller says he was prompted to open his own showroom as much of the work being created in the mid-eighties was going unnoticed by the interior design professional. “The only place to see it was in galleries or at some craft shows,” he explains. “I imagined that a more permanent exposition and cataloguing of that work would benefit the creator and expand the vision for the design community.”
Trained as a Bauhaus-style modernist, Miller says his while that background does influence the selection within the showroom, he always is “ready to appreciate the varied forms and materials of a new creative coterie of designers.” He notes that some of the earliest pieces brought in for the showroom were “quite avant-garde, coming from designers using non-traditional forms and materials for furniture. Gradually we were able to add more production-oriented pieces that nonetheless reflect a distinctive individualistic design point of view.”
With his recent expansion into West Palm Beach, Florida, Miller has taken on a new kind of operation in that the satellite showroom allows for both consumers and designers to purchase the offerings. The new direction opens the carefully curated collection to a wider audience, allowing for new perspectives and new experiences in interior design.
“I have always believed that the furniture we represent must work with a combination of design aesthetics – antique, contemporary and modern,” Miller says. “An interior must reflect the personal style of the inhabitant of the space.”
Q&A
What do you look to bring together in the furnishings and textiles for your eponymous collection?
Contrary to some preconceptions, I have never been the designer of pieces in the Dennis Miller Collection. I’ve always sought the inspiration of industry leaders to be the creators: Clodagh, Wendell Castle, David Rockwell; and even some legacy designers: T.H. Robsjohn- Gibbings, and Morris Lapidus, for example. It is a matter of what forms and materials they choose to work in. The most satisfying examples come from our collaboration encompassing type, material and form that we should create.
Ted Boerner is among the most recent additions. Why was this aesthetic a good fit for your showroom?
We have known and admired Ted’s work from the beginning, and in fact were in his showroom in New York very early on in the evolution of his company, so we are glad to rekindle this relationship. His very personal and humanistic approach to form and use of materials is very appealing. Perhaps most of all, he approaches design with the visual reaction of the viewer/user at the forefront, and with great humor.
Where do you see style for the home trending in the next few years?
It’s hard to be distinctive in this day of easy access to design, from magazine to Internet to Instagram. We all want what others like; maybe that’s unfortunate; maybe merely human nature.
I urge clients to reflect a personal aspect to selecting their designs. So, whether it is one-of-a kind creations, antiques, or DIY, it has to be a reflection of personal commitment and decision. The best creations will have a very personal aspect in the use of materials (often unexpected combinations) and forms – untraditional but comfortable.
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