Galey Alix is a Wall Street exec turned interior designer, creator, and founder of Galey Alix Design. The drastic career pivot from Wall Street to interior design started as a passion project for a home she was designing for her and her then-fiancé. She began sharing the DIY-focused design progress on social media until things took an unexpected turn, and her wedding and home plans fell through. While she rightfully took some time away from social media to process, her design videos were steadily gaining millions of views, with several going viral. This praise and support of her passion for design catapulted Galey into becoming a full-time designer and content creator. She was then approached by HGTV for a show and became the host and executive producer for a season of Home in a Heartbeat in 2023, where she and her team surprised families with stunning home transformations in just three days. As she continues to beautify homes across the country and share the process with an engaged audience of millions, she also launched her first-ever rug collection with Livabliss in 2024, with an extensive homewares collection and wallpaper line to follow this year. See how Galey turns passion into transformation in this week’s Designer Friday.
A ribbed sectional and graphic marble table anchor this sun-filled space with a laid-back, California-cool vibe.
Andrew Joseph: Can you describe your design philosophy in three words?
Galey Alix: Elevated, approachable, and clean.
AJ: What is the most challenging project you’ve worked on and how did you overcome it?
GA: My most challenging project was for an episode of my show, Home in a Heartbeat, on HBO Max, when we renovated a primary bathroom, laundry room, primary bedroom (with two closets), and a playroom from start to finish in five days. The challenging part wasn’t the design itself, but the time crunch we were under while also having to stop and film scenes. I slept a total of fifteen hours over five days, and by the end, my eyesight and mental clarity were both challenged as I revealed the home to the excited family. Sacrificing sleep was a choice my amazing team and I made to get the project done in time, and while we met the deadline and the project was beautiful, I don’t recommend this approach. Create realistic goals for yourself!
AJ: Can you tell us about a design trend you are excited about?
GA: I am ecstatic to see the farmhouse phase on its way out and witness that proclivity being replaced with more diversity in design. What’s so special about the design culture is that multiple trends are emerging and being equally adopted. When a single design trend cannibalizes the market, it’s a quick way to date a home because a decade later, everyone will know exactly when it was designed. It’s less timeless and more time-stamped. I’m currently seeing a lot of 70s colorways, textures, and patterns coming back into textiles and furniture, while simultaneously seeing both traditional and transitional roomscapes peaking in popularity. This convergence of design trends makes for a really exciting time to work in the home sector.
This cinematic den layers glossy leather, sculpted wood, and towering arched mirrors under a slatted ceiling, creating a space that feels both moody and refined.
AJ: Can you describe a project that you’re particularly proud of?
GA: The projects I’m most proud of are undoubtedly the ones where I feel a true impact was made on the homeowner(s). It’s less about the design and more about improving someone’s quality of life for me. A project that has always stood out to me is one of the very first ones I did. A family of four reached out to me because they were not proud of their home and were quick to share how they never hosted birthday parties, holidays, or had family or guests over to visit. They allowed me the freedom to completely surprise them with the design as they spent the weekend at Disney. This was before I had the amazing team I have now, so it was just me and my two dogs working around the clock the whole weekend to get it done. When they returned on Sunday, I had renovated their kitchen, living room, dining room, and family room. When they opened their eyes for their first room reveal, their eldest son fainted and fell on the ground (the good kind of faint, not the call-an-ambulance kind). We all laughed and cried happy tears because it was such an emotional thing to witness this family becoming proud of their home for the first time. A few weeks later, they sent me photos of their friends and family gathering for Thanksgiving in the dining room I designed for them, beaming with excitement. I’ve never felt so impactful to someone’s life the way I did with that project and family. It was at that same moment that I quietly decided that one day, I would resign from my executive position at Goldman Sachs and pursue design full-time.
AJ: How do you stay creative and inspired?
GA: I have always been uniquely competitive and hyper-driven (to a fault), which can take the fun out of things. It’s difficult to be inspired and allow my creativity to flow unabridged if I become too myopic about achieving or completing something. For that reason, I make sure to never take myself too seriously, especially when I’m creating. I document all of my projects with whimsical videos on social media, where there’s a lot of dancing with my team, pranks played on each other, frequent headstands, and my dogs doing funny things because that’s what keeps me in my most creative flow and keeps the creation process fun. Giving myself permission to blast my favorite music throughout an install and be unapologetically myself allows me to be my most present, and there’s no better way to remove creative blocks than being in the present moment!
AJ: Can you tell us about a specific moment in your career that made you feel accomplished?
GA: I was at a friend’s barbecue that had lots of children running around. When I walked in, a twelve-year-old boy approached me, and I could tell he was the “cool one” in the group — the kind who was too cool for even the adults. He walked up to me in the kitchen and began to audibly lose his cool in front of everyone because he recognized me from TikTok. He said he followed me and proceeded to tell everyone within screaming distance which of my videos were his favorites. No cool boy in school ever thought I was cool, well, until that moment!
Sculptural brass lighting and a wood-clad ceiling add layered warmth to this streamlined kitchen, where architectural lines meet quietly luxurious textures.
AJ: What is your favorite design element to incorporate into your projects?
GA: Texture is the mitochondria of all my designs — the powerhouse that fuels everything else I do. The strength of knowing how to complement and contrast textures to evoke emotion will allow you to create spaces that make people feel things. It’s the most beautiful opportunity and makes every space I work on feel like a gift. The right layering of textures can help someone feel comforted and safe as soon as they walk into their bedroom, or feel clarity and motivation when they step into their home office. Incorporating textures into my designs not only elevates spaces, but emotions, too.
AJ: What is your favorite type of space to design?
GA: My favorite space to design is less about the type of room or design style and more about the bones of the space. Give me a space with lofty ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an architectural structure I can play with, and I will fly. It’s structurally impossible to raise most ceilings or lengthen windows, especially in condos and townhomes, so when I start with a space that already has beautiful bones, I can pour all of my energy into the interior design. The layout, the pieces I’m sourcing, the textures, and the aesthetic construction all work as a layer on top of what is already there, and the possibilities feel endless and exciting to me every time.
AJ: What is the most important skill for a successful designer?
GA: The most important skill for any designer is no different than anyone in any other service industry: CARE. If you genuinely care about the quality of your work, meeting your client’s needs, and doing the right thing, then you’ll only ever sweat all the small stuff. Sweating the small stuff means you’re far less likely to have major things become an issue. The quality of your work will not only speak for itself, but it will build a reputation that speaks for itself, so you don’t have to. And doing the right thing is important because, well, it’s the right thing. Karma has everyone’s address!
Headshot photography by Michael O’Malley.
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