SPACE: Los Angeles

Mueller Designs

Old World, modern, homes, interiors, yachts… Michael Mueller is having the design of his life.

Look no further than the name: Mueller Design Incorporated. Michael Mueller designs. Modern and old world interiors. Houses and landscapes. Residential and mixed-use developments. Yachts. “They’re a lot of fun!” he exclaims. It’s what he likes, and he’s an expert. He works on both coasts, directing staff in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and New York City. How does he do it all? By designing a life that he loves, of course.

For Mueller, “the property always dictates the layout of the house. You have to look at the direction of the sun, the slope of the land, the shape of it all.” It took Mueller a couple of attempts to figure out the lay of his own land. A self-described “lower middle-class white boy from a small town in Missouri,” he set out to get a college education. “Becoming a doctor seemed like the definition of success,” he recalls. Midway through an oncology rotation in Houston, he determined that he hated it. He took a sabbatical from medical school (his mother temporarily hated him) and enrolled in a design class, which he loved. A master’s degree in architecture later, he decided everything was happening out west.

In California, Mueller worked for Frank Gehry and Associates, and Hodgetts + Fung, honing his drafting and business skills on residential and industrial projects. He felt he still was missing something in his career. “It seemed no one understood what was going on inside the space,” he remembers, “how to move through it, how to live in it.”

Mueller spent the next three years working for interior designer Doug Marscelli, “getting a great educations about furniture, drapes, layouts, lighting…everything,” before setting out on his own. He now takes into account both fields as he works. He may build a room around a specific piece of furniture – such as the round, white table that mirrors a skylight in his “Beverly Crest” home. At the same time, he insists on honoring the integrity of a structure when designing an interior. “There’s something about this house you were initially attracted to,” he tells clients. “Let’s examine what that is.”

Mueller’s qualifications are impressive, but what clinches it for clients is his fantastic style. His old world designs are lush, authentic, and detailed glowing with warm reds and yellows. His modern perspective combines fantasy and fancy, starkness and comfort, conveyed in cool blues, greens, whites, and blacks. He is inspired by the interaction between the two. “I love the classic, old world column. I’m not about to reinvent it,” he says. “Yet in modern design, I want to recreate the column. It’s what I love about it.” He confesses that he is most drawn to the modern style. “I think really talented people are known for their point of view, and you can see my point of view most in modern work.”

“You bring your own life experiences to the table in everything you do,” says Mueller, who can fin design “in the rhythm of a picket fence,” or “the shape of a hubcap.” Travel, reading, educations, and the arts are his personal passions and creative inspiration. On a recent trip to Morocco he fell in love with old tile patterns and traditional sitting areas wrapped around fireplaces, both of which will find their way into a home he’s designing in Palm Springs.

A Mueller Design Incorporated project usually runs to the millions of dollars, but Mueller himself is as down-to-earth as they come. He disdains “that celebrity-ism that happens to some designers,” but when pressed, lists Sharon Stone, Nicolas Cage, and Leah Remini among his clients. He’s currently volunteering his services in Los Angeles to design low income housing project for elderly gay and lesbian people, and continues to be interested in his single-family residential developments, noting that “cities have caught on that architecture is a draw. It’s worth investing in design.” He’s also preparing to transform the historic Palm Springs Racquet Club, home of the once-famous Bamboo Room, into high-end concierge living. It’s all part of his unfolding design.

Ask Michael Mueller

The most important space in the house?
The kitchen. I always tie in to the family room. It’s where we live now.

Favorite design detail?
In modern homes, it’s stainless steel and glass. In old world, dark walnut. I love Venetian plaster for either-it’s durable, and I can dictate any color, texture, or finish. In architecture, I’m known for a big entry, a staircase, and the ability to see through to the back yard. I want to see the property.

Key element that makes a room pop?
Lighting. Lighting is everything.