Home & Gardens | Why Designers Are Using Gray-Green to Add a Fresh yet Soothing Quality to a Home
Emily Sandford, founder of Sanford Collective Interiors, says, 'We chose October Mist for the trim in the adjoining living room, where the walls are a very soft white. In the mudroom, we carried the color onto the walls, ceiling, and casework to create a more enveloping moment. Because the flooring transitions between the two spaces, it helps establish a sense of continuity while still giving each room its own identity.
Gander Substack
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Another superb thing about living in Charleston over the last eighteen years is watching new talent flow in. There is truly nothing that makes me happier (like happy-to-be-alive happy) than lifting up other women doing things that fulfill them and bring beauty into the world. And lately I’ve noticed two ladies around town whose work seems to light them up, especially when it involves old houses. I’m currently in a new house for the first time ever so I live vicariously through their feeds and their projects.
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The first is Emily Sanford at Sanford Collective. She moved here after a career in public relations in fashion, including a longtime stint at Tibi. As an editor, I think her kitchens and bathrooms and utility spaces are outstanding. Pure charm. I asked her how she sources lighting for these sorts of spaces, because it’s tricky. “Lighting is something I obsess over,” she says. “But I’ll happily pair an Ikea fixture with something Urban Electric or a vintage finds alongside a retail piece from Pottery Barn. There’s no hierarchy for me as long as it feels right for the room.” I couldn’t agree more.
Domino.com, December 2025
An organic plate wall shouldn’t feel random, but it also shouldn’t feel themed to death. Emily Sanford, principal designer at Sanford Collective Interiors, recommends anchoring the wall with one simple throughline—a color palette, subject matter, or motif, because “you don’t need all your plates to match perfectly, but a throughline keeps the arrangement cohesive even when individual pieces vary.”
Domino.com, September 2022
“Fill it with a mix of pretty objects like a beautiful candle with a cloche, a chic glass match striker, a reeded diffuser, a plant, or even a beautiful tissue box cover.”
In Kind, Spring 2021 Issue 2
"My feed is peppered more with interior accounts, and I have realized how truly talented some of the women in my world are at making their houses comfortable and approachable, yet elegant and thoughtful. One such friend is Emily Sanford, a publicist turned interior designer behind the Sanford Collective—and a new resident of Charleston, South Carolina."
The Zoe Report
“The art deco trend first appeared in home and fashion when a renewed sense of optimism and hope was emerging after World War I,” Emily Sanford, founder of the Charleston-based design firm, Sanford Collective, says of the trend’s origins. “I think we’re all feeling that renewed sense of hope and optimism now as we start to emerge from the worst of the pandemic and vaccines are rolling out.”