A quick chat with yoga-inspired designer Amy Ormond.
N MAGAZINE: What’s at the core of your design philosophy?
ORMOND: I want you to walk into any home I’ve designed and say “I’d like to stay here a while.” It’s not important to me that the furniture be the most expensive or the artwork priceless. I try to avoid anything that’s too precious if I can help it. My goal is that the design be comfortable and calm and that it serve as the backdrop for my clients to relax and rejuvenate, entertain and create memories. I know I’ve succeeded when the result is a truly beautiful home that still happily welcomes sandy feet and bouncy Labs.
N MAGAZINE: What’s one material that you think is underused in today’s interiors?
ORMOND: Soul and warmth—in any material. I love a bright white space with blond wood floors, but I need it to also have a Persian rug or a vintage oil painting or a velvet cushion. Maybe it’s unlacquered brass hardware, a leafy fiddlehead fig, a black walnut side table or a tobacco leather club chair. Whatever the selection, bringing in any material with warmth transforms an otherwise austere show house into a home with some soul.
N MAGAZINE: Tell us about your company Yogamere.
ORMOND: The idea for Yogamere came to me when I was asked to create a wellness studio in a home I was designing in Shimmo. The design of the rest of the house was to be calm and inviting and simple, but for the life of me, I could not find items for the wellness room that had that same feeling. Most yoga mats and accessories and fitness equipment are designed for commercial use rather than for the home. The colors and materials are often garish and discordant— exactly the opposite of what you want when you practice yoga or meditation or simply want to relax. Yogamere is a collection of exquisite essentials for yoga, meditation, fitness and relaxation that flow with your lifestyle. Designed with naturally luxurious materials, sophisticated colors and an eye for the smallest detail, Yogamere is the belief that wellness can be beautiful.
N MAGAZINE: What is your vision for Yogamere on Nantucket?
ORMOND: I was lucky enough to purchase a teacup-sized cottage in ’Sconset just recently that will become my very own wellness sanctuary—a manifestation of Yogamere’s philosophy of making wellness beautiful. Within its very humble 425 square feet, I am creating a calm and simple space with just the basics: a simplified kitchen, bath and living area with enough space to practice yoga and meditation, to read and do some writing, to relax to the sound of the ocean and to sleep with a view of the stars. Within this little Yogamere-inspired cottage, I hope to show how wellness at home can be beautiful and that you don’t need very much to live really well.
N MAGAZINE: What advice would you give someone who wants to try yoga but is intimidated?
ORMOND: I wouldn’t give them advice! I’d simply grab them by the hand and take them to a local class and they would quickly see how welcoming the yoga community is on Nantucket. There are so many great teachers and studios and lovely people who practice together and at home. No one cares if your warrior pose is perfect. It’s far more important that you give yourself that time, at home or in a class. After all, yoga isn’t exercise. It’s a way of living.
Interior designer Amy Ormond is the founder of Yogamere, a collection of exquisite essentials for yoga, meditation, fitness and relaxation.
