Ben Leavitt is not just a designer, he is an artist too. Mastering his craft began at an Arts school in Vancouver, a brief stint at a Design school in London and thereafter, 7 years in Asia heading up a design and furniture company. It’s a diverse journey that lead him to co-founding Plaidfox, a Vancouver-based interior and product design studio started in 2014. Ben’s approach to design is that which plays along the lines of past and future, creating harmonious yet bold spaces.
H&G spoke to him to get to know the visionary behind the veneer.
Tell us about your first encounter with design and how it informed your future as an interior designer at Plaidfox? Reading interior design magazines with my mom, as far back as I can remember. To this day, this is still a monthly ritual for me, and it has helped form my personal aesthetic. As I moved abroad, I would read the local design magazines and I would say that this gave me a global perspective on my design process from those cultures.
There is a famous saying about how our identities are a sum of all the things that are around us, in what way does living in Vancouver influence/inspire your creative process? It is often said that Vancouver is more of a mosaic than a melting pot when it comes to cultures and ways of thinking. The city is relatively new, and it's carving its own path into the future of design. I am also inspired by the people I’m surrounded by, local interior design, textile design, and fine art. Having lived abroad for many years (I worked as a furniture designer in Asia for a decade), whenever I come back home to Vancouver, I am especially able to have an appreciation for the cultural diversity here.
How would you describe your design aesthetic? I would describe my design style as layered, artistic, and historically mindful. Calming yet equally bold, and liveable, I want to create spaces that push, inspire, and encapsulate the joys of self-expression through objects and colours!
How has it changed over time? The biggest changes to my personal design aesthetic have simply come with time and experience. The power of editing one's own design and honestly, years of experimentation, failures, and successes. I have learned that it is in the last 10% that a space will really come to life. It's in these final steps that a true masterpiece is made!
Speaking to the House & Garden cover story, what is your approach when it comes to experimenting with new colours for the first time? I begin with each colour story with fabric swatches. It is with tangible materials in hand where my colour stories for a project is born. I’ve learned to NEVER say never. Because every shade, colour and tone have a place in design when used in the right context!
Which trends did you look to in designing the cover home and why? For my inspiration I looked at vintage magazines and publications from the 70s! It was the organic celebration of unusual materials, earth tones and sculptural (lines) forms that truly inspired this home. To take something new and make it feel like it has the depth of history was exciting!
Which room was your most challenging, but equally most rewarding when it came to decorating the cover story home? Right from the first site visit to the home, I knew the dining room, (a lifeless white box) needed to act as the heart of the home’s style. Especially since it is seen from each room within the main floor and opened out onto the terrace, I knew it had to be special. Convincing the client to wrap the otherwise white space in warm wood paneling proved to be one of the greatest challenges and the ultimately greatest reward. It was the opposite of what they had expected - but after much debate and discussion, we ultimately agreed this wood lined space would be the bold element the home needed. The layering of limestone, vintage decor, and modern silhouettes, all viewed through a vintage lens thanks to the warm wood tones. This is a no-holds-barred interior.
What is your one (foolproof) rule about achieving a balanced interior? My foolproof rule is: “add three things, take one away”.
What are two of your most memorable projects thus far?This one would be one of them. The second, would be a home we designed in the hills of San Diego that was fashioned to look like a Moroccan riad.
Lastly, what did lockdown and the past two years teach you about staying inspired? Inspiration can be stumbled upon. I have always found that traveling has greatly influenced my aesthetic. But what I have learnt from staying at home is the power of a creative mind. Something as simple as a handful of sunflower seeds can inspire a colour combo or pattern that becomes a jumping off point for something totally new.
