Designer Spotlight: Tamu Green

Tamu Green of Lux Pad Interiors dreams intentionally. And no, although she credits “lots of sleep” as her primary source of inspiration and recharge, we don’t mean when she’s counting sheep. Tamu is a designer who knows how to push the boundaries of a space into a broader environmental context and manifest meaning for her clients.

"I tend to think of rooms as communities and the vignettes in them as families. Like the greatest cities in the world, the best rooms are a display of diversity. Various shapes, textures, sheens, heights, colors, and patterns inhabit the same space, creating bustling energy. I address every moment, or vignette, with a mix of handsome charm, feminine allure, and youthful whimsy."

 Green chose our Clad Home Virgil Sofa in a rich cognac leather for this recent project ...

 Youthful whimsy, in particular, is an homage to Tamu’s own childhood. Art was the language spoken in her household, and each member of her family had their own influence on her love of craftsmanship.

“My granny taught me how to make beautiful hand-beaded placemats. My father managed musical artists and there was always music playing in the house. And no one knows their way around a glue gun or sewing machine like my mother. The largest influence to my career as an interior designer was my mother, who sewed everything from the drapery to the duvet covers. I loved tagging along to the discount fabric store and helping to coordinate textiles for the latest design project in our home.” 

Although she grew up integrating design into her home life, she hadn’t fathomed it as a career path. “I knew when I had my own home, it would be a never-ending design project like the places I grew up in.” But as a young college student, she had enrolled undecided and didn’t even know interior design was something she could study until her sophomore year. “I just so happened to be at one of only two public universities in the state that had an accredited interior design program. It was fate.” 

Tamu is a believer in deliberate manifesting and the law of attraction, and it seems to have worked for her. Although the 2008 recession hit just before she graduated, she managed to reach the dreams that were most important to her.

“The future of the industry looked bleak. There wasn’t a success story in sight, and certainly not one about someone who looked like me.” But while sifting through designer websites in her search for a summer internship, she discovered Kieta Turner. “I still remember it. There she was; talented, Black, successful, crossed-arm, and slaying within an inch of her life. I decided that day I would move to New York and start my own design firm after graduation.”

And ever the dreamer, she did. Now, she passes this philosophy onto her Lux Pad clients. She believes her role as a designer isn’t just to design for the life they have, but to align with the values and intentions of who they hope to become. 

Tamu turned to Clad Home to design a sofa in a beautiful cognac leather for this city apartment. Not afraid of color, she favors hues that oppose each other on the color wheel in her work like this twist on red and green.

“My experience ordering a sofa sight-unseen from Clad Home was extremely reassuring. Before moving to production, my sales rep sent me a sketch to approve the specifications. Detailed dimensions, tufting placement, leg finish, seam type, cushion fill, fabric selection, and every other detail was there in writing for me to sign off on. It was honestly more than I expected. It felt great to know every detail was accounted for and there would be no surprises.” 

What’s next for Tamu? Ever curious, she’s interested in what the future of residential design looks like. “It’s time to curate new lifestyles that are self-responsible and sustainable. I’m looking forward to incorporating solar power, rainwater collection systems, and vegetable gardens in my future projects.” 

We can’t wait to see what she dreams up.