DBTB Unplugged | Bilal Rehman
Intro : Welcome to the one and only interior design book podcast, decorating by the book, hosted by Suzy Chase from her dining room table in New York City. Join Suzy for conversations about the latest and greatest interior design books with the authors who wrote them.
Suzy Chase: Welcome to my new feature called Unplugged, where I chat with interior design tastemakers. So here we go. Interior designer Bilal Rehman is leading a new generation of luxury interior designers with his snappy, witty, edgy videos. And you know what I love about you, Bilal? You march to the beat of your own drum. The interior design industry is notoriously uptight, too serious, and, might I add, a bit pretentious. But on all major social media platforms, you use humor while stretching the limits of the traditional interior design conversation, which, by the way, has amassed over 1 million followers on social and growing fun fact, you're only 23, so let's kick things off with how you got interested in interior design.
Bilal Rehman: Yes. So from a very young age, I have always had a fascination with the way spaces look and make you feel. But I never really had the ability to explore that as a career because I grew up in a family where you're expected to have the traditional job of success, a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer. And so growing up, I always thought I was going to actually be in the computer engineering industry because I love technology and I'm always keeping up with that. But as I started to go through the college program for computer engineering, I realized very quickly that I actually hated it. And I hated the stuff we were learning, and I could not see myself doing that for the rest of my life. So I made the change into interior design just to test the waters a little bit and kind of see how it felt, and I just fell in love with it. Since that day, I haven't looked back and it's been a crazy journey, but I'm so glad that I made it.
Suzy Chase: What did your parents say?
Bilal Rehman: This one was hard. Anybody with immigrant parents will understand that saying that you're going to do something creative in your parents eyes means that you're going to be broke for the rest of your life and you're never going to be able to afford to live the life that they wanted you to live. So in the beginning, it was really hard, I think, with my parents, for them to accept the fact that I was not going to do what they traditionally think is successful. And me being the person I am, I made it my mission to figure out a way to not only do what I love doing in the world of interior design, but make it profitable and make it successful in all aspects and really show them that there are alternatives to just the norms of what is considered a successful career.
Suzy Chase: I love that. And you have siblings, right?
Bilal Rehman: Correct. I have one sister, and she is actually the marketing director for our studio and gallery. And she is a badass girl. She is amazing at what she does. Your parents must be so proud. Yes. Now that they're over the shock. Yes, for sure.
Suzy Chase: My all-time favorite color and design is navy blue. Tell me the story of choosing navy to paint your bedroom when you were nine years old.
Bilal Rehman: So when I was a kid, as kids go through phases, all of them do. I went through the SpongeBob room, and I went through the superhero room, and I went through every phase you could think of. And all of those rooms had crazy bright colors. And when I turned, I think it was like, maybe eight and a half. My parents started to talk to me about changing my room a little bit, because back then, it was very normal for us to go get paint at Home Depot and paint our own houses and do stuff like that, whereas now it's not so common. But back then, I don't know what it was. I was going through the paint aisle, and I remember that I wanted something a little bit more sophisticated, something that I was a little bit more adult feeling, which is so weird for, like, an eight or a nine year old to think that way. But I remember gravitating towards this really beautiful shade of navy, and I picked it out, and my parents were like, are you sure? It was so dark that it was almost close to black. And I think maybe that's why I'm obsessed with black now as an adult. But I remember picking it and confidently choosing that color. And my parents ended up letting me paint the room that color, and I loved it. It's still that color to this day.
Suzy Chase: So when did you go from Navy into having black and white be your signature?
Bilal Rehman: I definitely get that from my mom. Growing up, she loved white and black, and most of her wardrobe was black. She loved that combination. And I remember growing up, I actually used to make fun of her for it. I used to say, why do you not own any color? What is going on? Because as a kid, white and black is not the most attractive combination to you. But as I turned into an adult and as I started to do interior design, I really learned just how timeless that combination can be and how versatile it can be. Because you're able to take white and black and make it traditional or contemporary, you can transform it into a maximalist minimalist space. It is so versatile, and it's never out of style. So I think I've just really adapted to that. And now we live in black and white.
Suzy Chase: I feel like you've put yourself on the map by calling out ways people make their homes look cheap, which I am here for. What are a few ways we cheapen our aesthetic? And by the way, a cheap aesthetic doesn't always cost less. It just looks cheap. Correct. Hit it.
Bilal Rehman: Yes. Let me clarify that, too. I have gotten so many comments about that. So when I say cheap, I don't mean, like, in a monetary value. I mean cheap in the sense that it looks like it's not done by a professional. It doesn't look high end. It doesn't feel luxurious. It doesn't feel like the best version of your space that you could do with the same money. And so I think one way that we severely cheapen our houses today is definitely with lighting. I think that's a huge thing that a lot of people miss the mark on. And it's because to a normal person who's not trained in this industry or doesn't know about lighting and interior design, they think, for example, that the really bright white light is more contemporary and modern, so they want to incorporate that into their house. And I have this issue with almost all of my clients when we first start the project that they have daylight light bulbs in their house, and it just makes your space so washed out. And you can live in a $10 million home, but with daylight light bulbs, your space feels washed out. It feels cold. It feels like a doctor's office. The simple change of just taking it from a daylight to a soft white adds so much sex appeal and romance and comfort and warmth to the house. It just transforms the house without even touching a single other element in this space.
Suzy Chase: Okay, so I'm here to defend matching bedroom sets.
Bilal Rehman: Oh, no. We're going to go to war on.
Suzy Chase: Here we go, and here's why. So there's nothing I love more than an antique bedroom set. I have my white wicker set that I grew up with, and I love the continuity of the white wicker, and I feel like it allows me to go kind of crazy with a gallery wall and navy choir drapes with my navy choir wallpaper. So what do you say?
Bilal Rehman: Well, I love you, but I would recommend breaking up your set into multiple rooms in your home. I feel like if the white wicker is speaking to you as an individual and it gets you excited, why not have that element in every space in your house and separate the set while allowing your space to enjoy that material in multiple rooms. And then in your bedroom, what you're liking visually is that continuity of the white. So instead of having the white wicker nightstands and the white wicker bed, maybe keep the bed and then do white wood nightstands at same shade of white. You're still going to get that continuity. And your wallpaper and your drapes and all of that is still going to look so good. But your wicker doesn't all have to be in the same space for it to feel cohesive and continuity.
Suzy Chase: Okay, you just blew my mind. So I guess you're right. I guess the thing I love about the white wicker is the white.
Bilal Rehman: I remember we had this one client who had just bought this entire bedroom set from restoration hardware because she loved the material and the color. And I told her the same thing. I said, you're just liking the color of it. It doesn't have to be the identical material and the identical style. You can incorporate that in different ways, and it'll look just as beautiful. And we did it, and now she loves it.
Suzy Chase: I'm going to rearrange my bedroom.
Bilal Rehman: Yeah, you better send me pictures because I have to see this.
Suzy Chase: So what's one thing that immediately devalues our space?
Bilal Rehman: I think when it comes to our space as a whole, something that immediately will devalue it is your gray hardwood floors. This is something that I have said since day one. I think this is actually what initially put me on the map. I think the gray hardwood floors are a huge mistake. And in today's day and age, builders, for some reason, keep using it in all of these new build and all of these remodels, and it really just sucks the life out of your space. Like, gray wood does not exist. It is a man made product. It's not something you're going to get from nature. It looks dead. It just looks like dead wood. And I hate seeing it in a space because it immediately makes the space feel cold. And who wants to feel like you live in a cold box?
Suzy Chase: The New York Times even interviewed you in a piece all about gray floors and how they elicit visceral reactions and hatred. So what advice would you give someone who may not be able to afford to replace the floors?
Bilal Rehman: I think that a lot of people are running into this situation, actually, because I've gotten a lot of messages. If you have gray hardwood floors and you cannot afford to just rip them out and replace them with something else. Rugs are going to be your best friend. You want your eye to get distracted from the gray hardwood floors. So put some beautiful rugs down, put some amazing artwork on the walls. Put amazing furniture in the space. Make sure you have the correct hues of lighting. All those other elements will pull your eye away from the gray hardwood floors. And I am a victim of this myself. My apartment that I did not design has gray hardwood floors in it, and it's a rental, so I can't change it out. And I hate those floors. Every day I look at them and I walk in, and this is a new unit that I just moved into. And every day I walk in and I look at them, and I'm like, oh, I hate them. But nobody else notices them. Even though I'm known as the gray hardwood floor hater in the world, all of the people who come over never point it out because there's so much other beautiful stuff to look at that their eye just kind of gets distracted from it. So I would advise anybody in that situation to do what I did and just distract the eye from the floors.
Suzy Chase: One brilliant tip I learned from you that people really need to listen to is you don't have to buy your art at home goods. You tell us to get some original art from Etsy or a local artist, for example. Talk a bit about that.
Bilal Rehman: I think artwork is one of those things in this world that it has to speak to you, it has to tell a story, and it has to make you feel some emotion. If it's not evoking emotion, then what is the point of having it on your walls? And so a lot of times, people think, oh, well, I can't afford real art because it has to be fine art that cost $50,000 and is insured and came from Sotheby's. No, you can get real art from a whole bunch of other places. A lot of times I tell people who are not in the market for an expensive piece to go to a local art school in your area. The students will create art, and at the end of every year, they'll do an exhibition. Those pieces will get auctioned off or sold. If you have a rodeo in your area, there's a whole art fair there. Online is a great place. Antique stores, flea markets, I mean, estate sales. You can find art in every corner. You just have to look. And if you look hard enough, you'll find a piece that speaks to you and doesn't break the bank.
Suzy Chase: Wait… a rodeo rodeo?
Bilal Rehman: A rodeo rodeo. Yes. I am in Texas, so I had to throw that in because rodeo season is around the corner. And they always do this art fair where they have children. Yeah, they have children who make art. And it's all sold at the rodeo. And it's actually really good stuff. Like, for $100, you can get a really amazing piece that was made by a twelve year old creative genius who is, like, one day going to be worth a lot of money. Not today, but give them 20 years. And people just have to have an open mind and an eye for finding these hidden gems.
Suzy Chase: Also, don't buy your tchotchkes at home goods. That’s my top of the day.
Bilal Rehman: Correct. Yes, those tchotchke things. People think that the accessories at HomeGoods are so amazing and they need to fill their home with them. But the reality is, every now and then, you'll find a hidden gem at home goods. I'm not going to bash them entirely, but for the most part, the stuff that they have is, like, miniaturized versions of larger versions of those accessories. And a lot of people don't know that, but the companies that they work with will make smaller sized pieces for home goods specifically, so that it's at a lower price point of a larger piece that is way more expensive and sold elsewhere.
Suzy Chase: What?
Bilal Rehman: Yeah.
Suzy Chase: Like a what?
Bilal Rehman: Yeah, like a vase or a sculpture or a bowl. They'll just make a smaller scale version of it. And then Home Goods gets it and they're selling it for $29, but the real version is, like, 150, and it's like two times the size. HomeGoods does that a lot with all of their partners. And in the mix of that, they also get overstock. And so the overstock is where you find the hidden gems, because those are the real pieces, but the majority of it is just miniaturized versions. And people feel the need to buy so much of it because those pieces are so small that they don't fill up the shelves or fill up the table. And so you feel the need to add more and more and more, and then that's when you run into the cluttered look.
Suzy Chase: So, moving to the kitchen, you have powerful thoughts on kitchen counters. What should we be using?
Bilal Rehman: Okay, so I have made multiple videos on this, and I am constantly learning the new innovations in our industry. And one of the newest, latest and greatest things is porcelain countertops. And they have come such a long way. I remember seeing them when they initially were released into the market, and they looked like a printed tile. Like, they looked really bad. They were pixelated. Now, they've come such a long way that these porcelain countertops are so durable and low maintenance, and they look so close to the real thing that you really cannot tell. And I am actually using them on a handful of the projects here at the studio, and we love them. It's like a giant tile, so you don't have to seal it, you don't have to use special cleaners, you don't have to worry about, is this going to scratch it? Is this not going to scratch it? Like, it's so amazing. And you get these beautiful patterning. So porcelain countertops, I think, is definitely the future of countertops.
Suzy Chase: When I think porcelain, I think breakable.
Bilal Rehman: Yeah, most people do. I did as well. But if you have a fabricator who knows what they're doing, because they are a little bit more complicated to fabricate than normal countertops that we've been using for years and years, they will fabricate it in such a way where it is actually really durable. You can put a pot down on it and nothing will happen. I mean, don't go crazy. Don't throw a pot down on your countertop, because any countertop you have will break if you do that. But you can put the pots down the same way you would on a marble counter, and it will react the same way. So it's an amazing product, and I'm excited to see how it continues to evolve.
Suzy Chase: So I made my Decorating by the Book Podcast In and Out list for 2024. And on that list I put the open concept is out. I'm really hoping for the return of rooms, especially the kitchen.
Bilal Rehman: I am on board with you. The open concept thing came in so hard, and it has gone nowhere, and it has just turned into these massive rooms where the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, it's all in one space. And I think that removes so much of the romance of a house. You can't feel different emotions when you're all in one room. And I love the idea of having a separate dining room and a separate living room and a separate kitchen that are all connected and flow well, but allow you to evoke different emotions in different spaces and create a mood in one space that you don't have in the other. And the kitchen, let's be honest, most of us don't keep our kitchens super clean all the time, and having them sit in our living room is like one of the worst things because there's no way to hide the mess. So it's just there. And having it a little separate allows you to really live in your home and not feel like it has to be a show house when you have guests come over. But I think that the compartmentalized house is definitely coming back, and it's coming in strong. And as a designer, it gets me excited because it's a new way of designing a home that's so poetic.
Suzy Chase: You can't feel emotions when you're all in one room. Oh, my God, you're right. Because when I go into the kitchen, it makes me mad because I'm like, I'm probably going to have to cook something, but when I go into my bedroom, I love it, and it makes me happy. So many emotions.
Bilal Rehman: Exactly, and you don't want to feel the same way in your bedroom that you feel in your kitchen. You want that separation sometimes you want to feel sexy in your bedroom. I don't feel sexy in my kitchen. I know some people do. And the freaks out there, like, I'm not judging you. I love you guys, but we got to have separation a little bit. It's time for it to come back for sure.
Suzy Chase: What do you think of all this beige and neutral interior design?
Bilal Rehman: I am so bored of it. I cannot express how much I hate it and how bored of it I am. I think it is like, why would you want to live in a beige box? Why? And I am a person who. I live in neutrals. I mean, white and black, to me, is a neutral. It doesn't behave like a loud color. It feels very neutral to me. And I have elements of creams and taupes in my house as well. But living in a space that is all beige, I can't. Why would you want to do that to yourself? That is not a creative space. It's not a sexy space. It's not a romantic space. There's no emotion there. It's just a blank canvas.
Suzy Chase: I read somewhere that beige comes across really well on social media.
Bilal Rehman: Yes. And the influencers. I love you guys. I'm a part of that community. But the influencers have taken that beige aesthetic to an extreme. They all feel like their house can pull off the way Kim Kardashian's house is pulling off, and it cannot. Kim Kardashian's house is all beige, but she's done it in such a way where the architecture is playing so strongly into the design. But most of us don't live in houses like that. Most of us live, know, pretty, square looking houses. And in a square house, a beige room is just that. It's a beige room that is boring.
Suzy Chase: Well, and also, you can throw out that teddy bear chair with the whole beige thing.
Bilal Rehman: Please, no more dirty dog bed chairs.
Suzy Chase: So I'd love to hear about your design firm that's located in Houston.
Bilal Rehman: The Bilal Rehman Studio is located in Houston. We're a house of design. We're full service, and we have grown very rapidly, and we are handling everything from residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, restaurant, anything you can think of. And it's been such an amazing journey to grow the team and to help all of these amazing projects come to life. And we're Houston-based, but all of our projects, for the most part, are actually out of town, which is amazing because it allows us to travel and experience new cities and get inspired by new things. And our studio is just unlike any other because we're all young and we're the next generation of interior design, and we are not afraid to tell you our opinion. And we're very approachable, and we're not uptight, and we're not going to try to oversell you some bougie stuff that really, in reality, is not worth it. So it's a fun experience to work with our studio in comparison to, like, a traditional interior design firm.
Suzy Chase: What are a couple of your go to interior design books?
Bilal Rehman: Oh, I am such a book person. I actually have an entire wall of books in our studio that we reference for every single project that we work on. Any Kelly Wearstler book is a huge inspiration for me. I think she is one of the most brilliant creative geniuses of our time. I love looking at, believe it or not, fashion related books. I love looking at old magazines from Vogue or Architectural Digest. Anything that is in the creative field, to me, sparks inspiration. And so I don't have one specific book that I like to look at. It's really just, if it speaks to me, it speaks to me. And I have all of my favorite books listed on my social media. So if anybody was curious on what I'm currently inspired by, it's all there for sure.
Suzy Chase: Have you hopped on the bookshelf wealth bandwagon?
Bilal Rehman: I don't know what that is.
Suzy Chase: Oh, my gosh. Okay. You have to look up hashtag bookshelf wealth. And there was a whole article about it in the Times and on TikTok, where you live, but it's about having your books all on your bookshelf. But you have to have read all your books. You can't fake that. I've read all these books, and I guess that's bookshelf wealth. When you have a whole bookshelf of books that you've read?
Bilal Rehman: Yes. In that case, yes. Because every single book that is on our studio's bookshelf, I have gone cover to cover multiple times between the past seven years that I've been doing this. So, yes, I can say confidently, I am bookshelf wealthy.
Suzy Chase: Well, then I'm waiting for the video.
Bilal Rehman: Yeah, definitely.
Suzy Chase: Coming soon. Now to my segment called Home, where I ask you to describe one memory of your childhood home. And please start by telling us where it was.
Bilal Rehman: Okay, so when I was a child, this is in the same house where I painted my bedroom. Navy. It was in Houston, Texas. I remember my parents. I love them, and they're amazing, brilliant business people, but they do not have an interior design bone in their body. And they had these two couches that were covered in floral print in our formal living room. If you guys, for reference, if you ever saw Kim Kardashian's Met Gala dress when she was pregnant and it was covered in floral print, that is exactly what those sofas look. Yeah. As much of a Kim Kardashian fan as I am, that dress was a mistake, and those couches were a mistake. So those were probably the worst interior design memory I have, and it scarred me for life. And now floral print is scary to me.
Suzy Chase: That's hilarious. So where can we find you on the web, social media, and in Houston?
Bilal Rehman: Absolutely. Well, I am everywhere online. Instagram at Bilal Rehman, TikTok at Bilal Rehman studio. If you want to explore our work or shop, our gallery, bilalrehmanstudio.com, is your place to go. And in Houston, we have a physical presence at 1740 Westheimer Road. And if you guys come in, it will be so much fun, because we'll talk some shit, and we can shop together. And show me your house, and I'll tell you what you did wrong. So it will be a great experience.
Suzy Chase: Please tell me you're working on a book.
Bilal Rehman: It is on my bucket list for sure. With all of the new projects that we've taken on, it is definitely something that I see in the foreseeable future. And I just wanted to make sure that when I did take on a book, I had enough projects that I was truly proud of to put in the book. I didn't want to just fill it with a whole bunch of work just because it had my name on it. And I think we're finally getting to that point. So sometime soon in the near future, we will be venturing into the world of books.
Suzy Chase: Well, you are a force of nature in the design conversation. Thank you, Bilal, for coming on Decorating by the Book Podcast.
Bilal Rehman: Thank you so much for having me.
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