Despite popular belief it is not interior decorator Rafael De Cardenas' job to give you what you want. Rather, it's to make you think that what he’s given you is what you wanted all along. A graduate of RISD and UCLA’s School of Architecture, Cardenas began his interior design career with commercial spaces for Pharma, aNYThing, and Ubiq in Philadelphia; and, most recently, the NYC-based designer signed on to do Cynthia Rowley new Chicago store.

Thanks in part to his razor-sharp charm, Cardenas has also flexed his interior decorating muscle inside actress Parker Posey’s East Village apartment (which recently sold as-is with furniture and decoration in tact), and is in the process of outfitting and remodeling model Jessica Stam’s East Hampton home (which includes wallpapering the living room with silver spray-painted sea grass). “My clients are youthful – someone who embraces a risk-taking attitude,” says Cardenas of his A-list client roster. Here, psychoPEDIA sat down with Cardenas to ask about the best way to revamp your home (without paying a professional), and the art of manipulation:

What is the easiest and cheapest way to change your space?
Color… color and your furniture. If you can't afford to have things re-finished, buy a cheap chair at the Salvation Army, or whatever, and just paint it. It can even be sloppy if you use some sort of thick enamel-based paint.

Where do you find most of your references?
Movies – I'm obsessed with interiors in different films and looking at moods. My favorite film interiors are Sean Young’s characters’ apartments in Blade Runner . And that conference room in Blade Runner. The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant I love. Pretty much any Kurosawa film. And magazines. I sit there and go through them really quickly and I kind of need to do that all the time. I feel like it fills my head with visual references. I love World of Interiors, W, Metropolis.

You deal with a lot of high-profile clients. How do you handle the especially difficult ones?
If they are paying me for their difficulty, then, to a certain degree, I tolerate it. I mean my job to a point is hand holding and telling them it's going to be ok. “We're gonna do this and it's gonna be ok.” Sometimes people get scared: "We're painting the walls black? Oh my god!" “Yeah, it's a bright room; we're painting it black and it's gonna be fine.”

How do you start when you meet a client?
It depends on the client. But, I'm always trying something new. It could fail. I don't let the client know that, but it's a trial-and-error thing. As far as getting to know their lifestyle, it's pretty easy to get from observation. I go to a client’s house two or three times – see the kid, what time they get home from school, piano lessons, the housekeeper, the assistant, the dog. And I get a feeling for the whole thing. Parker Posey, for example, is a young single girl who's very funny and also very private. The married girl with two kids is going to have very different needs.

What did you do for Parker Posey’s place?
She has an obvious reverence for old Hollywood glamour. It had elements of boudoir. It had this big comfortable dressing room, 3 or 4 seating areas – a lot of mid-century furniture. All the furniture had a story to it. There was a chair made of horseshoes, a screen made of wrought iron birds. The sofa was beautiful – purple, a '40s rounded kidney shape. Ultimately, these things blended together. I don't think about things going or not going. I think if something has an interesting story it will work.

You have said that part of your job is convincing your client to go beyond what they think they want. How do you do this?
Sometimes you have to use a little psychology. I'll give you an example: I have a client who told me she really likes shabby chic. Why she would hire me I have no idea. I don't know anything about shabby chic. And, so, I said, “What are the aspects of shabby chic that you like?” I tried to parse out the things she likes because those components and elements can be another style and still be comfortable or vintage or whatever. As the process unfolded she didn't get a single thing that was shabby chic, but she was really excited about what she got. I enjoy taking risks. And, the risks in a residential or commercial interior, waged against the risks in the world are quite minimal. It’s not that big of a deal ultimately.

What is the most gratifying aspect of your work?
When the client reacts positively and it affects their lives. Architecture and decoration have the potential and the power to affect the way we live and behavior in a space. It's a pleasure when clients are both open to that and enjoy the new behavior patterns that emerge. I'm sure there is a book about the calming effect of color. For me, it's not studied. But, I do think a lot about these things.

~Sara Costello


Go There:
Rafael’s Favorite NYC Design Shops:
Label Modern: 39 Bond Street, (212) 242-9075
"This is a gorgeous store; this and Todd Merell.”
John Derian: 6 East 2nd Street
“I buy paper weights as gifts and Morroccan poofs."
Dashwood Books: 33 Bond Street
“I come here all the time to look at books. I love the Julius Shulman photographs – all those mid-century California interiors. They’re pretty amazing. I definitely look at those a lot.”
Soho Treasures: 123 Mercer Street
“I love this store. I also love that it’s next to APC. It’s basic with an edge (that’s such a difficult thing to achieve) but not decorative. The fits are not perfect; the jeans are not about making your ass look good. But it’s this little project.”