13 SOUTHERN HOME | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
Mark D. Sikes
CREATING INTERIORS THAT FEEL AS FRESH AS THEY ARE
TIMELESS, CALIFORNIA-BASED DESIGNER MARK D. SIKES
USES CLASSIC STYLES AND BELOVED ELEMENTS THAT
REFLECT HIS SOUTHERN UPBRINGING. TEXT KAREN CARROLLDESIGNER Q&A
Southern Home (SH): Your decorating is often described as all-
American, which seems appropriate, given that you were born in
Texas and later lived in Nashville, Atlanta, and the Midwest.
Now that you call Los Angeles home, what about the South has
impacted your style?
Mark D. Sikes (MDS): Every place you live informs something in
your life, right? In the South it was definitely about tradition and a
sense of formality, gentility, and refinement, whether it be in decor,
entertaining, or gardens. My time in the Midwest, where my grand-
parents and all my aunts lived, became where I really understood
what a home feels like—comfortable and relaxed, easy. Now, on the
West Coast, there’s this indoor/outdoor lifestyle and a casualness
that’s layered—with a bit more of a bohemian slant. Mix all those
things together, and that defines my style today. But there’s some-
thing about the South that always draws me back. In many ways
I am more at home there than I am in California.