19 SOUTHERN HOME | MAY/JUNE 2019
I
t is somewhat ironic that Emily Summers
credits her traditional Midwest upbringing as
the inspiration for her minimalist spaces. Born
and raised in Kansas City, the Dallas designer
fondly recalls the abundance of tailored Tudor-
and Georgian-style homes filled with refinery but
lacking in frills like gilded antiques and swags with
tassels. “Appropriateness, elegance, and restraint
were watchwords back home, and I still subscribe to
those things today,” says Summers. “But I learned
and formed my aesthetic by reacting in opposition
to the styles that surrounded me. I recognized that
I could never live in a traditional house with busy
surfaces and small spaces. Before I departed my
teens, I was a convert to modernism.”
Summers’ first book, Distinctly Modern Interiors
(Rizzoli, 2019), guides readers along her unique
career path. Having spent time in the fashion and
art worlds, she attests to the impact that fashion
designers and artists—from Bill Blass and Geoffrey
Beene to Frank Stella and Jasper Johns—have had
on her vision. The 270-plus-page volume highlights
a diverse sampling of projects, including a 1940s
ranch, a contemporary urban penthouse, a wood-
land retreat, and even her own 1960s Palm Springs
getaway. Although these homes range in period,
style, and setting, together they comprise a collec-
tion of covetable interiors revered for their stream-
lined beauty. The book also addresses the building
blocks of a great modernist house—why the interior
and architecture must be linked, how to modernize
traditional houses, how to restore existing modern-
ist houses, and how to combine fine art with design.IN HER FIRST BOOK, DALLAS-BASED
DESIGNER EMILY SUMMERS
SHOWCASES BESPOKE INTERIORS
THAT TAKE AMERICAN MODERNISM
IN A WHOLE NEW DIRECTION.Fashion
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