“I am just absolutely dreading going home to decorate for Christmas,” the woman in the salon chair said.
Cosmetologist Tom Chandler lowered his scissors and looked at her through the mirror’s reflection, his face all lit up.
“Oh, I would love to do that,” he replied. She squelched the salon’s atmosphere of casual conversation with her serious tone. “Well, when can you do it?”
Right after her appointment, as it turned out. Chandler returned to take the decorations down after the holidays and did an impromptu rearranging of the furniture afterward. “She loved it,” he said. “And I rearranged her best friend’s furniture the next day, and I really haven’t stopped.”
Soirée: What is new and hot in design now?
Chandler: Soft, light colors, barrel lamp shades and monorail serpentine lighting.
Professor Tom Chandler walked into a classroom at South Central Career College. That first semester, there was only one student. Every Tuesday night for 16 weeks they just sat across the table from each other and talked about design. As the class sizes grew in those early semesters decades ago, so did the confidence of the young academician, who got his start in the classroom from a connection at the salon. “I just realized I was qualified and I could actually do this on my own.” Since beginning his own seminars and classes, Chandler conservatively estimates that he’s taught 10,000 students, including several well-known local designers.
Any tuition-free lessons you’re willing to share?
Any home has certain architectural features that are positive, and those deserve being emphasized. And there are certainly elements and pieces of furniture that are negative and they need to be de-emphasized. One way in general to de-emphasize something is to match it to its surroundings.
What’s your personal style?
My personal style is a cleaned-up traditional look with an Asian slant and unexpected elements and humor.
There’s a piece of McClarty’s Pottery – a hippo — near designer Tom Chandler’s kitchen sink, and one in the guest powder room as well. He thinks of them as both being at the watering hole. “People see that and smile or laugh or experience some confusion. As serious as life is, I love being a part of bringing a smile to people’s faces. That’s hugely important to me.”
Chandler also feels a keen responsibility to interpret the taste and personality of his clients and then magnify them. There’s some merit in making extreme suggestions for certain clients before softening the idea until it falls in the client’s comfort zone, he says, and he and his design team of 11 all operate with that mentality.
What is your favorite color?
I love any color that is muted or muddy. However, the client’s favorite color is my favorite color!
What’s a trend you hope to never see come back again?
An 8-foot blown-on ceiling.
“I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve been able to make a living based on a God-given ability,” he says. His success, which has propelled him to jobs all over North America, couldn’t have happened without support from his 32-year companion, Tim Ellis, or the inspiration of his friend, Ina Robbins, and his courageous paraplegic son, Tray. They all make it possible for Tom Chandler the person to work tirelessly. He devotes his spare time to projects like the Symphony Designer House, to which he’s contributed 15 times, and Baptist Health’s Bolo Bash, which he’s decorated for 19 years. He’s also been involved in most of the houses that are part of Build for the Cure. At almost 70, he says he’s nowhere near finished. “I love what I do, and retirement just isn’t a part of my vocabulary. I totally expect to just die on the job. I want my clients to know that as long as I’m here, I’m here.”
Fill in the blank: I would never decorate a room with …
…blue man-made marble or mini prints.