This 1920s Colonial House Was Once “Creepy and Sad” Until Bright Paint Revived It

Gail Davis, principal designer and founder of Gail Davis Designs, hopes she doesn’t have a signature style. She doesn’t want you or me to look at a project and immediately know she crafted it. Instead, she wants you to feel something — more specifically, to feel a wave of comfort immediately. She definitely feels comfortable in her historic 1920s home in South Orange, New Jersey.

“It is so important for people to love where they live,” Davis explains. “For me, especially for Black people and for women, especially in this climate, I want people to come home and feel like they have something for themselves where they’re in control and where they feel loved.” She believes it should be a rejuvenating and judgement-free space. “Home is everything,” Davis says. 

She didn’t always love this home, though. Davis shares that when she and her husband, Ben, first toured the space, it was “creepy and sad” and had “seen better days.” However, the location was right, so she got to working her design magic — including expertly chosen paint colors — to create a home that would become warm, cozy, and loved.

As you can probably tell, comfort is one of Davis’ core design pillars. It stems from childhood memories of spending time at her grandparents’ house in South Carolina. “I decorated as if my grandparents and great grandparents would visit, so that they would feel at home,” she says of her own home. Davis recalls a “Southern sensibility” in her grandparents’ home (think: always having a freshly-baked cake to offer, never turning away a guest, and encouraging people to stay awhile). It was a beautiful home but also lived-in, a quality that she brings into her work — and her own home.

“It was tailored, but it was inviting. There was never anything that was too precious to touch or to sit on or to be near,” Davis shares. “And if you spilled something, you spilled, and you kept moving, it was like, ‘Oh, we are having a good time.’” (There are no visible spills in Davis’ home, but each room does look like an inviting space to have a good time.)

Before she veered into interior design, Davis began her career as the assistant to the president of Saks Fifth Avenue. Feeling burnt out after eight years, she found inspiration in a plaque that read: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” Immediately, it awakened something in her, and she was ready to try something new.  So, she applied to and was accepted to the New York School of Interior Design (NSID) and eventually got her associate degree in Applied Science — Interior Design.

Davis is a high achiever, but she also knows her skillset. You won’t see any homemade design projects in her home: “I don’t DIY! That is not a strength!” she says. However, she’s not averse to a challenge — and Davis has perfected the art of drowning out negativity. “There’s always some naysayer or somebody who’s going to be a nonbeliever or make fun of you because you’re not as great as they are or as great as they think you should be. I’ve learned that’s none of my business,” she says. “My business is making sure that I extrapolate as much as I can from this life because I get one life, and I’ve got to live it.” 

This thinking extends to her design philosophy, which is essentially to do what makes you happy. “Paint and design the way you love!” she says. Davis doesn’t want her clients to feel bound by the preconceived notion of what their home should be. She gives herself the same freedom in her home and in her career.

Davis is the principal designer and owner of her own design firm, but being the boss doesn’t mean she’s done learning. Her curiosity is part of the reason she started her podcast, Design Perspectives, spurred by a suggestion at a dinner with two friends who said Davis was a great sounding board. She spent the whole train ride home searching the web on how to start a podcast. 

Davis was hungry to learn from other design and real estate professionals, especially about how they run their businesses. “More importantly, I wanted designers to share their stories,” she says. She wanted to experience everything from “belly laughs” to conversations about learning curves. At the root of it all is authenticity, talking about the joy and the struggles that come with starting out in your career. “I love to always ask, ‘What did you think design was, and what do you now know it is?’ Because design is glamorized,” Davis shares.

“People think you’re eating, going out lunching all the time. You’re hanging out with your clients, you’re flying first class, you’re all over the place. And I’m like, ‘No, I’m getting ready to go to a job site where it is grimy.” On site, she wears a mask because her lungs burn without one — pure glamour! 

With her own home nearly completely designed, Davis is working on a basement, a kitchen, and three bathrooms for clients. She’s also excited to lean more into podcasting and “take it to another level and enjoy it more.” (Her dream guest? Stephen Gambrel. Stephen, if you’re reading this, Davis would love to chat with you!) The series now features a video component, almost bringing you right into the room with Davis — a comfortable room, I’m sure.