Design Changemakers 2021: How Holly Hickey Moore Injects Vibrancy into the Dallas Design Scene

Who: Holly Hickey Moore, interior designer and co-founder of SHIFT
Nominated by: Mili Suleman, founder of KUFRI and co-founder of SHIFT
Where to follow her: Instagram

Why Moore is part of the Class of 2021: “Holly is a native Texan but practiced in Vermont for several years, and then moved to Dallas [a] few years back to set roots for her family and establish her business. She has all the values a great designer ought to have — listening, creativity, openness to learning about new brands for her clients, making a home truly comfortable rather than making it look good for an Instagram photo, and empowering those around her. She inspires me to keep pushing forward. Holly and I actually founded SHIFT together. It’s our joint baby! We wanted to create a group strictly for designers, architects, and to-the-trade in Dallas where we could come together once a month and have engaging discussions and be a place people could talk about their challenges while getting answers and feedback from a live group. Our goal is to create honest dialogue, true community, and fearless design.” —Mili Suleman, founder of KUFRI and co-founder of SHIFT

Holly Hickey Moore has been creating for as long as she can remember. Growing up, she worked on a variety of projects with her parents, from making stop-motion videos with her father to picking out fabric that her mother would then sew into costumes for her talent shows. She was consistently encouraged to think imaginatively, and the interior designer doesn’t appear to be slowing down. 

Moore first built her interior design company in Vermont, where she and her husband lived for five years, and did it again when they returned to her home state of Texas. Her style sits at the intersection of spirited and sophisticated — upscale lines meet heavy doses of color and playful touches, such as blue plaid walls or a mirrored tile backsplash. More recently, she’s dipped her toes into offering products; her series of watercolor-painted beetles was first transformed into fabric for a set of formal maxi skirts last year and is now a gift wrap collection that launched in November. “Five years from now, I see myself having a small boutique store with my design studio in the back, but it’s really the world of Holly Hickey Moore,” she says. “Everything in the store is Holly Hickey Moore.” 

She is also the co-founder of SHIFT (along with her nominator, Mili Suleman), which fosters monthly discussions around the Dallas design scene. The program chose to pause this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Moore looks forward to revamping it for 2021. “It’s called SHIFT because I feel like that’s what we’re always doing; we’re always shifting. We shifted a lot in 2020; we’re going to shift even more in 2021 I think,” she says. “It’s about true community camaraderie, fearless design, and it’s getting people in the design industry together.”

We spoke with the interior designer about where she finds inspiration, the details that make her feel at home, and her plans for that boutique store. 

Apartment Therapy: What were your design inspirations growing up? What is your inspiration now? 

Holly Hickey Moore: I didn’t travel much as a kid. We were middle class, so we didn’t get to go to a lot of different places. But the places that we did go were, like, New Mexico. So I love the influence of a Southwestern aesthetic. My parents were my main inspiration, just through letting me be creative with them, and they were always encouraging me to make things, draw things, and enter art contests. I was always creative as a kid. 

My inspiration now, definitely is travel — probably because I didn’t get to travel when I was little. My husband is actually from New Zealand, so we’ve gone there twice now. I would say that’s definitely a very inspiring place to be. And then some other places I’ve traveled to — we’ve been to Scandinavia, Mexico is really inspiring for me just because I’m a lover of color. New Mexico is still very inspiring to me; we go back there quite a bit. And then I would say just living in New England has even inspired me. 

AT: What’s your favorite project you worked on in 2020, and why?

HHM: My favorite project this year has been my gift wrap collection, for sure. It’s been the most inspiring because I don’t have a client to shape around.

AT: What three words would you use to describe your work or style?

HHM: I would say it is playful, it’s sophisticated, and it’s approachable. I’m an approachable person. I’m not someone who’s intimidating, and I think that’s what clients like about me.

AT: Is there a specific piece or design of yours that you think is particularly indicative of who you are or what you’re trying to do?

HHM: Something that I did for a local charity — it’s called Dwell with Dignity, and every year they have a fundraiser called Thrift Studio here in Dallas. They collect up to eight designers to create these vignettes. Once they’ve been created, then they have a day where people come in and shop. All the proceeds go back to Dwell with Dignity. They completely furnish and outfit homes for people who need them. 

I created a space that had a boutique hotel feel to it. Almost everything in that space was my brain child. So, you know Iris Apfel? I designed a neon sign and had it made of her, and her glasses are the neon part of the sign. And that was the very first thing that sold that night. People ran to it and two people were fighting over it actually, which was pretty funny. I painted a huge French armoire kind of post-modern looking. It was super colorful. I made tile pedestals with my dad. We made them and the girl from Sea of Shoes actually has them now — she’s a big social media influencer. And I painted some skirted tables. I designed a light fixture and was able to collaborate with a local lighting person to make this light fixture for me. So everything in that space was actually created and designed by me.   

AT: What makes you feel at home in your own space?

HHM: Definitely lots of lamplights. I’m sensitive to the fact that there’s many, many terribly lit spaces, where they’re underlit or overlit. So in my own house, I love to have lots of lamps and layers of warm light. 

I’m also a collector, as we all are, so I have a lot of pieces that I enjoy looking at and being surrounded by that I’ve picked up in my travels, or at an estate sale, or it has been handed down to me through my family. I like lots of beautiful artwork surrounding me in my home. A lot of it is actually done by my friends, or it’s done by me, or it’s been picked up in my travels. Every time I travel somewhere, I like to grab a piece of art. It doesn’t have to be huge, just something that reminds me of where I’ve been.  

And I recently have gotten into plants. So I like to have plants in my house everywhere. For example, I bought a big plumeria tree at an estate sale recently. 

AT: How do you think the past year will impact the design world moving forward?

HHM: People are definitely focused more on their interiors and being in their homes. Since we’re all in our homes a lot more, I think people are getting sick of looking at the empty wall or the way that their kitchen doesn’t function. A lot of people have been converting their homes into home offices and gyms, or spaces that can be used in multifunctional ways. And I think because of that impact, a lot of this stuff is going to stick. I don’t think it’s going to go away necessarily. 

I think the ways that we design spaces and we think of how our homes are going to function now and in the future are going to be what ways can the home office be more fitting with Zoom calls, for example. So what’s my background going to look like in my home office? I think home gyms are going to take off a lot more going forward, and definitely outdoor living spaces are going to take off. I think COVID has shaped the way that we use our homes. We’re going to be a lot more sensitive to how they function as well as how they look. 

AT: How has 2020 changed your perspective on or approach to your work?

HHM: I think it’s just some of my work is more virtual, for sure. A lot of interviews, like new project interviews, I’ve been having through Zoom more than in-person. I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing. I like being with people and meeting people. I think there’s an energy that you don’t feel whenever you’re just meeting virtually. It still feels far away. I’ve spent a lot more time in my studio, and so doing more designs. This year has been a lot more about being in the studio anyway. I don’t think it’s just because of COVID; it’s regrouping. This year, it’s been a lot of regrouping and figuring out what the next five years are going to look like for me. I think that’s where I am right now. 

AT: Any big plans for 2021 or beyond you can share with us?

HHM: I’m definitely feeling the pull to have a boutique store somewhere in Dallas, and it’s more artful and it’s more of an experience than just going into a shop or another designer’s studio. The person that I keep thinking about for influence is [George Venson of] Voutsa and what he’s been doing with his stores and just making it more of an experience, because I don’t think there’s any stores like that in Dallas, or many places. It’s integrating fashion and interiors into one, and getting my skirts out there more and seeing where that will take me. I want to explore the world of product, but also definitely keep my design projects, and even maybe take on some boutique hotels, hospitality projects, and restaurants and things like that that I can be a little more creative with. 

Interview has been edited and condensed.