Defining Beauty with Mark D. Sikes

FLOWER: In the opening line of your latest book, Forever Beautiful (Rizzoli, 2024), you begin with “Beauty can change the world. It’s a bold statement, but I believe it.” Tell us about how you discovered beauty growing up in Texas and Central Illinois.

Mark D. Sikes: As a child, I took note of beauty and was highly attuned to the world around me. I found green grass and blue skies mesmerizing and thought butterflies were just remark- able; bees and hummingbirds were fascinating to me as well. I studied the colors of birds’ feathers and the colors of the flowers in my grandmother’s cutting garden. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but I saw deeper into these things—beyond just their existence. I also remember being captivated by the Estée Lauder magazine campaigns that Victor Skrebneski photographed with model Karen Graham—her beautiful gowns, the rooms, the gardens. I was a dreamer and a creative. My grandmother always said to me, “I know you’re going to do something.” I spoke a little differently and articulated things distinctively, and she felt my passion and creativity were unique.

A Flower-Filled House

The beauty of nature inspired the interiors of this newly built house in Mission Hills, Kansas, but, “It came in the form of an unlikely source: a collection of centuries-old Imari porcelain,” says designer Mark D. Sikes. The ceramics, embellished with flowers, birds, fish, and mythological creatures, drove his color choices throughout the house. This is just one of the properties featured in Mark’s third book, Forever Beautiful (Rizzoli 2024).

Click any image to enlarge.

Did you even know that interior design was a career back then?

No, I didn’t! I came to interior design through fashion. I worked at Banana Republic when it was an emerging American classic brand, which was in line with my personal aesthetic. There I cultivated my creative skills while working in visual merchan- dising, marketing, and styling. What I did in those roles was very similar to designing a home—you’re looking at light and dark, soft and hard, while balancing colors, prints, and solids. I was always drawn to interiors, and I was an encyclopedia when it came to iconic interiors of the past. The other thing I learned at BR was the operational side of creativity—the details behind the beauty and how to execute it working with teams of people. I also learned storytelling, which applies to what I am doing today. Every house has its own story.

So you took what you learned at Banana Republic to create your own brand of beauty, and now you’re debuting your third book on the topic. Has your definition of what’s beautiful changed over the years?

I think the things I like today are no different than they were years ago, but of course my aesthetic has evolved and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve also been exposed to much more, especially through travel. All that exposure, though, has not fundamentally changed what I think is beautiful like the color blue and blue-and-white stripes, for example. The essence of who my firm is remains the same since the first book, Beautiful. We’ve been able to share a story and point of view. It’s so natural and authentic to talk about the things you truly love.

Your definition of beauty is the same, but how is Forever Beautiful different from the first two books?

This book really hones in on the power of nature in shaping the interiors of a home and how it inspires each of the 12 chapters in this book, which is laid out by the months of the year. The homes capture our range, but each tells a story that reflects its location. It’s a celebration of nature.

How do flowers inform your work?

I love flowers and floral patterns, and I’m drawn to the prints from Colefax & Fowler in particular—ones we’ve been looking at forever but perhaps take a bit for granted. Floral prints inform the palette of a room, for sure, but the type of fabric can also add a particular atmosphere. If it’s a chintz, it can read more British; linen more casual; silk more formal. Florals symbolize life, growth, and natural beauty. Plus, they make people happy, and we need that feeling more than ever!

Talk about the importance of details in your work, which you illustrate in the “photo album” approach at the end of each chapter.

I always tell my team that a room needs to unfold over time. Our job is to make the whole picture very serene and beautiful and to tell a story about the person who lives there. As you spend more time in the home, you will start to see more details reveal themselves—but you shouldn’t notice them all right away. You first want to take in the overall atmosphere. We curate every last detail from the way we apply fabric and trim to a piece of furniture to our mix of old and new and patterns and prints. I believe the most magical detail is light, and it’s different in every home—how light enters a room in the morning and how it ends the day. And light is what highlights those other details, of course.

Anything you’ve found beautiful in the last few years that perhaps surprised you?

Ever since the height of Covid, I’ve really appreciated the beauty of walks and taking time to get out in nature. We’ve become so programmed to look down at our phones, but there is so much magic when we look up. You see things a little bit differently. Also, I went to Africa four years ago, and it was an eye-opening experience for me—the realization about the circle of life and how animals respond to each other and need each other. We are not completely in control; we are just part of it all. That mindset brings peace and serenity. It’s a more spiritual way of thinking, but that’s what I am finding beautiful these days.

What can we expect from you going forward when it comes to books?

Forever Beautiful is the end of the “beautiful” trilogy, and we are offering a limited edition gift-boxed set of all three books. I’m not sure the exact direction going forward, but I’ll move into a different realm. I think my next book will be less about big projects and more about visual themes and where I am creatively. I’ll continue showing our work in books because I like playing a part in how it’s presented—picking the images, the font, and the story, which is itself a beautiful thing!