looks the same. My work gets copied all the time. And I’ m, like, where’ s your own idea? If you go shop, and you find unusual things to put in a room, that room isn’ t going to look like anybody else’ s. I always say people are going to have a very hard time copying a room I do. They might copy the color or whatever, but they’ re not going to be able to find the furniture. They’ ll find a sofa and the upholstered chair and maybe the fabric, but they’ re not going to find what I call the personality things.”
Everyone evolves, and Bunny is no exception when it comes to her work.“ When I first started out, it was very traditional, and now we’ re doing much more contemporary work. I’ ve gotten interested in contemporary art. I love mid-century furniture. It doesn’ t mean I don’ t love what I loved before. What I really love doing is mixing it all together. I don’ t like a period of anything, and I love an antique cabinet that has a modern painting over it. My thing right now is how do I blend things? It’ s mixing objects and textures to give something a unique personality.”
What is she reading these days?“ I’ m reading this wonderful book called Mona’ s Eyes. It’ s the story of a grandfather who’ s taking his granddaughter who is maybe going blind to look at art in France. They live in Paris. He’ s teaching her how to look at the paintings, and she’ s learning history. So he talks about who painted it, how it was painted, and there are these stories of life in it. I love books like that. I don’ t really look at a lot of garden design books anymore because I’ ve got my own garden, and I’ ve got to make it fit my spot. Before, I devoured Vita Sackville-West and Louise Beebe Wilder and all the garden writers. I was talking to my friend Page Dickey, and I thought, I really want to start growing dianthus, so I’ ll go find a small book on how to grow dianthus. And I do read about native plants and invasives and more informative books rather than actual design.”
How did she find her profession?“ I was very lucky to grow up in Charlottesville, Virginia. We grew up in the country, and
on this road, Garth Road, were a lot of family members. In those days, everybody entertained. Albemarle County was dry. There were really no restaurants or bars, so people thought nothing of entertaining. I’ d go to my Great Aunt Bertha’ s for lunch on Sundays with the family. I’ ve always loved homes. My mother loved her home. She loved to cook. She was kind of a frustrated decorator, and I’ d go with her to the curtain lady. Southern women really owned their homes. They also cared about how they looked. My mother said you never go outside without some earrings and lipstick on. It was just in you. Then when I was a teenager, I went with my parents to see The Greenbrier Resort, which Dorothy Draper, this famous American decorator, had just done. Most of my family’ s taste was pretty conservative. My parents had some friends who had invested in it, so we went to see it. Emerald green walls, white-plaster palm trees. It was wild. That’ s when I really learned what an interior designer did. I was always artistic, and I fell in love with that. I didn’ t want to go to a
HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE
Pittsfield, MA baby animals
APRIL 18
THROUGH
MAY 10
20 historic buildings • farm animals • Shaker artifacts • art exhibitions • gardens • hiking trails • cafe • shopping
Tickets & Info: HancockShakerVillage. org | 413.443.0188
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28 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Spring 2026