Q: How did a country music star end up with major furniture and accessory collections?
A: Good question! It all started with writing the first cookbook, which led to two more cookbooks and a TV show on Food Network. I love every aspect of doing my show, from picking out the furniture and rugs to the home accessories, pots and pans, tableware, you name it. It made sense that this was the next step for me.
Q: What is it about the design of the Imax collection that makes it “Trisha Yearwood?”
A: It’s really simple. I like what I like. I send photos of things that I love — colors I like, textures I love — and IMAX works to create things that are uniquely Trisha. The good news is I have a lot of “sides”— If I had a beach house, a farmhouse and a penthouse, I would decorate them all differently. IMAX allows me to explore all those sides of myself. It’s fun!
Q: What are your three favorite accessories in the collection?
A: We have all kinds of accessories, from small tables and lamps to bowls, baskets, clocks, art pieces, you name it. It’s hard to pick three favorites, but I am most drawn to the ginkgo pieces because my Mom loved ginkgo trees. I wanted to find a way to honor her in the collection. I also love the XOXO iron art piece for obvious reasons! And I love the cow print fabric items because they say “cowboy,” but the fabric makes them feel contemporary to me.
Q: What’s your favorite lamp?
A: I particularly like the beachy feel of our green glass lamp with rope accents. It also has XOXO inside the shade.
Q: Did you envision the IMAX pieces being used with your furniture collections for Klaussner?
A: The whole idea for me is that the furniture collections work with the IMAX home accessories and the Natco rug line to complete the look of a room. Because all of these lines incorporate my style, they work together.
Q: Do you use the IMAX accessories in your own home?
A: Yes, and you’ll see them on my cooking show as well, which is shot in my home in Nashville. For the show, I can change a lamp or a fixture on the wall and create an entirely different look in the room. Home accessories are the final touches in any room that say “I live here."
Q: When you return to your home after being on the road, do you feel a greater sense of contentment because of the way it looks and feels with your furniture and accessories around you?
A: Yes. I have always felt like my home is my sanctuary. From having an inviting bed to crawl into when I get home and a comfortable and beautiful throw pillow on my couch, to the rug under my dining room table, if it’s right, it brings a sense of calm and contentment to my spirit. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true! I always say that if my kitchen is clean before I go to bed at night, I sleep better. It’s the same with home furnishings. If your home feels good to you, you feel good.
Q: What is the most important thing you’ve learned about home decorating as a result of your collaboration with IMAX?
A: That design is a really personal thing. It’s all about how a piece of furniture, a light fixture or a rug makes you feel, and nobody can sell you something that doesn’t make you feel good when you look at it. It’s like a painting. For it to hang in my home, I have to see something in it that speaks to me. You may come to visit me and the painting may speak to you or it may not, but as long as I love it, that’s what matters.
Q: How are today’s country Millennials different from their mothers’ generation in terms of style, taste, etc. in home décor?
A: I think one of the biggest ways that today’s younger buyer is different than our parents is that their furniture has to be more transitional. My Mom and Dad built a house, furnished it, and never moved. Not for 40 years. They didn’t ever redecorate or get rid of anything. The couch I grew up on had belonged to my grandmother and it got passed down, as did a lot of furniture. I think the newer buyers move more. They don’t tend to stay in one place forever, and their tastes change. That’s what I love about the collections I’m involved with. They transition into different places, and they’re super affordable.
