MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW

Lori Morris

Lori Morris is a Canadian interior designer and the founder of Lori Morris Design, a Toronto-based studio internationally recognized for its bold and highly expressive luxury interiors. Renowned for her “no rules” approach to design, Morris creates richly layered residential and commercial spaces defined by glamour, craftsmanship, and an avant-garde sensibility.

Her work is distinguished by dramatic compositions, bespoke detailing, and a fearless use of texture, material, and form, resulting in interiors that feel both opulent and deeply personal. Supported by an in-house team of designers, decorators, and project managers, Lori Morris Design delivers immersive spaces tailored to each client’s lifestyle while maintaining an exceptional level of refinement and artistry.

Lori Morris

“Be fearless in terms of your design, be fearless in terms of your creativity, but be structured in terms of the business.”

INTERVIEW

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Do you think there has been a defining moment in your career?

I think there have been many defining moments in my career. I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years, so you can’t exactly pinpoint one element. I would say that there have been many milestones or pivotal points throughout my career that have helped shape who we are today. Whether it be getting to a certain level of house, level of client, or size of project that you’re designing, or just getting your reputation and your brand globally recognized.

But I think mostly it could be the recognition and understanding that I’ve always stayed true to our design, and I’ve always stayed true to our originality, and I’ve always stayed true to being extremely creative and taking an artistic, no-rules approach to what it is that I do. I think the commitment to that philosophy has made my brand very strong and has allowed people to understand that there’s a very large bandwidth to which Lori Morris Design can work.

Could you tell us how your journey into interior design started?

I’ve always been a creative person. I’ve always looked through the lens of life from a very creative approach, but I didn’t actually know what that was when I was young because it just seemed very normal to me. Whether it be loving to doodle, redecorate my room with my mother, or be interested in vintage things and things that maybe other people weren’t interested in, I took that for granted, that everybody would be interested in it too, because this is how my brain worked. As I traveled through school and was taking all kinds of different classes that had nothing to do with the artistic, creative flair that was in my DNA, finally, after graduating from university, I realized I wanted to create a career.

I started in the industry when I was very young, and I looked very young. I was very naive, and I had no business experience, and I didn’t understand business, or the interior design industry, or anything for that matter. At that time, there was no HGTV or social media, and the interior design movement and industry were very small and very specialized, so getting into it as a woman over 40 years ago was something pioneer-oriented, and I guess I was very fearless, and I didn’t really realize how fearless I was.

I think the best thing was that I was so young and so naïve. I think if I would have known what I know now, maybe I wouldn’t have done it because I would have been scared. But having no fear at that time is what got me to where I went, and I literally just went through the whole process of screaming and crying and being upset and trying to get through milestones and every hurdle that an entrepreneur and business person goes through. My journey was no different than anybody else’s. It was extremely hard, extremely challenging, but then at every 10-year mark in my career, I got to a different milestone that sent me to another place and got me to another level. And here we are.

How do you start your interior design projects? Do you usually start with a certain element of design or a keyword? And how do they develop?

We meet the client first, and usually the client has a vision of what they want their home or their commercial space to look like. That is the most important thing, to find out exactly what your client wants because, in essence, it’s their project that you are going to facilitate.

On occasion, a client may not know what they want, then you help them get there by showing them all kinds of things and eliminating options. Once you establish what the client wants and how they live in the functionality of the space, then we just go to town, and we’re experts in that.

What do you think is the key to a successful interior design? And in your business in general?

The most important thing is that you have to listen to your clients. I mean, in the end, it’s their house, and they’re living there with their family in the manner of the lifestyle that they choose to live, and you have to recognize all of those details because that in itself is what you’re designing.

Some people may get caught up in what they may want it to look like or feel like, or may have a different agenda, but for us, we’ve always taken the approach that it’s your house. How many kids do you have? How do you live? What’s the functionality?

What is the endgame that you want to achieve there? And we’ll work backwards and go from there. I think that is extremely important.

How would you define your signature style? Do you have “a mantra” that encapsulates your taste in design?

No rules, and anything you can dream up that you can build and design. 

Could you tell us about one of the favorite projects that you worked on?

There are too many favorite projects, and I wouldn’t single them out because every project has an element, a room, a style, a piece of the project that is my favorite, so if you come see my house, it’s a piece of everybody’s project, my favorite parts of everybody’s house.

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If you could pick one interior design tip that is important to you, what would it be?

One tip from many would be proportion. It is very, very, very important in an overall finished space to capture proportion properly. 

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Finally, what are your upcoming projects? Anything you’d like to share or add to the interview?

Wait and see there is lots coming.

What would be your advice to beginner interior designers?

Just understanding what it is that you are doing — don’t pretend you know something that you don’t. Ask for help, ask for advice. Always be honest, always be fair.

I’m an extremely honest, fair person, and I think I’ve always run my company this way, which I’m sure has guided and helped me grow.

Be fearless in terms of your design, be fearless in terms of your creativity, but be structured in terms of the business. If you have that combination together and you’re prepared to work extremely hard, then it will work out.

What was one of the hardest learned lessons in your journey?

Managing your clients’ expectations is one of the hardest things because there are a lot of things that you may take for granted that your clients understand, because they’re so intelligent, because they’re so successful, because they’re so worldly. You assume that they understand the process of interior design, but in essence, there are a lot of things behind the scenes that the client definitely doesn’t know, because why should they? It’s not what they do.

What I’ve learned the most over all these years is managing the client’s expectations right from the get-go, in terms of budget, timing, milestones, what’s expected, understanding the functionality of certain pieces, and how to take care of things. There’s a manual that’s required, but after all these years, I’d like to think that I know well over 90% of what to anticipate.

Now we’re very educated, very confident, and very experienced in explaining this to clients so that their expectations are managed. When you manage a client’s expectations right from the get-go, it allows for success for both parties.

Thank you so much Lori, for this lovely interview!

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