Thom Filicia Gets Redressed

If you’re still mourning last month’s demise of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, buck up. Nearly all of the Fab Five have scored their own series, including interior designer Thom Filicia, who’s back with another season of Dress My Nest. Thom remodels rooms using his guests’ wardrobe as his inspiration. Since I can never pass up an opportunity for free decorating tips or to rile through my closet, I rang up Thom to find out who made his “nice” list and is getting a makeover in season two!

What lucky couple is being featured tonight?

This young couple left their home in LA and moved into a loft. They came from a place with a living room, dining room, kitchen and bedroom. Now they have they one big space with a bedroom area off to the side and no storage, and they really don’t know how to translate it, so I helped them out.

Do you have any crazy cases coming up?

They all have their kind of crazy obstacles. There’s one coming up where the girl just finished graduate school and her space was beyond a mess. One of her favorite things  in her place was a shopping cart, and I had to figure out how to incorporate it in the design. That was probably the one that was the most abstract. I had to come up with a really creative solution.

What item of your clothing have you used to inspire a design?

I have this really great, woven guitar strap belt. I designed a sofa for my living room and a did a guitar strap band around the leaf of it, which looks really great. But I don’t just use fashion. I take inspiration from everything around me. I’m actually doing a project right now where I got inspiration from really beautiful hand-stitched luggage.

I’m interior-designed challenged. What’s the most important rule I should know?

Personalizing your space is the most important thing. It’s not just about making it pretty. You room and home should speak to who you are. The easiest and quickest thing that can change a room is paint. Look in your closet and see what you’re comfortable wearing. Then pick paint off the colors you love. It’s inexpensive, and if you don’t like it, paint over it. I always tell people paint one wall until you get the color you like.

The holidays are upon us. Any decorating tips?

I’ve got these big chunks of recycled stained glass and I’m mixing them with votive and candles holders that I have all year round. I added this mirror piece from my basement. All together it’s this, icy, mirrored, silvery look with whitewashed organic elements, and I’m calling it “Holiday on the Rocks.” My inspiration for the season is to use something you love that’s already in your house.

Do you ever connect with the rest of Queer Eye’s Fab Five?

I recently had dinner with the gang. Everyone’s doing really well and working on different projects. Queer Eye was a great run. I feel we made twice as many episodes as Gilligan’s Island so I’m sure we’ll be on for many more years in syndication.

Dress My Nests airs Wednesdays at 11 p.m. on Style.