Today we’d like to introduce you to Hillary Schwartz.
Hi Hillary, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My interest in interior design started when I was a little girl, constantly rearranging and redecorating my bedroom simply because I loved it. That instinct eventually grew into a 27-year career in the luxury interior design industry.
I began my career working in high-end showrooms in sales and management, where I developed a deep understanding of furniture, materials, client service, and the many details required to bring a space together. Over the years, I had the opportunity to work on prestigious residential and hospitality projects from Hollywood to the Hamptons.
A major turning point came when I worked for Kelly Wearstler. It felt like stepping into a kaleidoscope—a world where fashion, art, architecture, and interiors collided in ways I had never imagined. That experience expanded my creative vision and gave me the confidence to turn a lifelong passion into a business of my own.
Today, I am the owner and lead designer of Hampden Lane Interiors in Bethesda, Maryland. I founded the firm with the belief that thoughtful, beautiful design should not be reserved only for the ultra-wealthy. I love helping clients at different stages and with different budgets create homes that feel personal, elevated, and entirely their own.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was not a smooth road. I started Hampden Lane Interiors in 2019 and spent that first year carefully building the foundation of the business—creating systems, organizing materials and files, developing vendor relationships, and networking within the community. After years in the design industry, I finally felt ready to bring everything I had learned together and create something of my own.
Then, in March 2020, the world stopped. Almost overnight, the business I had worked so hard and waited so long to build came to a halt. It was frightening to watch that dream begin to slip away, but I also knew that so many people were facing far greater losses—illness, unemployment, and unimaginable uncertainty.
As people spent more time at home, they began looking at their surroundings differently. By August 2020, my phone suddenly started ringing with calls from people who had heard about me through friends and neighbors. I had to make a choice: remain paralyzed by fear or find a new way to work.
I chose to move forward. I masked up, respected each client’s comfort level, and completely rethought how I operated. I learned to conduct meetings over Zoom, which was entirely foreign to me, and created a virtual design library by having showroom representatives walk me through collections over FaceTime. Every part of the process required flexibility, patience, and creativity.
That period taught me how to pivot when the original plan is no longer possible. What initially felt like the end of my business ultimately forced me to become more resourceful, adaptable, and confident—and those lessons continue to shape how I run my firm today.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My design philosophy begins with the belief that a home should feel deeply personal. It should reflect the people who live there—their stories, their travels, the things they love, and the way they want to feel when they walk through the door.
Throughout my career, people have told me that I needed to establish a signature “look.” I have always disagreed. I do not want every project to look like me; I want it to look like the client. My role is to listen closely, understand what matters to them, and bring it together in a way that feels beautiful, thoughtful, and completely their own.
I find inspiration in art, antiques, textiles, travel, and objects with history, but the most important inspiration always comes from the people I am designing for.
At Hampden Lane Interiors, I guide each project from the first idea through the final installation. My goal is not simply to create a pretty room, but to create a home with warmth, soul, and a clear point of view. The lighting, artwork, fabrics, wallpaper, and meaningful finishing touches are what make a space feel collected, lived in, and loved.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
One important part of my story is that I am also a mother of three boys. Raising a family has shaped the way I think about design because I understand that a home cannot simply be beautiful—it has to support real life. It has to function for busy mornings, family dinners, entertaining, pets, children, and all of the everyday moments in between.
I also love to cook, so I understand how important it is for a kitchen to work well, not just photograph well. Storage, lighting, flow, counter space, and the way people actually move through the room all matter.
Outside of work, I am inspired by travel, art, antiques, architecture, and discovering places and objects with a story. At the end of the day, I believe good design is not about perfection. It is about creating a home that feels beautiful, meaningful, comfortable, and true to the people who live there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hampdenlaneinteriors.com
