August 17, 2015 By Lisa Cregan House Beautiful
Though he’s been designing interiors for nearly two decades — a few of which have graced the pages of this magazine — Ken Fulk appeared to burst onto the scene recently thanks to a perfect storm of It-list projects, from the private club (The Battery, San Francisco) to the wedding of the decade (for tech mogul Sean Parker, in a redwood forest), plus forthcoming restaurants and a studio for his team in New York City. Suddenly, everyone was atwitter about the man whose San Francisco studio — replete with floral department — is dubbed “the magic factory.” The folks at Pottery Barn pricked up their ears too, enlisting Fulk for the company’s first-ever designer collection, which debuts in late July.
For his line, the Virginia native landed on wanderlust as a touchstone. “I’m constantly marveling at the world,” he says. “Not just traveling to exotic places, but also traveling back in time, trying to re-create that child-like sense of awe we lose as adults.”
For Fulk, awe includes “animalia,” hence the cheeky doggy barware — a love note to his three golden retrievers — and a giraffe-print rug with a distressed hide-like texture that he says gives a room instant interest. And there’s awe in the mix of items cherry-picked from diverse places and eras. “A Federal-style mirror next to a Tramp Art–inspired mirror with a Danish modern sofa feels good,” he says. “That tension is where the magic happens.” Indeed, the sofa he created is comfy; it was designed to be extra-deep. “The designs are about modern life with a historical twist. And it’s meant to have a sense of humor. I want you to smile! That’s what it’s all about.”
This story originally appeared in the July/August 2015 issue of House Beautiful.