Von Nash Interiors · Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Interior design that makes your house look like you.
Von Nash has spent more than sixty years in business and more than four decades reading houses: the light, the flow, the bones and the people who live there. Her clients call her the House Whisperer.
Book a consultation Read her story
“I make your house look like you. I interview my client; we become a team.”Von Nash, to the Coeur d’Alene Press
60+years in
business
A life measured in milestones
From an Austin start-up to a Coeur d’Alene institution
- 1959
Launches her first company, Daisy Distributing, in Austin, Texas.
- 1970s
District Marketing Director for Lady Love Cosmetics in Dallas.
- 1978
Featured in the book Success Secrets; writes and co-writes books of her own.
- 1979
Opens her design practice on S. Austin Avenue in historic Georgetown, Texas.
- 2002
Opens Von Nash Interiors on Northwest Boulevard in Coeur d’Alene.
- 2012
Moves the showroom to W. Kathleen Avenue, its home for more than a decade.
- Today
The landlord doubles the rent, so Von closes the doors and starts making house calls.
Meet the House Whisperer
She walks in, listens, and the house starts to make sense.
Some designers arrive with a look. Von arrives with questions. How do you live? Where does the morning light land? Which pieces carry your family’s history, and which ones just came along for the ride?
Her clients started calling her “the House Whisperer” because of what happens next. She reads the architecture, the sightlines and the way people move through a room, and she sees the home that’s already there, waiting. As she told the Coeur d’Alene Press: “Often I find spaces people didn’t know they had.”
That instinct was sharpened over a career few designers can match: running companies in Texas, leading sales teams, writing books on confidence and communication, and then four decades of homes, from Victorian Georgetown to the lake country of North Idaho.
Services
From the first blueprint to the last wine glass
Von now works the way she always worked best: personally, at your property, by appointment, and early enough to make a difference.
Design consultations
A walk-through with Von: what’s working, what isn’t, and a clear plan you can act on, with or without her.
ConsultationsBlueprint to completion
Furniture, light and flow checked on paper, before walls go up and while changes still cost nothing.
Plan reviewsRemodeling & space planning
Rethinking the rooms you have so the square footage you pay for actually gets used.
RemodelsDownsizing & move-in
Choosing what comes with you, and placing it so the new house feels like home on the first night.
DownsizingWindow treatments & finishing touches
Custom drapery, shutters and shades, then the art, lighting and tabletop layers that make a room personal.
Finishing touchesHeirlooms & antiques
Deciding what to restore, what to reupholster and how to make Grandmother’s sideboard look at home with a modern sofa.
Read the guideThe House Whisperer method
Three convictions behind every room
Flow before furniture
Symmetry, sightlines and the paths people actually walk come first. Get those right and a room feels calm before a single cushion arrives.
The mix, not the match
Luxury lives in the mix: a family antique beside a clean modern line, collected stemware on a simple table. Matching sets rarely tell a story.
Built to last generations
Good furniture deserves a second and third life. Von would rather restore a well-made heirloom than replace it with something that won’t outlive the warranty.
The Design Journal
The why behind the what
Practical, plain-spoken articles on the reasoning behind good design: rug sizes, paint undertones, light bulbs, sightlines and more.
Making a House Look Like You: Designing Around How You Actually Live
“I make your house look like you,” Von told the Coeur d’Alene Press. What that means in practice, and the questions that turn a showroom-perfect room into a personal one.
Rug Sizing: The Most Common Living Room Mistake
A rug that’s too small makes furniture look like it’s floating and the room look smaller. How to size rugs for living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms, with the reasoning.
Hang Curtains High and Wide: The Window Rule That Changes a Room
Curtains hung just above the frame and only as wide as the glass make windows look small and ceilings low. How to place the rod, size the panels and choose the length.
The 60-30-10 Color Rule: Why It Works and When to Bend It
Sixty percent dominant, thirty percent secondary, ten percent accent. The most useful color formula in interior design, the reasoning behind it, and how to adapt it.
How High to Hang Art (and Why 57 Inches Is the Magic Number)
Most art in most homes hangs too high. Here’s the gallery standard, how to hang over sofas and beds, how to plan a gallery wall, and the math to find the nail.
Layered Lighting: Ambient, Task and Accent
One ceiling fixture can’t light a room well. Designers layer three kinds of light, and the result is rooms that are practical by day and beautiful at night.
Kind words
What clients say after a visit with Von
Today my husband and I spent two hours with Von in our recently-purchased home. Von is amazing! She has many great ideas and her enthusiasm is contagious. Von asks pertinent questions and listens to our answers.
We have so enjoyed the time together and how you transformed our home.
Walking into Von’s store is like walking into a magical place, older (antiques) and newer, something for every age and taste…
The showroom years
An eclectic showroom, then a house call
For more than two decades, Coeur d’Alene knew Von by her showroom: the red timber gable on Kathleen Avenue, and inside, furniture, lamps and chandeliers, art, stemware, vintage flatware, vases and, in season, holiday décor. It was a working portfolio of how unlike things look wonderful together.
Then the landlord decided to double the rent. Von did the math, closed the doors and took her eye on the road. The whole story is a fun read.
Today Von comes to you, by appointment only. Call or text (208) 660-0553.