Like many designers, Emily Ruddo straddles two worlds—born to one, a resident of another, she is pulled between “the pink sunsets of L.A. and the green grassy fields back in Maryland.” Ruddo credits the aesthetic tension of blending classic design elements with polished patterns for her signature style—“a fresh take on tradition.”
This collision of “East Coast elegance and California’s vibrant mix of color” has made Emily Ruddo Design a coveted option for clients all across Los Angeles, where the face of the practice applies a tastemaker’s touch to the chicest of punched-up spaces spanning from Laguna Beach to Brentwood, West Hollywood to Sherman Oaks. And, in Hancock Park, a project particularly akin to her style.
“I love to incorporate vintage pieces in a design to create timeless style that feels as if it was collected over time,” Ruddo says. “Even if the item is new, I often like to model it after antiques. Light and bright fabrics with new and vintage pieces mixed together and then layered in with traditional elements is my design ethos.”
The E-Design arm of her practice allows Ruddo to work in multiple aesthetic spheres with a variety of clients, but being a Southern California-based designer, she relies on at least one repeat element in these parts: durability. “The strong sun and active lifestyle require durable fabrics and furnishings,” says Ruddo. Interestingly, she shares,
“Most of my clients have one parent who is from the East Coast and one from either California or somewhere in the West, so finding the balance between the West Coast casual style and the more traditional nature of the East Coast style is something I am confronted with consistently.”
Describing her “dream project” as one “with an unlimited budget” that includes interiors, exteriors as well as the garden,” Ruddo explores this trifecta through her firm, which in addition to offering Interior Design and E-Design services, is prolific in event styling.
“I have always loved to entertain and was raised in a family where traditions were honored, so it’s just a way of life for me,” says Ruddo, who parlayed styling flowers for a client’s home into flower arranging for parties and events. Plus, she confesses, “I have a bit of an obsession with tabletop items and flowers, so creating colorful and layered tablescapes is a passion of mine.
Hunting down unique items like a special fabric for the tablecloth is a lot of fun. Quietly creating flower arrangements and trying out new ways of blending different types together is so relaxing for me. It doesn’t feel like work at all.”
To love what one does is a particular treat when one is, in fact, doing it all—or a lot of a little bit of everything. Ruddo is dedicating the remainder of this year to finishing a project already a few years in progress.
She has plans to complete a second-story renovation of a family home and is preparing for another flourishing entertaining season. But like the worlds and work she toggles, Ruddo finds extravagance in a much simpler space. “Just wandering around a new city without a schedule or plan is a wonderful luxury,” she says.