January 16, 2016

Curate & Display: Tiffany Grant-Riley

Inspiration special: we talk to creatives based all around the world about life, creative happenings and ask where do good ideas come from?

Curate & Display is a blog created by our friend and interior stylist Tiffany. On her blog she features minimal, Scandinavian style with a focus on independent design at its heart. Tiffany believes we should buy less, but at a much better quality and we love her for that! She’s a perfect person to discuss how to choose interior objects that will retain timeless value as years pass by, and how to create home and suits your and your family’s daily routine.

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What makes a house home?

I think the idea of home is actually a feeling more than a space, it’s about having the people you love around you. In fact, my husband recently asked me if I felt I really belonged anywhere, and I said (as cheesy as it sounds) that I belonged wherever he and our family are. However, if you’re talking in relation to interiors, then your home should speak volumes about you and the way you live, be it the wall full of novels you’ve read, a collection of curated pieces from your travels or grandma’s vintage travelling trunk that is now a TV table. It’s where you go to unwind, be yourself and sometimes just shut the world out.

What is your relationship to objects?

Completely emotional. I need to fall in love with it. There are pieces of furniture which aren’t design showstoppers but have personal meaning, like the desk in my workspace that I revamped which used to belong to my sister, or the wooden bedframe I got for my 21st birthday in my second year of university which our guests sleep on when they come to stay.

I think I’m more minimalist (or essentialist even) than I used to be, I’ve learned over the years to edit the things we have in our home, appreciate good, well made design-from the story behind the designer/maker, to the materials and production methods. If I have a need for it and there’s space for it to breathe, then I’ll make it mine!

How much your home interior should follow your routine?

Absolutely it should. Make life a little easier for yourself. At a base level, your home should be organized or planned out in a way that it goes with the flow of your daily routine-making sure you have all the coffee paraphernalia within reach in the kitchen, or maybe having the bike wall-mounted in the hallway so you don’t have to wrestle it past a mountain of shoes on your way out the door. We both work from home and have two young children so have workspaces upstairs for quiet and plenty of space and storage downstairs in our living room for the children to play and we can tidy it all away easily at the end of each day. It might be a mundane task but it makes life so much easier if before you dive into a home project, you look at how you use each space and what you need to bring to it to make it work for you.

What is the first interior you’ve styled? What feelings do you get when you look back at it?

Gosh, I’m not sure I remember now! If I go way back then it would’ve been a wedding venue in Greenwich (I used to be a wedding planner). I recently styled a series of shots for a new publication which comes out in September and I’m already looking back and wishing I’d tried X,Y,Z instead. Every project is a learning curve, you pick up new skills and ideas from each shoot you do, so of course I’d pick it apart and imagine how differently I’d do it now. That’s what I love about styling at home for Curate & Display - the environment is a lot less pressured than being on location and there’s room to experiment and play.

What is your relationship to work, your career?

My work always has and probably to some extent always will define who I am. Working freelance as I do from home, I carry it around with me well after I’ve shut the lid on the laptop and closed my office door but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’ve taken the longest route to finding my way into interiors but I know that after a few false starts (or perhaps intended) I’m where I was supposed to end up. I love the sense of creative freedom that styling can give, even working to a tight brief is still a challenge to rise to. Being first in line to preview the latest designs, meet and become great friends with some incredible designers and be lucky enough to enjoy their work in my home comes as a huge perk too. The interiors community is a diverse one and I love being part of that.

In partnership with Waffle Designs.

@gabby_bourne

Hi Gabrielle! Thank you for speaking with us today! Congratulations on your role in ‘Air’ we are looking forward to hearing all about the film and your role as Tiffany. But first of all please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about you?

Thank you for having me! My friends and family call me Gabby. I grew up in Belgium, London, New Jersey, and Connecticut - a random collection of places I know. I was in Europe for 10 years and the US for 8. When I was 18 I moved to Los Angeles for college and made a home here. My dad grew up in Southern California and all his family is here, so it has always been the place I wanted to end up. I met my husband in college at USC - I was a BFA acting major and he played volleyball, and has since become a team USA beach volleyball Olympian, We now have a 3 year old daughter together. I’m currently working on balancing all of it - being a mom, acting, writing, DIY renovating our home. It’s a lot - but I’m feeling more fulfilled than ever before.

1. Again congratulations on your role in ‘Air’. Please can you give us a brief synopsis of the film and your role as Tiffany?

The movie tells the story of Nike in the 80s and how the Air Jordan line came to be. I play Tiffany, a secretary in the Nike office. There is a lot on the line for the company as they fight as a whole to keep their basketball division in tact. At the center, Sonny Vaccaro is desperately trying to find a way to make a deal with Michael Jordan. Tiffany’s desk is right outside of Sonny’s office, and she is often at the brunt of him not having a secretary. Taking his calls, messages, him asking favors of her etc.

2. What drew you to the role of Tiffany? Do you relate to her at all?

I love the role, but even more than that I was drawn to the opportunity to work opposite such an incredible cast and with Ben Affleck as a director. Working with Jason Bateman is definitely a career highlight. What more could you want as an actor!

3. ‘Air’ has an impressive cast! How did you find working alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck?

It was such an amazing experience. I was in awe watching Matt work. He just has something so special, and I got to watch him make real magic. I had a great time working with Ben. He’s such an actor’s director so that’s always fun. It was a really collaborative set and it just all ran so smoothly. And what an incredible story we got to tell. Definitely my favorite set experience to date.

4. Were there any funny/memorable behind the scenes moments we can know about?

There are some scenes that take place in the Nike office where it’s supposed to be raining. We shot everything in an office building in Santa Monica, and they had a rain machine set up on the roof of the building, coming down in the atrium. They did such a good job making it realistic but it was supposed to be really heavy to achieve what they were going for, and California is just not built for that amount of rain. The drainage system wasn’t up to par and it started flooding, so they had to ease up and wait to continue shooting until things dried out. That was my first time seeing one of those in action! Having grown up in London I find the rain really soothing, so I was enjoying every minute.

5. You have starred in some great films what have been your favourite projects and why?

This one definitely tops them all. I had a great experience working on the film “Girl on the Side” directed by Tori Time. She’s such a talented filmmaker, and a friend of mine, and I was a producer on the film as well as acting along side her, and it was just such a wonderful experience. We had an all female crew, and it’s such a beautiful story. Another favorite project to work on was my webseries “Mack of all Trades”. I wrote and produced this one, and brought together my dream cast and crew. I’ve really enjoyed being involved on the production side of things too. This one was great to work on because it’s a comedy, loosely based on some experiences I had as a female handywoman and finish carpenter. So we all just had loads of fun with it.

6. How did you get into acting? Was it always something you wanted to do?

I started acting in 5th grade at the American School in London, we had a drama class as part of our curriculum. I loved it so much that I started taking an acting class outside of school in London every Saturday. My teacher, Sasha Leslie, happened to be an agent and started sending me out on auditions. When I moved back to the US for high school I kept up with it, doing theater in school and also driving into New York City every weekend for acting class. It just became something that I loved so deeply. It felt good to connect with other people and characters through telling stories. I’ve never really doubted whether it was something I wanted to continue to pursue as a job, I’ve just continued to go for it as the passion remains.

7. What is a piece of advice you can give to those looking to break into the acting world?

Live a full life outside of acting and find other things that fulfill your creative bucket. It’s not something that feels super satisfying in the beginning, so I think the best way to make it long term is to pursue happiness outside of it, so you can be happy while working towards the dream. This way it’s sustainable long term, and you don’t have to feel in a rush to find success. Find a side job that fills you up rather than eats you up, the way that DIY and building does for me. And start writing for yourself. No one will write a more perfect part for you than you will for yourself.

8. We are very intrigued by your renovation and DIY skills! How did you get into it?

It started as a way to supplement my acting career. I had become interested in wood refinishing when I attempted to DIY my kitchen cabinets in my first apartment out of college. That ended up being a fail, but then I succeeded in my second kitchen when my husband and I bought our first house. My uncle gave me my first miter saw, taught me how to build a picture frame, and it just kind of spiraled into a huge passion for me. I started doing little projects here and there, and when I no longer wanted to bartend as a side job, I decided to start refinishing furniture for people, which turned into building custom furniture and doing handywoman work as well. I had a dream of renovating a fixer upper all myself, and two years ago that dream came true when we poured all our money into a run down duplex that needed everything you could possibly think of. I’ve just been learning as I go!

9. We would love to see some before and after snaps of your recent home renovation! What is the best DIY tip you can give?

The best DIY tip I’ve ever heard and the mantra I now live by is “everything is figure-outable”. It’s so easy in the beginning to get discouraged when something inevitably goes wrong or when it gets frustrating. But there’s always a way. All of these things are doable, and if someone else can figure it out then so can you. Every problem is solvable. Everything is figure-outable. One tiny step at a time, makes everything feel easier.

Kitchen: I designed and built / installed this kitchen myself using Ikea cabinets and Semi Handmade fronts. I also tiled the backsplash (this was my first time tiling!)

Dining room: DIY chair rail and picture frame moulding in the dining room.

Dining nook: I DIYed the built-in bench and shelving for this dining nook.

Living Room: I build this electric fireplace surround and floating hearth.

Laundry: I transformed this water heater closet into a washer/dryer closet.

Hallway: I DIYed this built in using birch wood and cane webbing for the door

Kitchen 2: I designed and installed this kitchen myself using Ikea cabinets and semi handmade fronts.

Bathroom: I DIYed this half shiplap wall and designed this bathroom.

10. Do you prefer acting or DIY? An unfair question, sorry!

This is an impossible question!! Acting has always been my number one, but at this point I don’t know if I could go without DIY. I’m so grateful to have two passions let alone one, and I feel like they work really well alongside of each other. They are both such huge elements of happiness in my life. I love getting to work with other actors and be on a team when it comes to making movies and tv. But I also love being a one woman show with DIY, not having to rely on other people and just being able to accomplish things at my own pace and how I want. That’s an unsatisfying answer but it’s all I’ve got.

11. Do you have any further acting or DIY projects coming up that you can tell us about?

I’m working on writing a pilot right now! It’s “Mack of all Trades,” following the same character as my webseries but a bit of a different tone and world. Think Netflix’s “Love” or Hulu’s “Dave”. Mack is a handywoman and finish carpenter, navigating the world of being a female in a male dominated trade. I’ll be playing Mack. On the DIY front, I’ve finished the interior of our duplex and am moving to the exterior! I’m currently doing my first stone veneer on the exterior of the house, and after will be transforming the back patio space. Really excited for all of it!

AIR

AIR tells the incredible story ‘Sonny Vaccaro’ and Nike as they pursue basketball rookie Michael Jordan, and creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture. In the film Gabrielle brings to life ‘Tiffany,’ Matt Damon’s ‘Sonny Vaccaro’s’ right hand woman. What originally was supposed to be a shoot lasting a few days, quickly turned into almost a full month of filming after seeing her chemistry with the cast on set.
Stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

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