The Iconic Home: 13 Black Designers You Need to Know (2024)

In just a few days, Architectural Digest and the Black Interior Designers Network (BIDN) will be opening the virtual doors of The Iconic Home, the online showhouse dedicated to leading Black designers. This fall, the project imagines a sustainable family home in upstate New York designed by Elizabeth Graziolo, the founder of Yellow House Architects, rendered in realistic detail by the expert visualization team at The Boundary. The home will be presented in partnership with Method® and will be filled with product innovations from Arhaus, Beautyrest, Crate & Kids, Garage Living®, Heat & Glo, Kohler, and Rémy Martin.

To bring this showhouse to life, AD and BIDN tapped 13 top talents from across the U.S. with expertise in interiors, landscape, and architecture. Each one envisioned a space within the home, imagining how a family may live both stylishly and sustainably.

Read on to learn more about the designers you need to know, and be sure to follow along for the big reveal of The Iconic Home later this week.

Arianne Bellizaire, Arianne Bellizaire Interiors

Bellizaire, an award-winning designer based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, prides herself on her collaborative approach to, and humanistic take on, design. Both qualities are an asset for a complex project like The Iconic Home, for which she designed the kitchen. Bellizaire’s accolades include winning the Villeroy & Boch Challenge in 2017, where she was recognized for her adeptness with color. ariannebellizaire.com

Danielle Colding, Danielle Colding Design

Before founding her own firm in 2006, Colding—a Stanford alum, HGTV Design Star, and Elle Decor A-Lister—cut her teeth at Irvine & Fleming. The residential and commercial designer, who was tasked with The Iconic Home’s Great Room this fall, is known for embracing eclecticism in her work, regularly incorporating antique and vintage items. Colding is also a regular in the philanthropy circuit, having contributed to DIFFA, Ronald McDonald House, and New York Housing Works’s “Design on a Dime” event. dcdny.com

Joan Goodwin, Verandah Interior Design

This worldly South Carolinian, the designer of The Iconic Home’s primary bedroom, cites travel as an inspiration for her work. She has cultivated expertise over more than 30 years in the design industry, working on homes and even churches—know-how that earned her a nomination for BIDN’s Interior Design Icon. Goodwin currently serves on BIDN’s board. vcustomdesigns.com

Rasheeda Gray, Gray Space Interiors

The owner and principal designer of Philadelphia-based Gray Space Interiors, Gray was tasked with designing the entry and salon of this year’s Iconic Home. With her business savvy—she has an MBA and spent 15 years working in marketing and communications—Gray’s classic aesthetic has been featured on HGTV and A&E, in addition to publications like AD and Elle Decor. grayspaceinteriors.com

Elizabeth Graziolo, Yellow House Architects

Recognized by AD as “One to Watch,” Graziolo is the founder of Yellow House Architects, a New York City–based studio. Prior to establishing her own firm, Graziolo was a partner at Peter Pennoyer Architects and also spent time at Cicognani Kalla Architects. She is a graduate of the Cooper Union, where she is now a trustee. In 2018, she received the City of Design Award from the Museum of the City of New York, an honor recognizing “those who have made New York the design capital of the world.” She is the architect of The Iconic Home this fall. yellowhousearchitects.com

Andre Hilton, Jordan Hilton Interiors

Recognized as one of the country’s top 20 African American interior designers, Hilton creates elevated, layered interiors, which he refers to as “cities.” “I want my clients to be eager to touch, sit, feel, see, and enjoy everything around them,” he says, “just as they would in their city of choice.” The Atlanta-based designer, whose background is in architecture, lends his talents to The Iconic Home, where he shapes the guest bedroom. jordanhiltoninteriors.com

Breegan Jane, Breegan Jane LLC

Having honed her skills staging luxury yachts early in her career, Jane knows a thing or two about luxury design. Today, she runs her own practice out of Los Angeles, handling residential and commercial commissions alike. An ambassador for the Sustainable Furnishings Council, Breegan’s work not only has savvy, but style too, having appeared on HGTV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. For our showhouse, she takes on the kid’s bedroom. breeganjane.com

Travis London, Studio London Co.

It was just three years ago that Travis Londom, founder of Miami and Los Angeles–based Studio London Co., shifted focus from the culinary arts to interiors. But don’t let that fool you: London’s interiors, which embrace play, bold art, and vibrant color, are the result of a well-honed eye. London’s experience also gives him a special perspective when it comes to spaces for entertaining, which he puts to good use this fall in The Iconic Home’s dining room and bar. studiolondon.co

Keia McSwain, Kimberly + Cameron Interiors

The leader of BIDN, McSwain has been instrumental in the development of The Iconic Home. In addition to her work behind the scenes in bringing this project to life, McSwain is a participant in the showhouse, where she oversaw the art selection for the stair hall. McSwain and her work have been featured widely in the press, from AD to Business of Home, Vogue, and House Beautiful, to name a few. Her firm, Kimberly + Cameron Interiors, offers comprehensive design services between the East and West coasts. kimberlyandcameron.com

DuVäl Reynolds, DuVäl Design

The designer of the garage and mudroom at The Iconic Home, Fairfax, Virginia–based Reynolds is rightly a rising star of the design scene. Now in its fourth year in business, DuVäl Design has tackled residential and light commercial work, with a trademark flair for welcoming, contemporary interiors running throughout. duvalreynolds.com

Alvin Wayne, Alvin Wayne Interiors

“Everyone deserves to live in luxury, no matter the budget,” says Wayne, a New York City–based designer. Trained at SCAD, where he studied interior design, Wayne creates comfortable yet stylish spaces both through traditional meetings as well as through virtual consults. For The Iconic Home, he designs the primary bath and dressing room—and we can’t wait to see what he has in store. alvinwayne.com

Mikel Welch, Mikel Welch Designs

The designer of The Iconic Home’s knockout library, Michigan-native Welch leans into juxtaposition, pairing rustic and vintage pieces with slick contemporary styles, an aesthetic he refers to as “primitive modern.” Combined with his magnetic personality and celebrity clientele—including Oprah Winfrey and former first lady Michelle Obama—Welch’s style has been catnip for press: The telegenic designer has made appearances on TLC, HGTV, and Good Morning America. mikelwelch.com

Sara Zewde, Studio Zewde

For the landscape design of this project, BIDN and AD turned to Zewde, a Harvard GSD alum (and now assistant professor at the school). Zewde’s expertise in urbanism and landscape has earned her accolades including the National Olmsted Scholar Award in 2014 and being named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow. studio-zewde.com