By Anne Marie Ashley

Lori Moscato

download pdf

Designer Lori Moscato of Casual Elegance Designs isn’t afraid to mix patterns, colors, and styles when practicing her craft. “When clients comment on how happy they are in their space, or how much it feels like them—that’s my goal for each and every project.” Moscato’s clients see all the options—the safe ones as well as the ones that push them outside of their comfort zone.

In her own home, however, “unsafe” designs are her comfort zone. Her formal dining room sets the perfect example. “Formal dining rooms are some of my favorite spaces to defy rules because they don’t always have to be formal,” she says. “I saw this Schumacher wallpaper in the design center and held on to the sample for four years. I kept going back and looking at it, wondering if I would get sick of it, wondering if it was too bold. But you know what? After four years of staring at it, I loved it more and more because it was so bold, and it was that boldness that drove the design for the rest of the dining room.”