Interior designer Miles Redd comes by his cinematic flair honestly. The Atlanta native studied filmmaking at New York University before opting to trade silver screens for decorative folding screens under the tutelage of antiquities dealer John Rosselli and decorator Bunny Williams, both of whom he worked for in the nineties. Since striking out on his own in 1999, Redd has put his opulent stamp on countless projects, including his own Bleecker Street residence, which features an original David Adler mirrored bathroom retrofitted into Redd’s master suite, and the Oscar de la Renta Home collection, for which he serves as Creative Director.

The Inside Source: What were some of your formative influences as a designer?

Miles Redd: I grew up in Atlanta, GA and went to NYU as a filmmaker. When I graduated from college, there were maybe five directors working in New York, so I went to work for John Rosselli in 1992, a great antique dealer. That’s where I honed my eye. He has a huge business and very eclectic tastes. In a weird way, he is a precursor to eBay. He looks in unusual places for things, like the [Manhattan-based] Spence-Chapin thrift store, and buys at auctions. Back in the day, what you could find on the streets of New York was pretty remarkable. He taught me not to be about snob about provenance and to look first at the lines of things. You can always paint it, lacquer it, or dip it in a silver bath.

I next went to work for the woman who became his wife, the decorator Bunny Williams. She really taught me how to put together a decorating job, how to present to clients, run a business.

Personally, I have a high-low approach to decorating. I love the juxtaposition of something rough next to something slick, something chalky next to something smooth, all imbued with a strong sense of embellishment and color.

TIS: What is the first thing you do when you begin work on a room?

MR: I physically go to the space. I look at the bones and the architecture, who the people are, the life they want to lead. I take my cues from those touchstones. Then I start from the ground up. If you get the walls and floors right, the room will take care of itself. I tend to be object-driven, so if something comes up that changes the course, I’m open to that. I find that’s a much better mode of operating than having a stiff road map that you can’t veer from. When you do [the latter], things quickly become too showroom-y and stiff.

TIS: What are you currently working on?

MR: A Fifth Avenue apartment; a house in San Francisco, in the Palo Alto are; and a house upstate, near Millbrook [in upstate New York], the focus of my life right now.

TIS: What’s the Miles Redd fantasy project?

MR: I would love to do a really very glamorous but friendly either Palm Beach or South of France villa. That is really what makes my heart sing—if [fashion designer and founder of the House of Givenchy] Hubert de Givenchy said "I want to redo Villa Fiorentina." They’re all dream projects, though. I think decorating is so fun—getting to put together rooms.

TIS: How do you use eBay, either for yourself or a client?

MR: We tend to do scans of things. It definitely has taken me a while to figure out how to navigate the site. When I first went on and typed in “table,” 5,000 massage tables came up, so I definitely have had to learn.

Right now, I’m doing a room for Design on a Dime, a Housing Works project. I needed a long table, which I’m going to skirt and make into a console. I was going to have one built, but then I thought, "let’s search on eBay." Right away, fifteen things popped up, and one was perfect. So I love the immediate gratification.

We also sell things on eBay—things that didn’t work for a client, and I just want to have it out of there. It’s useful to have people come and pick that stuff up.

I’ve bought loads of textiles, vintage suzanis. I found one for a client’s dining room, and it pulled everything in the room together. Slipper chairs—I’ll redo the finish and redo the upholstery, but you can find wonderful frames. We’ve never bought, but have come close to purchasing, some sofas because we were looking for weird kidney shapes.

The favorite thing I ever bought was a beautiful bleached pine desk, for $125, that I used in a child’s room. It was lovely, made by Baker in the twenties. I also found a beautiful Louis XVI child’s chair that I love.

eBay is great for accessories and the quirky things. We once wallpapered a bathroom in National Geographics, which we bought on eBay. And [eBay is] wonderful for making things seem not so mass-produced. It gives you that one-of-a-kind, found-it-at-a-flea market feel, but you don’t actually have to go to the flea market!

TIS: Do you have a specific search methodology?

MR: It’s a curious combination of being broad and specific. I can’t necessarily articulate it. There are certain times when you’re going along and find some beautiful Brunschwig & Fils chintz, leftover from bulk, which wasn’t necessarily what you were looking for to begin with. I also have an assistant who’s very smart and clever on the computer. He helps.

We asked Miles Redd to share his eBay wish list with us. His haul ranges from the lyrical (a white pheasant lamp) to the worldly (an East Turkestan Khotan rug)—not unlike the man himself.

1. Deyrolle Plants La Giroflee Teaching Chart (buy it now price, $120)

2. Ed Ruscha "Sunset Strip 1966," 1st Edition, Volume 2 (buy it now price, $5,995)

3. Hollywood Regency Brass Faux Bamboo Serving Tray (starting bid, $29.99)

4. Antique Colorful French Map Of The Balkan Peninsula (buy it now price, $349.99)

5. Circa 1900 Antique Kurdish Bidjar Persian Rug (buy it now price, $425)

6. Big Hollywood Regency Blanc De Chine Pheasant Bird Lamp (winning bid, $210)

7. Hollywood Regency Tufted Two-Piece Sofa Sectional (buy it now price, $2,500) "We would reupholster this sofa," Redd says.

8. 1956 Cecil Beaton "I Take Great Pleasure," 1st Edition (winning bid, $20.49)

9. Beaton Cecil "The Glass Of Fashion," 1st Edition U.K.  (buy it now price, $650)

10. Dr. Agha Signed Self Portrait, 1940's Vogue Magazine (starting bid, $299.99)

11. Rare Rouben Ter-Arutunian 1967 Original Set Design (buy it now price, $850)

12. 1936 Vintage Modernist "Woman In River" by Herbert Matter (buy it now price, $47.38)

13. Antique East Turkestan Khotan Rug (buy it now price, $5,750)

14. Bruce Weber "All American" 1st Edition (winning bid, $76.72)

15. Decorative Primitive & Tribal Turkoman Ersari Rug (buy it now price, $123.25)

16. Set of 10 English Rush Seated Chapel Chairs (buy it now price, $1,695) "We would paint these chairs to give them a new lease, while retaining the charm of their original style," Redd notes.

** Photos of Miles Redd and his work provided by Redd.**