Design Dynamo Brian Flynn of Decor Demon, His Self-Dubbed "Shelter Magazine on Steroids"

By Amy Flurry
September 17, 2010

“Occupational hazard: dreaming something, waking up at 3:30 a.m. to sketch it," reads an entry from Brian Patrick Flynn’s Twitter account a few months back. Days later he tweets, “prototype done."

An interior designer and on-air design dynamo for home makeover programs including TBS’s "Movie & A Makeover" (the show's newest episode, an account of re-purposing household items as pet furniture, airs tomorrow) and a contributor to HGTV.com, Flynn’s spontaneous posts express the urgency of his ideas. But they also illustrate the speed at which he sees them through. With years of experience on and off camera, Flynn developed his own online editorial site, Décor Demon, in a format he affectionately describes as “a shelter magazine on steroids.”

(Photo Credit: Sarah Dorio)

As producer and editor of the new web series, Flynn’s high-energy style is on display both in his own projects and the homes of others he features. His experience as a host translates well in his “webisodes,” or short videos that help you master the look, and often even get it for less. His latest will go live next week. On display in both in his environments and in his writing: wide-open humor and a playfulness that we can’t get enough of.

While upholstery and color are Flynn’s calling cards, he almost always uses vintage lighting and mid-century modern pieces in every space, even a brand new home. It came as little surprise that eBay is a major component to his design DNA.

Left: The term "mid-century" is Flynn's most searched term on eBay. Flynn brought mid-century into this bachelor pad dining space with 1950's pendants, Danish modern dining chairs and a 1960's coffee pot

Right: 1970's lighting is a signature element found in Flynn's more masculine spaces. He claims eBay is an excellent way to find decades-old pairs like this in pristine condition for far less than something new from a showroom.

The Inside Source: What’s on your eBay watch list?

Brian Patrick Flynn: For the most part, I am always looking for mid-century modern dining chairs. You know how there are 12 Step Programs for people with not-so-good-for-you addictions? Well, I have a healthy addiction to dining room seating. which is kind of odd since my dining room has a built-in banquette and therefore doesn't really need chairs. But I digress. Preferably ones from 1955-1975 and eBay never fails to deliver. Overall, I tend to find excellent wood chairs at great prices, then have them sprayed with lacquer and/or metallic car paint. Next thing you know, my $150 eBay find looks like a $3000 purchase from a high-end showroom.

TIS: Your favorite eBay score?

BPF: Two isolated purchases of the same late 1960's loungers. One Saturday, I was sitting around playing with eBay searches and realized the perfect corner in a client's master suite for masculine, Regency-inspired lounge chairs. Always in search of something I can add my own touch to, I obsessed over one chair with worn-in red leather and a dated finish on the wood frame. Ten clicks later, I found a nearly identical one with fabric upholstery. Currently, both are at the refinisher getting sprayed high-gloss white before I have them upholstered in white leather. Will I try to impress the bourgeois by saying I imported them from Italy? No. Will I full embrace the amazing deal I got them for on eBay and show others that a super tall, fast-talking decorator type like myself can make something for $120 look like $12,000. You betcha.

Left: This bedroom, featured on Decor Demon, showcases Brian's affinity for vintage lamps. When Flynn finds a lamp in not-so-great condition online or at flea markets, he re-invents it with bold color and an updated shade.

Right:Vintage toys are Flynn's common method of bringing a not-so-serious feeling to his spaces. In his loft's kitchen, Flynn played up pop with soup cans as art, and pop culture with a toy robot and a metal Mork & Mindy lunchbox.

TIS: What are your favorite eBay components?

BPF: The Home & Garden section of Best Deals! The discounts on tools are enough to keep anyone coming back at 8am daily. What's most stellar about this section to me is that although I head to eBay for furniture, art and accessories, I often forget I can find amazing steals on brand new stuff I dread going to big box or home improvement stores for. The notion of bidding on a Barcelona chair that will arrive in 10 days, then purchasing a leaf blower for 60 percent off without having to fight for a parking spot at the local strip mall and finding a piece of graphic 1970's art in one place without leaving my desk makes me a very happy decorator.

TIS: Your advice to using eBay most efficiently?

BPF: Create a shopping list just like you would for a Saturday stroll around town, then try your hand at finding as many of those things as possible on eBay. Then, head to your car and drive to the park, beach or lake instead, since your shopping/errands are already done!

TIS: What element of your style will you never abandon?

BPF: My spaces almost always have an element of youthfulness to them regardless of the space being a formal dining room, master bedroom, workout space or living room. To keep this fun motif from becoming a novelty, I usually do it with accessories, art and high-energy pops of color. Many of these pieces are from eBay: Mork & Mindy lunchbox, vintage toy robot, vintage globe and vintage maps.

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We shop eBay and score big using Flynn’s Top Five Search Words and Time Periods