A multi-award-winning Irish interior designer based in LA, Grania Murray has extensive experience working on projects all across the world. She’s had many high-profile clients (including former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan) throughout her career, with one of her most recent commissions seeing her work on the renovation of the 250-year-old cellar bar at The Merrion.
The last thing I saw and loved… the permanent exhibition of Degas at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The sculptures are my favourite. I’ve had a framed print of the 14-year-old dancer in my home since my very first visit 20 years ago.
The book I keep coming back to… Old Celtic Romances. My mom won it in 1931 when she was a young girl and it’s where she found my name and its spelling in the story of Diarmuid & Grania. It’s filled with Irish myths and legends and it’s magical.
I find inspiration in… absolutely everything. Mostly in nature but also on Instagram, and in design magazines and blogs too.
My favourite film is… On Golden Pond. The love story as they age between Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda is so lovely.
My career highlight is… the total renovation of The Cellar Bar at The Merrion with my daughter Joelle a few years ago. We won an international award for the project and it made it very special as the owners facilitated us commissioning so many wonderful Irish creatives to be part of the work. President Michael D Higgins also wrote some poetry for one of the leather panels we placed in the space.
The song I listen to get in the zone is… “Underdog” by Alicia Keys. It’s a belt your lungs out in the car number!
The last film I recommended is… Poor Things was such a feast for the eyes in so many ways. The sets, the costumes and the performances were utterly mind-blowing.
I never leave the house without… my cellphone. It holds my notes, my calendar, my camera. Need I say more?
The performance I still think about is… seeing George Michael perform in the Point Depot a million years ago was the most outstanding concert experience ever!
My dream client would be… one of the wonderful Irish actors living in LA. With that said, I’ve been blessed with a few dream clients throughout my career who have become very close friends.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten… you have to be your own knight in shining armour.
The art that means the most to me is… a very large original oil painting by Lori Dorn that my husband bought at the very start of our relationship. We both saw it at exactly the same time from a distance during the LA Art Walk and were in awe.
The most challenging thing working in design is… falling in love with a product and presenting it to my client to discover it’s no longer in stock or has been discontinued.
If I wasn’t an interior designer, I would be… a landscape architect. I adore being in nature and I can’t think of a better way to combine my love of architecture, design, trees, shrubs and plants.
Grania Murray recently designed the home of James Rallison, the multi-talented creative behind the YouTube channel TheOdd1sOut (19.6 million followers). The paint used was the Clements and Moore Collection by Kraftsmann Paints, a range designed for historic Irish homes.
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