Before the walls came down, the house felt divided in more ways than one.
Like many family homes, it had settled into a rhythm of separation—kids retreating to bedrooms, shared spaces growing quieter over time. What the homeowners wanted wasn’t simply more openness, but a shift in how they lived day to day: more connection, more creativity, more reasons to linger together.
We sat down with the founder of Hey Now Interiors, Amy Hadley, to talk about the thinking behind the Artistic Family Salon, a project that reimagines the home as a place you’re naturally pulled back into. Shaped in part by her early experience living in a carefully restored apartment abroad—where beauty and daily life felt inseparable—her work centers on the idea that design can gently guide how a home is used, and ultimately, how life unfolds within it .
The result is a space that doesn’t just look different—it behaves differently. One where art supplies stay out, music happens spontaneously, and the center of the home feels, once again, like the center of family life.
Tell us a little about yourself and how Hey Now Interiors came to be.
My husband and I spent two years living in Prague in our early 30s, just because. We lived in a gorgeous 120 year-old flat in Žižkov, the old worker’s neighborhood. Our landlord was an architect and had just finished renovating it back to the original wide plank herringbone wood floors, fresh plaster walls with 10-foot ceilings, and red glass tile he reclaimed from a factory. Not a day went by that I wasn’t in awe of getting to live in that space. It increased my sense of gratitude and day-to-day happiness. That feeling has been my guiding light ever since, and what I want to help all our clients feel in their homes.
You started your career as a reporter before launching Hey Now Interiors. Do you ever feel like you’re still telling stories—just with furniture, color, and layout instead of words?
You often hear that design should reflect your story. But I love the idea that design can help write your story; flipping it from a focus on your past to a catalyst for your future. As a former reporter, I ask a lot of questions to understand your intentions—not just for your home, but for your life, so we can design for pain points you want to eliminate, and dreams you want to achieve. For me, design is about what you can open up in your life. My reporter’s curiosity really drives that!
The Artistic Family Salon was designed to be the place everyone naturally drifts toward, even when they’re all doing different things. Why was creating that sense of togetherness so important for this project?
When these clients came to us, they had a sense of loss—lost time with how much their kids were in their rooms, and knowing how quickly their teenage years would fly by. They knew the dark, choppy social spaces were part of the problem of not drawing their kids out, and they didn’t want to miss any more time with them.
This space brings living, art, music, and cooking into one open area. How did you make room for all of that without it feeling chaotic or overwhelming?
We took out and pushed back walls, creating one big open space. So we needed to create very clearly defined zones with the furnishings. It’s not a huge home, so each zone is compact and cozy, which allowed us to fit a lot in—an art nook, a music lounge, a breakout puzzle/study table, the living room, and a kitchen and dining area that feels like an open-arms welcome at the end of it all.
Instead of hiding art supplies or instruments away, this home puts creativity right out in the open. Why does that matter to you—especially when designing for families?
Home should be an invitation, not a museum. In this project we claimed the garage pad for interior space, and it’s now an art nook with a vintage credenza, floating shelves, and a secondhand art table that came pre-paint flattered. Because there’s a dedicated space for creativity, with both open and closed storage, it led mom to discovering a new hobby of collaging, one she could do right there in the open then put the mess away quickly and easily.
We also prioritized music. Their oldest daughter had shown interest in guitar, but wasn’t picking it up much. So we created the perfect jam lounge, with the family’s navy leather loveseat tucked in the bay window, with guitars that stay out on stands. Not only did their daughter start picking it up more, she added bass to her repertoire, and applied for and won a grant for a new guitar!
Color plays a big role in this project (and we love it). How do you help clients feel comfortable taking bold color risks like these?
There are a couple of tricks we use. For one, we often use a base of white for a lot of calm negative space that colors and textures can come to life off of. (Though we also love color drenching!) Also, we mostly stick within one color family—all muddy earth tones, all jewel tones, etc. That maintains cohesion without it feeling like a circus. And lastly, we solve the whole puzzle at once! It’s so much easier to go bold and take risks when you understand the whole.
You often talk about how design shapes the way people feel and interact. Were there any specific moments in this project where that idea really guided a design decision?
The laundry! We took it out of the garage and hid it right in the kitchen, behind custom cabinets. The family didn’t want to be quarantined in a bedroom or garage when doing laundry. So we put it right in the center of everything so you can still be part of life while you’re folding. That concept still makes my heart flutter.
This home was designed with teenagers in mind—giving them independence while still drawing them back into shared spaces. How do you approach designing for that balance?
We knew the main spaces had to be magnetic. They had to be fun and interesting for the kids to want to be there. So we used fun, lounge-y furniture they wouldn’t be able to resist, like a Togo chair and low-slung sofa. We created pockets of opportunity with movable stools, and auxiliary space for hobbies, like an extra table in front of the back window. And we brought it all to life with pops of cheerful, inviting color. There are plenty of nooks to do your own thing, even in the public spaces. It means that where the kids used to say goodbye to their friends at the curb, they now invite them in.
As Hey Now Interiors continues to grow, what kinds of projects or stories are you most excited to explore next?
I’d love to do a British-inspired unfitted kitchen, where you rely on unique pieces rather than uniform, boxy cabinets. Also, I really love the sense of soul in old homes, and bringing a bit of modern edge to traditional design where you can weave together history and eclecticism. So I’d love to do more historic homes.
Is there anything else you’d love readers to know about Hey Now Interiors or The Artistic Family Salon?
Don’t underestimate what your home can do for you! It can unlock dinner parties, game nights, jam sessions, new hobbies. A lot of our clients come to us with overwhelm and frustration over their home, and it stops them from a lot of memories they could be making. I used to struggle with whether interior design is frivolous, but it’s truly an investment in your life!
One Last Thing…
One word that describes your style right now?
Vibrant
A color you’re drawn to lately?
Neon yellow, always and forever. Goes with everything, which makes it a neutral. Runner-up: cobalt blue.
Pattern or solid?
Pattern! Pattern requires more risk, and when did playing it safe ever delight you?
Vintage or custom?
Vintage all the way. Nothing beats the feeling of story and soul from vintage, plus it’s an environmental win for reuse.
A design rule you don’t really believe in?
Don’t make choices based on fear of whether you’ll still be happy with it in five years. If it’s a hell yes now and it makes you happy, it’s worth five years of being delighted versus a decade of ho-hum. Chances are you’ll love it much longer than that!
A small detail that always makes a space feel finished?
Lamps! Put them everywhere. Table lamps, floor lamps, clamp lamps, wall lamps. No such thing as too many, and nothing makes a room feel cozier than warm lighting on the level where you live instead of glaring overhead.
Where do you go in Austin when you need inspiration?
The Meteor on South Congress. I die over the steel framed horizontal pleated windows, and they did a great job mixing some grunge from the original 1920s filling station with modern materials. It has an elevated rawness.
Austin in three words?
Artistic. Ambitious. Hip.
Favorite Austin neighborhood?
Travis Heights! I’m biased because I live here and our kids go to school here. But in addition to the variety of architecture in the homes, the hills, and the oak trees, it’s such an alive neighborhood—people are always out walking dogs, riding bikes, and spending time with friends and neighbors.
Photo Credits
Casey Cunningham (interiors)
Karen Stone (portrait)
Contact
https://heynowinteriors.com/about
Amy Hadley
@heynowinteriors
