“Design is the storytelling of our lives.” This is the maxim that has guided Baltimore-based interior designer Patrick Sutton and his eponymous firm for decades. His unique approach, which focuses on creating a complete experience of an interior space by fusing the clarity and structure of architecture with the romance and detail of the decorative arts, has been recently celebrated in his first book, “Storied Interiors.”

“Our clients and the people that will inhabit the spaces we design have dreams and aspirations that have been formed from an early age,” explains New York-bred Sutton, who grew up touring the world with his travel journalist father and fashion model mother. “I believe we all carry a story with us of the lives we see ourselves living and it is my role to empathically engage with my clients to understand their narrative and use my skills as a designer to craft environments that support it.”

Sutton’s early travels exposed him to the world’s beautiful settings and spaces. From the golden light of Rome, to the colorful spices of Marrakesh and the polished marble floors of a Paris hotel, he took each interaction with the outside world and carried it with him as memory. This history, coupled with his studies and training as an architect, as well as his own clients’ unique life stories and dreams, shape each and every one of his projects today. Though their narratives are are distinctive as the people who inhabit them, his interiors are united by thoughtful, engaging and comfortable experience. His monograph is a tribute to his talent for crafting narrative, or story, into a complete, evocative interior.

We recently caught up with Sutton to ask him about his inspirations and the role storytelling plays in our lives and in our homes.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury What inspires you as a designer?

Patrick Sutton I am most inspired by travel, nature, and exploration.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury What inspired you to write your book?

Patrick Sutton Our clients and the people that will inhabit the spaces we design have dreams and aspirations that have been formed from an early age. I believe we all carry a story with us of the lives we see ourselves living and it is my role to empathically engage with my clients to understand their narrative and use my skills as a designer to craft environments that support it.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury How do you see your own biography playing into your “Storied Interiors” approach?

Patrick Sutton As a boy, I traveled the world with my father and watched as he looked to find the essence of each place he visited. His job was to find the story and transport his readers so they could engage with the energy that made each place special. I also was constantly exposed to the finest hotels, palaces, and spaces each country had to offer. Travel and fashion were intrinsic to my development so it really isn’t surprising that I would land in a profession that reflected that which I spent my formative years immersed in. Now I employ the same tools I was exposed to find the story that is unique to the project I am working on, weave in the aspirations of my clients and draw upon a lifetime of exposure to the world of fashion and design to deliver projects that are authentic to the people and locations we are working with.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury How do you help clients find, craft and tell their stories?

Patrick Sutton By listening carefully to what they are saying and, sometimes, not saying. Being a good listener requires empathy. You have to be willing to become them for a moment, to see through their eyes and understand what it is they yearn for. It takes a lot of discovery, discussion, and observation. Once I have their story, crafting it is merely about drawing on all those years of exposure to find the right solutions that support the narrative. Something that I may have seen on a trip horseback riding in Wyoming as a kid may bubble up in a project in a western mountain home, or a stroll in a garden in Italy might inform a romantic ideal for a client who aspires to a life that it suits, to use a few examples.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury And, what’s the story you tell in your own home? Do you find difficult or easy to find and tell stories about yourself?

Patrick Sutton I live in a townhome, so I describe our house as a series of stacked experiments, which are ever evolving. I am constantly searching, looking and exploring and I think my home reflects it. I also ascribe to the notion that we live in a balance between that which is familiar and that which pushes us to explore. The familiar, like family, is that which gives us comfort. But we yearn to challenge, be challenged, engage our intellect and invent. In this sense, we look for something modern, edgy and new. If you visited my home, I think you would find the confluence of those two notions. It is comfortably familiar while pushing boundaries just far enough to be interesting and engaging.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Do you see the stories that emerge from a piece of art, or an antique or a unique object as subplot, or part of the main story?

Patrick Sutton Art, its collection and placement outwardly express something about the collector and their interests. I think of it more as character development in the story than a plot unto itself. That is, of course, unless you are designing an art gallery — at which point, it is central to the story.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Looking back at your design portfolio, which projects do you see as seminal projects and why?

Patrick Sutton There are several, but I would say there are a few hospitality projects that were watershed moments for me because I was able to see how my work as a designer could positively influence the human spirit in a greater scale. I think for those of us that design both custom residences and hospitality projects, we hone our craft in the details of residential work, which is rewarding unto itself, but truly see its effect when we apply it to spaces that the public engages with.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury What, if any maxims or mottos, do you design by?

Patrick Sutton Before you put pen to paper, make sure you know the story you want to tell and for whom you are telling it.

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Spoken like a true storyteller! Thank you for your time.