Interior Design: Timothy Quillen
The best-kept real estate secret in Contra Costa County is interior designer Timothy Quillen, a genius at increasing the value of homes for sale. You won’t find him in the yellow pages, and he doesn’t have a flashy website to show off his accomplishments, but listen closely to the buzz in the real estate world and you’ll quickly learn why Quillen is the go-to magician for revamping tired homes and turning them into beautiful spaces that sell quickly.
A designer for almost 25 years, Quillen dropped out of his initial studies at Berkeley to take his first million-dollar project and never looked back. He’s know for being fast, working on a budget, having a great eye, and being absolutely on point with his design choices. “I never fight the architectural integrity of a home,” says Quillen. “If it’s an Italian-style home, it should look like it on the inside. I see so many people bastardize homes by trying to turn them into something they’re not. If the design idea doesn’t translate, it cheats the buyer.”
Most recently, Quillen was brought in for a quick turnaround of a 9,000-square-foot Tuscan-style villa on 47 acres in the Danville area — in under three weeks. With a dedicated team of landscapers and painters working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, he replaced the carpets and every single item of furniture except the master bed. He also transformed a drab 2,000-square-foot kitchen: “In a two-week time period we sanded down the cabinets, lacquered and antiqued them, embellished them with crown molding, put in new hardware, and added a backsplash,” Quillen said. “We made it really reflect the style of the home — which incidentally has an equestrian riding arena with a 60-horse barn set up for jumping, as well as a private lake stocked with bass.”
Quillen excels at furnishing large estates with beautiful pieces by virtue of his relationship with many local stores such as Home Consignment in Danville. He has great connections, so any time an estate is being liquidated, he gets the first call. “I know how to shop,” he says. “I was blessed to have worked with Jack Shears of Shears & Window for four years as his muse and his right-hand man. His showroom represents the biggest lines on the market today — the antiques of tomorrow. That experience taught me to be able to recognize a piece of furniture on sight. I know instantly when it was produced, where the fabric came from, and every little detail about it. My clients love it because they get a house that looks amazing and they don’t have to spend a lot of money for it.” In fact, many of his clients have brought him on for consecutive projects near and far.
He’s creatively gifted, he’s passionate, and he’s quick — but one of the most wonderful things about working with Quillen is that, after spending over half his life in the design world, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. “It’s only furniture,” he quips. “It should be able to happen quickly. If your kitchen remodel takes nine months, you hired the wrong person. We’re not giving birth here. It’s important to have perspective.”
Quillen speaks openly about his recovery from alcoholism and how it once almost ruined his career and life. He now feels blessed to be able to use his design gifts and says he lives live in gratitude and always in the moment. “Everything I went through brought me to the place I’m at today,” he says. “I couldn’t be happier, and my work is one of the things I most treasure. Of course, I’m nothing without my team. People don’t work for me; they work with me. My clients often find me schlepping tile, running to the dump, and moving furniture.”
He continues, “I’m at that chapter in my life where it’s all come together into a great story.” And along those lines, he just met a new partner, who he’s set to marry next year on his 50th birthday. Congratulations!
