Where South meets style

On the way to bed after a nightcap at the hotel bar, celebrity interior designer Thom Filicia saw something amiss on the 11th floor of the W Atlanta-Buckhead.

The hallway lights were too bright, jarring even. Not the calming glow he wanted.

So the former star of Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and author of “Thom Filicia Style” did what few have the chutzpah to do: He pulled out the light fixture, took off his shoe and —- using his sock as a glove —- took out the bulbs.

Liking what he saw, Filicia says he then removed the lights from every other fixture in the hallway. And in the morning, he directed hotel staff to do the same on the remaining floors.

Filicia wasn’t just pulling his star power. He was working.

After all, he created the interiors of this 291-guest room W, his designs an almost fantastical interpretation of the changing scene that is Buckhead.

Think contemporary-meets-old money, chintz and chinoiserie, antlers and adornment.

It’s within these design juxtapositions that Filicia defined the W Atlanta-Buckhead aesthetic, which he coined “country club chic.”

And he should know. His sister-in-law’s family lives in Atlanta’s poshest neighborhood, he says, and his brother was married in Buckhead. He’s visited the city throughout the years and accompanied Buckhead friends on vacation to Highlands, N.C. He professes love for Buckhead’s most venerable steakhouse, Bone’s.

On the day he talked with the AJC, just hours before an exclusive W-Tante Ball, Filicia scurried about the lobby of the hotel, rearranging a thick black-lacquered, tree-trunk-inspired coffee table and adjusting oversized lamp shades.

He’s hands-on, even when his socks are off.

Q: How did you become involved with the W Atlanta-Buckhead?

A: I’ve worked with the W before on the W Los Angeles, and am working with them on W San Diego and in W New York [the Tuscany]. They know me and introduced me to the local owners. I told them my concept and ideas about what the hotel should look and feel like, and they went for it.

Q: Describe the concept behind “country club chic.”

A: The whole concept is about Buckhead’s upscale elegant lifestyle, which has a cachet about it … the hunting and fishing is part of the fabric of the South, or at least the people I know. They love the outdoors. And Atlanta is a really beautiful, urban sophisticated town with great shopping and food and interesting culture, so it’s the combination of those things. Let’s take that lifestyle, that point of view and that aesthetic and let’s connect it with W, which is very modern, so that it will give this hotel its own look and feel that’s very specific to Buckhead.

Q: How did you achieve that look?

A: You can see there are a lot of very classic elements, like the tufted Chesterfield sofa with nailheads, the lacquered Chippendale chairs, wing chairs in the lobby that are modern, crescent sofas and swing-arm lamps —- things you most often see in a more traditional context. … There are moments that are a little quirky and a little fun, and I think those offbeat moments give it its personality and energy and make it not so predictable.

Q: What is your advice for a homeowner seeking a personalized space?

A: I think every room needs a surprise. You should walk into a space and think, “Wow, that’s interesting and unusual.” I love the idea of beautiful woods mixed with ceramic and bone, mixing matte and shiny, organic and very machine made. I love doing that with [textures] and patterns. I love all those juxtapositions. … You have to be very thoughtful about how you do that, there has to be a consistency and an overall point of view, or it will look like just a bunch of pieces.