How To Get Featured In Architectural Digest

There are moments in your creative life that anchor you, moments that remind you why you do what you do. High Point Market this fall was one of those for me. I had the chance to listen to Amy Astley, the Global Editorial Director & Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Digest, in conversation with Mel Studach of AD.

They were there to celebrate the launch of AD at Home, AD’s stunning new Rizzoli book—a soft pink cover with deep burgundy embossed type and binding. It’s elegant, modern, and unmistakably AD. The palette alone feels like a study in quiet luxury: softness paired with depth, subtlety paired with presence.

“It has to wow me.” — Amy Astley

In that conversation, Amy shared something that stayed with me long after I left High Point:

“A project has to wow me.”

Not theatrically. Not loudly. But in a quiet, unmistakable way that makes her stop and feel something real.

That “wow,” she explained, has everything to do with the person who lives in the home. The story behind the design is what makes a space worthy of the pages of Architectural Digest.

The Person Is the Design

One of the first things Amy did when she joined AD (after shaping culture at Teen Vogue) was call Marc Jacobs. His home was deeply lived-in, layered with art and objects that held meaning. Not staged. Not styled to perfection. But honest.

This is the heartbeat of an AD feature:
Homes that reflect a life.
Homes that feel like a biography told through materials, objects, art, and light.

Collected, Layered, Lived-In

Across AD’s global editors, this theme kept surfacing: the most compelling homes contain:

• Artwork with provenance
• Heritage pieces
• Antiques and objects collected over time
• Stories woven into the design
• Materiality with depth
• A distinctive point of view

These elements aren’t accessories—they’re the story.

Timelessness Above Trend

AD editors value projects with staying power. As Mailin Zieser of AD Germany said:

“A successful interior is far removed from fleeting fashions.”

This isn’t about trends.
It’s about resonance.

Cohesion From Architecture to Styling

A home becomes editorial when the entire space—architecture, furniture, palette, art—speaks a single, coherent language.

A Distinct Point of View

Zoë Sessums of AD US said:

“Show me the story only you can tell.”

Designers with a strong point of view create homes that feel unmistakably theirs. AD celebrates that kind of authorship.

Photography Is Where the Story Becomes Visible

For me, photographing a home isn’t just capturing a room—it’s capturing a life. I pay attention to the rhythm of the space, how the light breathes, where the emotion lives.

That’s when a home becomes editorial.
That’s when a home becomes AD-worthy.

Final Thoughts

An AD-worthy home isn’t about perfection—it’s about truth. A living, breathing story. A home with soul.

When your next project is layered, collected, intentional, and deeply lived in…
You may already be closer to AD than you think.

And when you’re ready to tell that story through images, I’d be honored to be part of it.