Clementine Heath
If you’ve never heard of Tracy Metro before, the petite five-foot-one Los Angeles transplant is hard to miss and impossible to forget. An accomplished interior designer, TV host, and author, she’s as bright and colorful as a botanical garden in full bloom, spreading happiness wherever she goes. A genuine magic maker in the world of design, Metro could be considered your very own creative sherpa. With her flourishing interior design company and the highly anticipated release of her upcoming book, this multi-hyphenate is joyfully leaving her inspired and skillful mark on the world as she brings happiness to your home.
Tracy Metro’s design business officially began in Los Angeles ten years ago at a time when she was helping friends (on the side) curate parties and some occasional interior design projects. She never considered what she was doing as a job, but she did it so well and with complete professionalism that one friend finally insisted on paying her for her work. And the rest, as they say, is history. Tracy Metro Designs is one of the leading boutique interior design companies in Los Angeles. Whether she’s working on small budget projects or multi-million dollar homes, Metro’s reputation for excellence has spread by word of mouth alone for over a decade. Charisma aside, her knowledge and originality with interior design continue to put Metro front and center, having hosted or appeared as a guest-host on various design and craft shows over the years. Now, with the anticipated release of her interactive design book this December, ‘Design by STICKER,’ Tracy Metro is destined to become a household name in the world of creativity, design, and DIY home renovations. “This kind of repositionable sticker book about interior design has never been done before so I’m enjoying sharing it with everybody,” she gushes. For anyone looking to simply play with the idea of making changes to their home or office space or is curious about interior design, Metro’s book makes it fun!
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Metro spent her formative years on the east coast feeling much like a fish out of water. Although it didn’t impact her unique style by any means, she did feel the pinch from constantly standing out in a community that was somewhat lackluster. From ‘88 to ‘92, Metro attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Finally, she found a playground and community that she could relate to and felt more comfortable letting her freak flag fly. “The late eighties were very gritty, and I was eighteen, and I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, walking the streets of New York City,” she laughs. Like many confident personalities, she naturally explored acting, but this proved challenging. She realized quickly that being herself was the real cherry on top, and while casting directors loved her personality, not so much the same for her acting. “I was a terrible actor. It occurred to me that the minute I try to be someone else, is the day they’re looking for Tracy Metro, and Tracy Metro isn’t showing up,” she recalls. When one is so deeply authentically themselves, like Metro is, it’s hard to imagine her being anything other than Tracy Metro.
A natural part of her creative expression and talent, Hosting has paved the way for the real brand of Tracy Metro to manifest out into the world. “It just all came together. I enjoy being ME in front of the camera as opposed to being somebody else, so I got into hosting,” she explains. Having been on TV most of her life, hosting her first gig locally in D.C. when she was just twelve years old, it’s no surprise that Metro merged these passions together, bringing her design expertise into people’s homes. Once her own evolution as an interior designer began to take shape, Metro appeared on shows like Oprah Winfrey Network’s (OWN) Home Made Simple and her very own series House Doctor in the UK(streamed later on Netflix in the US).
While New York City provided a playground for Metro, it wasn’t until she headed for the west coast that she felt truly liberated. Moving to Los Angeles with her husband in ‘95, Metro hasn’t looked back. “It was the best decision I ever made!” she exclaims. “I love Los Angeles with every fiber of my being. Because I was always an odd man out,” she continues with a smile. “New York City was fine, but in D.C., I was just too weird. Here in LA, I feel like I’m embraced in all of my differences.” Not that she would ever change or conform, but the desire to feel embraced for her authenticity was ever present until she called Los Angeles home.
From the one who knows her best, Metro’s childhood sweetheart and husband, environmental businessman Marty Metro, describes her influence on his life. “I would say Tracy has taught me that there are no limits. Her creativity comes before anything. She never does the same thing twice. She could walk across the street to go somewhere, and then next day she will cross that same street and do it in an entirely different way,” he continues, beaming with admiration. “The experience has to be something new and different every time. She really is creative beyond comprehension.”
Metro’s personal style, self-titled “Retro Metro,” acknowledges bright colors with retro themes, accentuated with her favorite color, orange. From her personal wardrobe style to the kitchenware to the poolside chairs and towels. Orange is the feature-star color incorporated meticulously (somehow?!) into every corner of the space of their newly purchased Hollywood Hills home, and it’s awesome. “I love the seventies. I’m turning this house into a showhome—a plastic seventies show home,” she divulges. Having recently moved from Hancock Park after twenty-two years, an inspired relocation north, their home comes with a sweeping 180-degree balcony on a clifftop perched in the hills above Laurel Canyon, overlooking West Hollywood all the way to Downtown and beyond. Tracy is walking in the clouds and couldn’t be happier with her life, career, and future projects. “With our old home, the love of the seventies had been there but we couldn’t do THIS in Hancock Park. It was us twenty-something years ago. So with this new home, we wanted seventies!” Metro emphasizes, revealing the name for the house to be fittingly known as Orange Crush.
“The more time I’ve been in LA, the more I’ve said—I’m going to be me,” she adds. Reflecting her own unique style and passion for everything vintage, each room of the house will transport you with seventies retro flair in the most vibrant and energetic ways, bursting with orange retro flair. With each piece of carefully sourced furniture expressing its own character, the Orange Crush showhome’s personality will be as fresh as it is retro, warmly welcoming guests in a way that encourages happiness and play.
It’s important to highlight that while Metro’s own personal style of “Retro Metro” is very much her personal brand, by no means is that her interior design brand. Metro’s creativity is intuitive, tapping into her clients creative expression and bringing them to their project. “There are a lot of designers that just do their one look; that’s their brand. But my personal look is my personal brand. That has nothing to do with what I do with my clients; I’m contextual,” she continues. “If my client wants a mid-century modern vibe—cool, I can do that. If my client wants classic contemporary—great, I can do that! I do whatever my client wants. It has nothing to do with me.”
Times are changing and so is taste. Looking to the future and her contribution to this design space, Metro is a firm believer that your home should be an expression of your soul. It’s no wonder that her own personal aesthetic is colorful and bright, filled with vivaciousness—she simply beams, and it’s glorious. Her work is defined with purpose, encouraging an individual’s right to be authentic, and even though her decor of choice is “retro,” her portfolio is deliciously vast, from designing decadent Art Deco bathrooms to the more cozy modern farmhouse-style living spaces. Metro’s contribution to the LA interior design scene is artfully meticulous, yet she remains humble to a fault. “I would hope that it wouldn’t so much be about the actual look, because it’s so personal. I would hope that I would be able to help people find happiness in their homes—whatever the look is,” she reflects.
There’s no denying Metro’s attention to detail will make you salivate. She makes the daunting feel possible and gets you excited about change. “Anyone who walks into their home and doesn’t feel like it represents them fully, I always say let your freak flag fly!” Encouraging those to dare to take the leap of faith, Metro has some inspired advice for you. “Your home should be an outward representation of who you are on the inside. If you walk into your home and it doesn’t feel like you feel, then call me!”
Tracy Metro’s book ‘Design by STICKER’ releases in the US on December 3rd. You can pre-order your copy here.