Nicky Marmet: Midcentury Serenity and Contemporary Craft

Basic Information

A Designer in Los Angeles: Practice and Philosophy

Nicky Marmet runs a Los Angeles–based design practice centered on the lived experience of space. His studio’s compass points toward interiors that feel collected rather than contrived: rooms that gently layer materials, craft, art, and memory. The practice spans high-end residential projects to select commercial commissions, and often touches every part of a space—architectural detailing, bespoke furnishings, finishes, and the careful calibration of light.

Restoration is a recurring theme. Marmet’s work pays respect to original bones, especially in midcentury structures, while editing them for contemporary life. Think of it as tuning a classic instrument: keep the timbre, refine the resonance. The studio’s scope commonly includes art and furniture curation, an area where Marmet’s eye for proportion and patina nudges spaces past the merely “new” toward the authentically “lived-in.”

His projects tend to emphasize natural textures—woods that read warm rather than glossy, stones with quiet movement, textiles that invite touch. Color plays a supporting role, often coming through artwork and objects. It’s an approach built on restraint, then punctuated with soul.

The Beverly Hills Home: Midcentury Bones, Lived-in Warmth

The midcentury Beverly Hills home that Marmet shares with actress Robin Tunney is a clear window into this methodology. The house is a case study in balance: period architecture left legible, updated with a modern pulse. The effect is daily life at ease—sun marking time across generous panes of glass, greenery echoing in both the views and the materials underfoot.

Here, curation is the quiet star. Art isn’t wallpaper; it’s narrative. Furniture doesn’t just fill space; it defines how that space is used. In a family home, function is the constant, and Marmet seems to arrange circulation as much as he does silhouettes. While the architecture provides a crisp grid, the interiors soften the geometry with rounded forms, tactile rugs, and the occasional vintage piece that carries visible history. The house reads as a conversation between eras, and—crucially—between partners who share an instinct for comfort over spectacle.

Family and Timeline

Nicky Marmet’s public life is tied closely to his family, though he maintains a thoughtful boundary around private details. The broad strokes are simple, genuine, and well-documented: a long partnership with Robin Tunney; a home rooted in design; and two children welcomed years apart, a rhythm that mirrors the steady cadence of his work.

The couple’s cadence—engagement, then family, then the ongoing work of home—parallels the way Marmet approaches interiors: measured, personal, and built to last. Their Beverly Hills residence functions as both a family sanctuary and a design lab, where the demands of everyday life test the durability of materials and layouts. Children turn theory into practice; a living room can be both museum and playground when designed with intention.

Public Presence Without the Spotlight

For all his visibility through design features and a polished studio portfolio, Marmet keeps biographical details light. There’s no sweeping personal memoir online—no exhaustive recounting of early life, no ornate client roster, and no performative disclosure of finances. What is visible is the work: project galleries that favor imagery over long manifestos, and occasional glimpses of process and completed spaces.

This kind of public presence makes sense for a designer whose value is clearest in the finished rooms. The restraint also helps protect what matters most: a home life largely offstage, and client relationships measured by trust rather than social metrics. In an age of oversharing, the selective reveal feels almost luxurious.

Work Focus Areas

• High-End Residential Interiors: Full-scope design from plan to placement, including materials, millwork, and custom pieces.
• Commercial Interiors: Tailored designs for select hospitality or office environments with a residential sense of comfort.
• Restoration and Renovation: Sensitive updates to midcentury and other architecturally significant homes.
• Furniture and Art Curation: Sourcing, commissioning, and placement of furniture, lighting, and art to align with architectural intent.
• Custom Fabrication: Bespoke furnishings and built-ins that solve for scale, storage, and flow.
• Project Stewardship: Coordination across trades and timelines to maintain design integrity through construction.

Style Notes: Materials, Palette, and Atmosphere

The Marmet palette tends to start quiet and deepen over time. Natural oak, walnut, and stone form a neutral backbone; textiles—linen, wool, bouclé—add tactility; art injects color and narrative. In many of his rooms, light is treated as a material of its own. Windows are framed, not obscured. Sightlines are engineered to deliver both calm and surprise.

Scale is handled with care. A generous sofa might sit opposite a lean-legged vintage chair; a heavy stone table is paired with delicate lighting. That push-and-pull keeps spaces from feeling flat. It’s a choreography of mass and lightness, of refinement and ease, where each move supports the life of the room rather than a single photograph.

Life, Work, and the Idea of Home

Marmet’s work reads as an argument for longevity—homes that gather meaning as they absorb daily rituals. In the Beverly Hills house, those rituals include the normal chaos of family: toys tucked into thoughtful storage, art hung at heights that acknowledge both adults and curious eyes, materials chosen for grace under pressure. It’s the designer’s equivalent of slow cooking: flavors deepen with time, and the result is better for the wait.

The partnership with Robin Tunney is woven into that fabric. Their home shows what can happen when creative disciplines overlap—storytelling from one world meeting spatial composition in another. Instead of competing, they converge on a single aim: a home where the beauty doesn’t scold, and the comforts don’t apologize.

FAQ

Is Nicky Marmet married to Robin Tunney?

They have been longtime partners and were publicly reported as engaged in 2012.

How many children do they have?

Two: a son, Oscar Holly (born June 2016), and a daughter, Colette Kathleen (born January 2020).

What does Nicky Marmet do?

He is an interior designer and the founder of a Los Angeles–based design studio focused on high-end residential and select commercial projects.

Where is he based?

Los Angeles, California.

What is he best known for?

Thoughtful midcentury-informed interiors, restoration work, and art and furniture curation, including his own Beverly Hills home.

Does he share details about finances or net worth?

No; there are no authoritative public financial disclosures.

Does he publicize an extensive client list?

No; the studio’s public-facing work is primarily shown through project imagery and selective press features.

Is there a comprehensive biography available?

Not publicly; Marmet keeps personal background details minimal, focusing attention on completed projects.