Elicia Castaldi

“My love of interior design has always been a creative vehicle for me. I remember as a teenager painting my room chartreuse green, and plastering my ceiling with black and white fashion spreads. “

Photo by: Christina Gandolfo

#WomenWhoBuild meet Elicia Castaldi,

Elicia is the creative mastermind behind GIRL w/ Knife, a paper goods company that is currently carried in hundreds of retail stores across the US and over a half dozen countries. Elicia’s creative vision has been featured in publications such as NY Magazine, LA Business Journal, and BuzzFeed. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Elicia has taken her incredible eye for design and expanded the business into the real estate field with the creation of the Knife/House Palm Springs and Knife/House Bel Air.

ArchNative sat down with Elicia (virtually of course) to discuss her journey in visual arts and interior design, the construction process of Knife/House Palm Spring, and what she sees for the future of the Knife/House brand.

Photo by: Kris Magenheim

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey in visual arts? How did your background in visual arts help you find your way in interior design? 

I was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, which just so happens to be home to one of the best art schools in the world - RISD. I was lucky enough to attend Rhode Island School of Design, earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. Shortly thereafter I headed off to New York City to pursue my dream of being a children’s book illustrator. I wound up working as a fashion art director, while also writing and illustrating several children’s books with major publishers. My love of interior design has always been a creative vehicle for me. I remember as a teenager painting my room chartreuse green, and plastering my ceiling with black and white fashion spreads. Living in New York City and Los Angeles, I’ve moved about a dozen times, each move presenting its own decorating challenge. My husband David and I are both passionate about interior design - our first fight was about throw pillows! True story.

What gave you the inspiration to work on Knife/House Palm Springs? What was the construction and design process like? 

I’m always on the lookout for a great investment property. We were actively looking in both Palm Springs and Los Angeles when I discovered this listing - it was awful, but it had great bones. When we went to the open house, I knew within 60 seconds that I wanted it. The panoramic mountain view sold me! The house needed an absolute ton of work, but I prefer it that way. The initial idea was to have a weekend getaway that we could also utilize for short-term rentals and events, but it later became a live/work space when we relocated temporarily to Palm Springs. In terms of the design direction, my idea was Girl w/ Knife meets Palm Springs! I envisioned marrying my color palette and themes with that fabulous, retro 60s aesthetic that I love so much out here. Construction was no small feat. The house was built in 1958, and was a far cry from the modern look I was after. Every tiny detail needed to be scrapped. You definitely need to have the stomach for a full gut-reno of an old house. It’s a massive undertaking with so many twists and turns. My new motto for budgeting is take whatever time and money you think you’ll spend, and double it. It took us over a year to renovate this house, and I won’t even bore you with the costs. But in the end, it truly became my greatest masterpiece, a sanctuary dedicated to Girl w/ Knife. 

Above: Renovation and Final Photos of the Living Room (Photo by: Kris Magenheim)

Above: Before & After Pictures of the Interior Courtyard (Photo by: Kris Magenheim)

Above: Primary Bathroom & Bedroom (Photo by: Kris Magenheim)

What were the biggest challenges? The biggest rewards? 

One of the biggest challenges was overseeing the project from Los Angeles. It meant a lot of weekend day trips, where we would leave for Palm Springs in the wee hours of the morning and return late night, covered in dust and exhausted. I’m a perfectionist, so the tiny details stand out to me. The lighting, the tile, the finishes, everything had to pass my inspection and be fine-tuned constantly. The dramatic living room chandelier, which took tall scaffolding to hang, was 6 inches shy of dead center. It had to be moved — I’m that girl — I can’t deal with almost-centered. The biggest reward was seeing it all come together in the end. At the beginning of the pandemic we decided to move into Knife/House full-time. After living on the property for over a year, which was entirely unexpected, it has given me a deep appreciation of it. There’s a crazy story behind just about every little detail of the renovation. I still pinch myself when I look around at my Girl w/ Knife dreamworld, it’s exactly how I envisioned it, and took so much work to create. The property really comes alive at night, with a ton of little strategically-placed spotlights highlighting the various vignettes and paths. It has a really cool boutique hotel vibe, great for private dinner parties, which I can’t wait to have in the future. The scents and sights are heavenly, with all kinds of birds and butterflies dancing around all day — they lead very busy lives! It’s a truly special place. 

You are also working on Knife/House Bel Air. Is the aesthetic similar or very different? 

The two properties are similar in many ways. They were both built in the 1950s and had fallen into disrepair, needing a ton of updating. Both are sizable, with 5 bedrooms and 6 baths, and have large outdoor grounds with swimming pools and mature fruit trees. The aesthetic of Knife/House Palm Springs is geared toward the playful midcentury vibe of Palm Springs, which gels so perfectly with my brand. Knife/House Bel Air will more closely follow my personal interior design style, which can be described as modern industrial French. Think lots of white, with elements of black iron, white marble, brass and neutrals. I might go wild with a pop of blush pink. In fact, I have my eye on blush glass penny tiles for one bathroom. We shall see, I typically never infuse color in any permanent way. The two houses will definitely feel related, with the Bel Air property being less mid mod and more classic. Like the Palm Springs property, Knife/House Bel Air will feature my artwork throughout the house, and the space will function as a live/work environment.

What do you see for the future of the Knife/House brand?

Girl w/ Knife has been in business for a little over 2 years, and has exploded faster than I could have ever imagined - my line is in over 600 stores across the US and six other countries, and I oversee an amazing, dedicated team of employees! Combining my love of interior design through Knife/House offers the perfect backdrop to introduce the gift and decor items that I’m developing. Right now I’m working on luxury candles, decorative porcelain trays, coaster sets, throw pillows, wallpaper and other gift items. The sky is truly the limit. It’s been an extraordinarily exciting and rewarding process. 

What is your current day to day like? 

My schedule is fairly hectic these days, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I wake up around 8am and hit the coffeemaker immediately. Once properly caffeinated, I do a quick scan for the orders and emails that have come through overnight. After that, I make a list of the major things I need to focus on. I try to get my daily social media post done before the day gets super crazed. Typically there are a few pieces of art that I’ve painted the day prior that need scanning. I will scan those, and dive back into whatever illustration I left off with the evening before. At about 10am I lose the bunny slippers and prepare for the morning shift of employees to arrive. The morning team works from 11-4, the evening team works 4-8pm. They handle everything from order fulfillment, to inventory bagging, research, marketing, product development and customer service. I oversee operations while also juggling my design and product development workload. At around 9pm I start cooking dinner, pour a glass of wine and most nights take a dip in the hot tub. It’s heavenly, especially with our wall of jasmine having just bloomed. I might paint a few things before heading to bed. You would not be surprised that I watch house flipping shows, and of course there are endless design rabbit holes I get sucked into. I build my Pinterest boards or scroll Zillow before going to sleep... forever in search of that diamond in the rough!