Erick Millan’s Exuberant Designs Are a Testament His Abuela
Growing up in Mexico, interior designer Erick Millan often visited his grandmother’s house, where the decor consisted mostly of two things: plants and handmade crafts. “My abuela, Adelina Gutierrez Salazar, loved plants so much that she called each one by a different name—Florentino, Teresita—as if they were people,” says Millan, who is known for the exuberant, pattern-friendly style he creates from his Guadalajara studio, dubbed Alma Verde (Plant Sanctuary) from guava trees to aloe vera plants, she would walk around her home and backyard making a ceremony of tending to them. Without realizing it, Millan learned that having plants was an inexpensive way of introducing something peaceful, natural, and harmonious to a space.
Millan’s abuela was also incredibly religious. As a result, spirituality played a significant role in his upbringing—and now, too, in his work. “She had a devotion set up in her home for the Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, and she would always suggest we pray together,” he says. It wasn’t unusual for Millan to see his abuela gathering her rosary beads before heading to a separate space to pray and reflect. “Watching her I learned that it’s important to spend time fueling your spirit,” he says. Today his designs often include space for meditation, prayer, or simple peace and quiet. “As a kid, I didn’t get it, but now I realize that I subconsciously absorbed that because I incorporate these things into my designs.”
After earning his architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Millan worked for several years as a creative director and brand manager before returning to Mexico six years ago to do what he loves most: design interiors.
Unfortunately, Adelina passed away before Millan became an interior designer, but her influence peeks through the spaces he designs. In addition to raising seven children on her own, she had two dogs, a cat, and chickens running around her yard. “They used to attack me anytime I came over,” Millan says. “It’s funny because now I’ll include art that features animals and I realize it probably came from her.” With an abuela who loved plants and animals and being outdoors, “perhaps it’s no surprise that those elements feel normal to me when I’m designing spaces, like something that I’m supposed to be doing,” he explains.
Design that fuels the spirit continues to drive Millan, who wishes his abuela was still alive to see his work. “I would love to hear her opinion on my designs,” he says. Like his grandmother, he’s a huge fan of limpias, spiritual cleansing rituals that are common in Mexico. It’s why he ends every project with one before revealing the work to his clients. As he learned from his abuela, “spaces have a soul. Even though we don’t see it, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
By the time Millan built his first design portfolio, his grandmother had passed away, but he says she would have enjoyed his technique. “It was hard to attract new clients, so I made them up by choosing muses that were synonymous with style and substance and designing rooms as if for them,” he says. "I imagined having people like Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dalí as clients and designed from there.”
The exercise helped him discover his style and gave him plenty of inspiration, and when he needed more of the latter, he visited the same outdoor markets he used to frequent with his grandmother, places where the ambiance pulsed with vigor and vibrancy. “Everywhere I looked there were arts, crafts, and fruit stands with a range of colors and shapes,” he says. “It was a conglomeration of products in one space, and nothing was perfectly arranged. I saw the beauty in the chaos.”
This story was created as part of From Our Abuelas in partnership with Lexus. From Our Abuelas is a series running across Hearst Magazines to honor and preserve generations of wisdom within Latinx and Hispanic communities. Go to oprahdaily.com/fromourabuelas for the complete portfolio.
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