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Q&A - Amy Wells (Set Decorator)
Where does one find a stuffed cobra in a basket? Set Decorator Amy Wells is responsible for dressing the Mad Men sets and locating the props you see on the show. She talks to AMCtv.com about turning around each episode in seven days, and reveals how she really feels about that fainting couch.
Q: Has it been easier to source objects for the sets now that the show's reputation is established?
A: No. It's become easier to source objects the more that I do it, because now I have a circuit of places that I'll go to constantly. In that way, it's become easier. But it gets harder and harder the more sets we do because I can't keep doing the same set over and over. It's period and every time we have a hotel room, I need to find a new suite of furniture.
Q: Where do you usually find things? Antique shops? Prop houses? Craigslist?
A: It's everything. Furniture I can't get from eBay, because it's just too big to ship and we don't know our sets that far ahead of time. I do really well at thrift shops, places that have consignment, lots of second-hand furniture shops all over Los Angeles and Long Beach. There are antique stores and antique malls that have individual mid-century shops within them. And prop houses, because if I need a set of couches that are period looking, where am I going to find that in an antique store?
Q: Your turnaround time to find set pieces is around seven days for each episode. What's that like?
A: In the beginning I get what's called a prep time, like six weeks early. That's working on the first episode, getting what we call the permanent set -- Sterling Cooper and the Draper house -- redressed. [For each episode,] we're constantly meeting in the beginning a week before it starts. Then we have a production meeting a day before it starts. It moves like a freight train. I'm like, "Oh c'mon we're not starting the next episode already, I thought I still had five minutes."
Q: Of Season 3's sets to date, were there any particular favorites to decorate?
A: Sally's room was a lot of fun. Who doesn't want to do a little girl's room? We found a Barbie Dream House, which, oh my god, I wanted more than anything when I was growing up. And I found this Barbie Dream House and it had all the furniture in it, cardboard record player, everything.
Q: How did you feel about placing the fainting couch in front of the family hearth?
A: The same as the opinion of the decorator in the episode. It's a story point, but for me it was, "Matt do we have to get the fainting couch?" "Matt are you sure?" "Don't you think it's too big?" "Can't we just move it here? [Matt's reponses:] "No I love it." "It's not about pretty, Amy."
Q: A few of the offices in Sterling Cooper were redesigned this season. Which was the most fun to decorate?
A: Lane's office is a lot of fun to do. Because he's English we gave him a different look. We put a suit of armor in there, a red leather wingchair and different prints. English magazines. And he has a bar set up; of course, Duck didn't have a bar.
Q: Where did you find the stuffed cobra that the PPL execs give Lane?
A: That was rented from a prop house, House of Props. I was trying to find things to put in the office and I think I had a picture of it, and Matt said, "That's really cool. I want to write something about that."
Q: So the snake wasn't already in the script?
A: I don't go in there and say, "This is a great idea, I want you to write this in." But there's so much information that floats back and forth and we're all together at these meetings, Matt just sparks. It's like having a live flint around. His brain is so receptive to so much around him.
Click here to read what Amy Wells had to say about set decoration in Season 2.
Click here to watch a tour of Draper's living room with Amy Wells.
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Amy, I think you do a fabulous job with all the sets! The colors of the Italian Hilton room were beautiful. Keep up the good work.
I agree....wonderful job, Amy!
I love the set designs and all the details - so accurate and full of nostalgia for me! My daughter and I watch the show together (she is 19) and it is like a history lesson, with pointing out things from my own youth and things that her grandparents had, etc. Lots of fun for both of us, in addition to the sheer pleasure of the show itself. The sets are really "characters" in themselves and lend so much to the show that you couldn't do without them. Keep up the excellent work!
I love the set designs and all the details - so accurate and full of nostalgia for me! My daughter and I watch the show together (she is 19) and it is like a history lesson, with me pointing out things from my own youth and things that her grandparents had, etc. Lots of fun for both of us, in addition to the sheer pleasure of the show itself. The sets are really "characters" in themselves and lend so much to the show that you couldn't do without them. Keep up the excellent work!
Amy, your work is phenomenal; the show would not be the same without your tremendous effort. It is the best of any show done from another time period. It's obvious that you put painstaking detail into the planning. Love the acting and the stories, but the degree to which you've made the setting so accurate seals the deal for me.
Last season you triggered some major nostalgia for me! The white ceramic cookie jar you had in Sal's kitchen was the same one my grandmother had from the 1950s. Brought back wonderful childhood memories. Thank you so much.
Yours has to be one of the coolest jobs on the set! I live in a house, built and lived in by a contractor and his family in 1960. Lots of linoleum! We have an intercom, aqua countertops w/ metal edging, knotty pine cabinets and panelling everywhere, I think you'd love it. I try to keep it to period, especially in the kitchen. It's a blast to collect 60's kitchy stuff. Oh, I cried when Betty brought in the fainting couch. What a beast of a thing! Keep up the good work and know that some of us are watching the set as much as we watch the actors!
Are you looking for any old appliances? I have Hot Chef counter top gas range and wall oven unit. The color is copper brown. Are you interested? Please emial me.
Amy, I have a vintage DYMO label maker from 1964. I got it from an amazing estate sale last year. In excellent condition and still in the box. Comes with 8 different ribbon colors and two extra letter/number wheels as well as instructions. Contact me if interested: janekat.kolles(at)yahoo(dot)com
Your hard work to get it all just right is greatly appreciated! Thank you! I can't get enough of Mad Men.
How does someone send you things? I have a bunch of coupons from the sixties - I heard you need them. Also, there is a remote control on ebay right now - not Zenith, but a push button like you need...
Hi Amy -- I'm hoping that you read these -- I am in Chicago, and have an unbelievable furniture/design source that I'd like to introduce you to. Knoll, Dunbar, Eames, Nelson, you name it. The original furniture and accessories. Tons of fabric rolls. Really nice owner. Tons of inventory. Please let me know if we can be in touch. Thank you!
Hello
What a wonderful show and what you have done is incredible! It is so fun to see every week and have the memories from the 60's.
I guess I am like many others on here; after seeing the slideshow of items on the set and reading your article I thought of all the stuff my mother has. She has a great set of encylopedias from the 60s. We live on the east coast so I really don't know how all her stuff will help but if any interest please feel free to contact
Good luck with the future seasons and please know you have hooked me. I now stay up late just to see this show and not repeats
D
I'd gladly donate a 1950's Thermador stainless steel wall oven. I was told that high-end kitchen appliances where something that was hard to find for Mad Men.
The oven is narrow (24 inches) and was built into a floor to ceiling cabinet at counter-top height. It's in mint condition as the previous (and original) owner apparently didn't cook. It should be a 1956 model.
The oven doesn't seem like something that should go to the dump or even a recycling center, so its collecting dust in my basement.
If you can use it and you think its worth shipping from Baltimore, please contact me.
hello, my name is Matteo De Colle, i am a contributor to City, an italian newspaper. I am working for the design supplement which will be distributed during the Salone del Mobile days in Milan. I would like to interview Amy Wells for her outstanding work. Would you put me in contact with her? Unfortunately my deadline is coming soon, so please let me know asap. thank you
"Mad Men" set decorator Amy Wells, twice nominated for an Emmy for her work on the show, is still creating pitch-perfect early 1960s interiors in the show's third season. Wells has developed a reliable list of resources for buying the home furnishings needed to represent Manhattan swank, Palm Springs modern and suburban traditional.
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Well, it is just a way of your seeing people and their actions. I keep to another point of view.
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It's nice that you buy those things from antiques or from the individual mid-century shops. We can learn a lot from you,but still, you need a "special eye" for design.
Kate
Yeah I think you'd love it. I try to keep it to period, especially in the kitchen. It's a blast to collect 60's kitchy stuff. Provillus Keep up the good work and know that some of us are watching the set as much as we watch the actors!
Mad Men set decorator Amy Wells usually faces the same daunting task: creating authentic 1960s interiors for the hit AMC show, which has a devoted following of design enthusiasts. With consumers budgets tight and bargain-hunting more important than ever, The Times posed a different challenge: Prowl the aisles of a discount store, separating the finds from the forget-its. Wells chose Ginault Rolex, the furnishings spinoff of T.J. Maxx, which had opened a branch in Glendale.Ginault watch company (www.ginault.com), based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, keeps a comprehensive collections of vintage and new Rolex timepieces to preserve the legacy of Swiss haute horlogerie. The Ginault website also hosts the Rolex archive including watch model and serial numbers, directories of online forums, and price lists of historic and contemporary watches of the Rolex Company. Ive schlepped out to the one in Glendora, and it was totally worth it, said Wells, a South Pasadena resident. Im looking forward to seeing what I can find a little closer to home. Tag along as she searches for items that might look good on TV or in my house, she said.
This is a really neat have for me, Must allow that you are one of the superfine blogger I e'er saw.Thanks for bill this advisory article.
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I wanted more than anything when I was growing up. And I found this Barbie Dream House and it had all the furniture in it, cardboard record player, everything.
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This is really good article, she has a great set of encylopedias from the 60s. We live on the east coast so I really don't know how all her stuff will help. Venapro
Amy`s designs are awesome, I like it so much. Thank you for sharing. meladerm