Atlanta Interior Decorator Brian Patrick Flynn Brings Contagious Joy and Bright Colors to New Design Show

Standing at 6 foot, five inches tall, talking rapidly with a sharp, sometimes self-deprecating, but unmatchable wit, Atlanta based interior designer Brian Patrick Flynn will be the first to tell you he isn't like anyone else hosting a design show on television.

"I'm just some guy who's making things up and it seems to be working," he says in the opening line of the first episode of his new Magnolia Network show, Mind for Design.

Flynn didn't go to design school; he actually went to film school and his background is in set design and styling for film and television. After years of creating beautiful tableaus for the screen, people around him took notice and began asking to hire him to design spaces in their homes. As he transitioned into interior design full time, the idea of having a show or being cast onto an existing design show was something that crossed Flynn's mind.

"I always got passed up for things because I didn't fit the mold. I don't have a look that's similar to anyone else's look. I have a really wide range of styles that I work with. And what happened was I saw all these opportunities come and go for other people and I just figured well the way that I work, I guess it's just not interesting or I guess maybe don't really understand my work. Which was fine. It just pushed me to do more and more work for my clients and make people happy," he told to Southern Living.

Tomas Espinoza

But in true, modern success story fashion, in 2016, Flynn began to document all of his projects on his social media and his business was suddenly booming. It wasn't long before he captured the attention of high profile clientele, magazines, HGTV, and then, renovation show juggernauts, Chip and Joanna Gaines, who just happened to be launching their own network and Mind For Design was born.

"What I've realized is because of what Chip, Joanna, and Allison, our president, they love most, they love storytelling that's not overly produced. They love the idea of just seeing things come to life. And for them, the way that I work is the storytelling," Flynn said.

In each episode you will follow Flynn and his team along through a different renovation project but one of the things that sets this show apart from the others is that, as he says, this is not "a cliffhanger show."

"Sometimes interior design projects are fun. And sometimes they go well planned and there's curveballs that come people's way but there's really nothing that you would see on Mind for Design that would cause you stress. You should just watch it and you should feel good and when you turn it off you might want to go try using hot pink on your ceiling," Flynn said in his trademark deadpan style.

"I'm hoping that I'm bringing some optimism and no drama to these people's houses because that's the way I live my life."

The purpose of this show is first and foremost, bring back the joy, and yes, in many cases, also bright, bold colors. Viewers will learn to understand the process of creating beautiful spaces from Flynn's unique perspective, which is to remain true to the person he's designing for, but with a gentle push to maybe go a little bolder than they would on their own. But it's his astute attention to the details, the little things that make a space a home that drew us in to this show. When the room is finished and Flynn and his team are in the staging phase we see in almost every other renovation show, the difference here is every piece has a purpose. As we'll see in episode two of Mind for Design, he's designing a nursery for his little sister who is expecting twin girls.

"We found my mom's dress that she was brought home from the hospital in, in 1949. So I decided we've got to have something super personal in this room that's not brand new. That just got hung up on a hanger in the room," he explained. Check out a clip of that special episode below:

But there is one more element that sets this show apart from the others. From start to finish, you see that this is a group effort.

"Behind every good designer is a project manager that handles all the books, handles all the spreadsheets. There's also a locations manager that handles the actual physical location and what day garbage day is and what the codes to the security system are, what the schedule is for the kids to be out of the house, so nobody comes over while people are getting kids ready with backpacks. And then also how important stylists and photographers are. So, what I did with my show is I wanted to make sure that we're all on camera."

Magnolia Network

At the end of every episode, we see photographer Robert Peterson come in and capture images of the final product. While Flynn acknowledges a photoshoot isn't incredibly captivating television, he felt it was important enough to include because the images are vital to his success. "If I didn't have this library of images, I wouldn't have my career. So I'm happy that people will start to see that photography is a huge part of an interior designer's life."

Kelly Christine Sutton

Be sure to tune into this fresh new take on giving our homes a fresh new take. Mind For Design is streaming now on discovery+ as a part of The Magnolia Network.