The Good Wife Set Decorator Beth Kushnick: Get The Show's Look At Home

From the time the Good Wife first aired seven seasons ago, fans of the series were completely smitten by the show's gorgeous decor, especially in Alicia's home. The series creators, Michelle and Robert King, were invested in it too. “It seemed the look of the Good Wife was really another character,” explains Beth Kushnick, the show's set decorator who was with the series since its beginning. “Sometimes there was an ode to it in the script when a character said, 'I really like your apartment Alicia, who is your decorator?'”

Ultimately, CBS encouraged her to start writing a blog. She was able to mention her retail sources. “If somebody said I want Alicia’s stool like the one in her kitchen, I could easily say, ‘Pottery Barn,’ offers Kushnick. She adds that each and every color palette, style and level of set dressing was meticulously planned. Now she is the set decorator on BrainDead, Robert and Michelle King's new CBS comic-thriller which debuts this June.

When the network asked if she was open to license furniture, she turned to Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams the home furnishings company she worked with extensively on the Good Wife. Together they designed a line of furniture inspired from the set of the show which includes sofas, chairs couches, beds and pillows.

And so her career has been a story of firsts. Because of her collaboration with Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, she is the first person in TV history to create a home decor line for a network TV show. And now she's the first set decorator to have her own licensed product line, BAK Home for IMAX Worldwide Home.

BAK Home contains an eclectic mix of home accessories, lighting, and accent furniture including clocks, vases and lamps in a mix of styles. Her mantra is to offer decor which looks completely unattainable, but in reality, is easily accessible and affordable. “It’s based on my go to items,” explains Kushnick. “These are things that I grab for all different sets, whether it's contemporary, period or more traditional." Some of of the pieces are inspired by what Kushnick noticed is missing in the market. For example, she has a desk accessory set. "When I go shopping for that as a set decorator, I can't readily find it," she explains. "So now it's part of my line.”

Click through the gallery to see popular items from Beth Kushnick's BAK Home collection for IMAX Worldwide Home. BAK Home is available at Wayfair, Amazon, and Walmart.

Kushnick also answered some questions.

What would surprise people about what you do?

People think what I do is incredibly glamorous. But in fact it's very hard work and takes a lot of hours. Me and my team have to put out a fire every 10 minutes.  The sets get built and painted before us. We come in and decorate the set, but everything shifts and changes. Will I be working in a location that will let us have prep time or no prep time? Does my team have to go in at 4am? Do we have to be out the same day? There are so many pieces to the puzzle. When I'm doing two shows, I can have 6 trucks, over 50 set dressers and 3 assistant set decorators working with me.

Do the sets change?

Sometimes our standing sets do double duty. For the Good Wife, I transformed the governor's headquarters bull pen into a hotel room and then turned it back to the governor's headquarters bull pen. We're magicians. But we're very practical. We’re driven in an organized way.

Is there a part of the Good Wife set that you really loved?

I had a lot of my soul in Alicia's apartment. The palate is near and dear to my heart. Her bedroom is my bedroom color, Beach Glass by Benjamin Moore. It's my own personal aesthetic and something that identified me for so long and connected me to people in a ways I never imagined. I have many twitter followers and people who are fascinated and invested in the show. When I was doing the show, someone Tweeted to me, "please ask them I'm to write a script that allows you to decorate my apartment."

What are you proud of with your work on the Good Wife?

I'm really proud of Alicia's apartment for the money. I’m a very frugal set decorator, which is what you have to be when you work in television. We're not given an unlimited budget. I'm never over budget on an episode ever. I know how to run the money and where it's worth spending, where it isn't. And you have to spend. Doing a new show every 8 days, you've got to rely on your staff and the money to get it done.

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