Sophia Bush Explains Why She Kept Her ‘Embarrassing’ Affinity for Interior Design Out of Her Memoir

Actress Sophia Bush is sharing a candid look inside her personal life with her new memoir, “And I Will Tell You Mine: Notes from a Life in Progress.” However, there’s one topic she decided to leave out—her obsession with interior design.

During the Oct. 22 episode of her podcast, “Work in Progress with Sophia Bush,” the “One Tree Hill” alum dug into the details she left out of her book, with longtime friend Elizabeth Kott.

“Everyone should know that Sophia has an insane eye for interior design, and I don’t know if people really know that about you,” said Kott.

As she read through Bush’s memoir, she found herself hoping the star would divulge some details on her home design, Kott said.

In response to the assertion that Bush, 44, could pursue design as “an alternate career," given all of the “gorgeous” spaces she’s “created,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” cast member agreed it’s her “favorite thing.”

“I would love to have that 'Sliding Doors' moment with my own life and see what it might be if I were doing that for a living,” she said.

Bush went on to speculate that her interior design passion likely came from having a variety of residences throughout her career, which has spanned more than two decades.

“I’ve had so many places and spaces in other states. And when you live across state lines in multiple places at the same time, you kind of lose track,” she said. “I really respond to the place that I live in terms of the way my home is put together. The style of the building, the style of the town, you know, whatever it is.”

While Kott remarked that Bush is a “serious shopper”—a statement made in a “celebratory way”—the actress admitted that she has “hit a point” where she’s “consolidated” more home decor than she knows what to do with.

“Like, what am I going to do with all this sh--t?” she questioned. “One of my friends was like, ‘I think you need a Joanna Gaines-style warehouse, and then people should shop it for their clients.’”

Bush joked that it might not be a bad idea to tap the legendary HGTV star to find a solution for her impressive inventory of items.

“I should just DM Joanna, honestly, and be like, ‘Hey, girl, I’ve got to figure out what to do with all this stuff. I think you might want it,’” she quipped, also adding that a “cool, old estate” in Los Angeles might be a great home for her tchotchkes.

“I always joke, these are my treasures and tchotchkes,” Bush added, noting that her wife, retired Olympic soccer player Ashlyn Harris, 41, calls the collection her “trinkets and trash.”

Although Bush’s affinity for interior design is certainly ripe for material, she explained that it wasn’t a topic that felt like a fit for her memoir.

“I just caught myself cringe, because I’m like, ‘Ooh, I don’t know that I would write about my own good taste,’” she said. “I think that would be hard for me. But maybe I should figure out how. Maybe that’s a problem. Maybe it’s like, I need to learn to accept a compliment.”

The actress went on to explain that her design acumen goes back further than she can remember, and recalled a moment from “a couple of years ago,” when she “burned” her “whole life to the ground” and had spent the summer visiting flea markets with her mother—likely referring to 2023, when she had filed for divorce from her ex-husband, Grant Hughes.

“I was talking about, ‘Oh yeah, this looks cool, but they should move this wall, and windows should go here,’ and somebody was like, ‘How do you know that?’ And my mom goes, ‘Oh, she’s been like this since she was a little kid,’” she shared.

According to Bush, her mom continued the story, sharing that “it used to be so embarrassing” to bring her to visit friends’ homes as a child.

“‘We’d walk into somebody’s house, and here comes my 6-year-old being like, ‘Your door is in the wrong place,’” Bush recalled her mom sharing. “And I’m like, ‘I did? I don’t remember that, but I’m so sorry.’”

Bush also added that she enjoys hosting, noting, “I love to have a house full of people.”

With that said, she's still happy to keep some events private, and recently opened up about her decision to marry Harris in a secret backyard ceremony in upstate New York in summer 2025.

"When you get to this stage in your life, you begin to unpack what's yours and what's always sort of been for everyone else," she told Vogue.

Bush detailed the special occasion, explaining that they celebrated with her now-stepchildren, Sloane, 5, and Ocean, 4, whom Harris shares with her ex-wife and former teammate, Ali Krieger, 42.

"The kids were just running and happy, and we picked flowers from the property and our daughter Sloane was holding them," she said. "It was so fun for them, because it wasn't this pressure-filled day that's too much for young kids. It was so precious, and zero pressure. I will never forget it, and I think wedding days sometimes aren't like that."

The night included a marshmallow roast, and Bush and Harris later shared the news with friends and family in person.