space and place: rooms that feel good

I have a theory that most designers/architects/stylists and home DIYer’s are nomads inherently. This nomadic life can happen literally or virtually or via life choices, but they often take a unique, winding path because they are so sensory at the core of their nature. The earthy tones of Sedona, hikes in Orcas Island where the Madronas twisted by the sea or the mornings in Sandpoint where the whole lake is all quiet and glitter. Space and place are always in conversation informing each other, interacting with each other. Bringing the depth of experience of place into interiors is the joy of our work.

There is a lot of talk about rooms these days that have a  “soul”. I find this to be an elusive term. Whose soul?  The client, the designer’s? One hopes to create spaces that comfort and enchant. So I think the best way to think about the resonance that great rooms illicit is that these rooms have a presence.

Masterful rooms by talented designers have a presence to them, an unseen quality. Each space and client are so unique and varied as their tastes, muses, color combos and visions., yet there is an underground logic to rooms that feel good to be in. The more projects we do the more vital I see the importance of the integration and mastery of these elements. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are core elements that visually, intellectually and emotionally resonate. These elements we go back to again and again, day after day as we try to do our best work.

Symmetry, Balance and Flow

Does the buildings’ bones and material composition promote symmetry and balance? The core of the design, and the degree the impact it makes begins with the logic behind the materials, chosen objects, rooms and flow. This is perhaps the most important and least realized component of design. There are no fast and hard rules on how to achieve this in a space, but it needs to be thought about first. The first step in our work is to find the symmetry, balance and ideal flow of the rooms pertaining to the function of the space. Nicole Hollis’s work is always a guide and good example to me of rooms with this collected, calm logic. The bones and lines of her rooms, her use of negative space, her balance of creativity and restraint are so exact. She has restraint without losing wonder a clean, edgy brilliance in her use of space, materials and flow. 

(images: NICOLEHOLLIS)

Icons and Artists

Art and Iconic designs (real or inspired) add a whimsy and specialization to rooms.  They are also universally recognized, so for retail or rental spaces they align your business in a visual way to your core audience. You can attract your client visually in fast, effective and powerful ways will well selected art and icons. This is also a tool we use to utilize budgets with greater creativity and longer term investment potential.

 Plants

The element of life changes the energy of the room and space. It creates a sense of harmony and balance and expansion to rooms. It is also a great way to incorporate delicate forms and colors that are the highest forms of art.

Materiality

Often when you look at great room, don’t look at what’s in the room, look at what the room is composed of? Does it have rich materiality in terms of cement, woods, mill work, large glass windows, plants etc. The materials present in the design or chosen objects is a key component of the total aesthetic power of the space. I am drawn often to clean sparse rooms with moments of deep, rich materiality like chrome, glass, marble, stone. These natural elements are elementally elegant. They don’t need to be large or expensive, but their complexity of being and commonality in the natural world makes them universally loved. When materials are intentionally and thoughtfully integrated they make the other aspects of design more effortless

Color & Form

We mostly work styling interiors, but as of late have gotten into Art and product much more. There was a lesson I learned in this; the real passion behind our reason for being a company is our love of color and form. Rooms and (art) needs color and form. The eye in a room is drawn to color and form. The subtle nuances in these categories is the drive behind my designs. I hunt for the perfect mink brown velvet, I want the marble to be complex, but not overwhelming. The magic of art and design is the moment when the color and form settles into a place where you just have a sense that its done.