Well, aside from celebrating 23 prosperous years in business in January, there's quite a lot happening in the studio. Come in and take a look...
When I started to write this blog post, I thought about hopping on the bandwagon for one of those
“Interior trends in 2024” posts. Then I remembered.....
1) I mostly lack credentials for the topic because my interiors rarely follow trends. Also, I didn’t attend a furniture or design fair this year so can’t say what’s in the hopper. (However, I have a hunch it won’t be boucle or as many curvy sofas.)
2) How can anyone confidently assert what 2024 holds?
3) Most followers here aren’t interested in trends. Instead, let’s be energized by the fresh year’s promise and potential for sanctuary-like interiors and luxurious designs that enhance daily living and hold a promise to be timeless and a little unpredictable.
When I think of my favorite interiors, what they usually have in common is a cozy luxe mood and a sanctuary-like quality but more so, a point of difference and a bit of surprise if my client is up for a more arty approach. It’s what I try to create in my own home, and it often has little to do with expensive purchases or too much fuss.
Successful interior design for me is mixing in some vintage items, paying attention to lighting, good functionality and integrating comfort. It must however be wrapped up in a shroud of timelessness. In fact, I strongly believe that timeless interiors can only be created when you leave trends behind. It's a question I get asked a lot in consultation.
I'm particularly interested in world design at the moment. Being in Japan at the moment on a bit of a ski trip, I've been looking at traditional Japanese decor and loving its warmth and simplicity.
I must say.... for a maximalist like me, that's really earth shattering! I've always loved the Japanese aesthetic which is unlike anything else in the world!
It has huge point of difference from all other Asian design aesthetics which are typically highly embellished and not really my cup of green tea.
So I'm wandering around in Japan looking at their interiors and thinking as I do about how I would incorporate their aesthetic into my projects....and in fact my into my own home.
The main thing is to not be too obvious with any interpretation or themed design. There's no need to be litteral, better to use subtelty and go with 'echos of' rather than 'screaming of' if you know what I mean.
Here's a bit of inspiration for you (some more litteral than others) :
'Japandi' is what it's called but I'm not sure I like this label. Here's another gallery showing you how it looks in a more modern 'western living' context.
I must say, I really love Japan, the food, the people and the snow. The skiing isn't too bad either. This is me in the Japanese snow being silly:
: )
So, aside from being in Japan, what else is going on?
Well, I have a few projects in the works... (mainly domestic projects at the moment). A kitchen refurb which I'm very excited about.
Some furnishing and decor projects. (Shopping for /with my clients is so much fun!) The instant gratification that a shopping tour brings is very satisfying for me and my client.
I'm also working with some clients on a full refurbishment of a lovely (but currently dated) 2 story home on the canals - Commodore Crescent in Port Macquarie. Interior and exteriors will be brought up to date and the inclusion of an elevator in this design has been interesting.
There are a few larger scale exterior colour selections and retail designs which are also keeping me busy lately.
Studying fine art is keeping me fresh and creative ; )
I have enrolled in a fine art course which I'm loving! It's an amazing course which has been very enlightening so far. Learning more about realism has been so satisfying. Luckily the course is self paced and completely on line as available time is a bit limited with my projects and my current adventure. I'm learning masters techniques such as realistic drawing, scale drawing, oil painting (both modern and traditional) plus charcoal and collage techniques just to name a few. Huge learning curve!
You may not realise that I've been producing and selling art for around 25 years now. Here's a link to my art gallery: (click on the image below to see).
Most of my artwork is large scale canvas art in acrylic. The course is making me feel so excited about art again which to be honest has taken a back seat to my interior design practice over the past few years. I'm working on a number of new art works at the moment which will appear in my gallery on this website once completed.
Well, that's a wrap. I'll be available for consultations after February 19th for both remote or face to face clients. If you're interested, by all means, contact me here.
Sayonara for now.