An Approach to Creating Bold Interiors
Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2021 Collection
Design the Runway Collection First
In upscale interior design, much like in fashion, there is often the goal of creating something unique and bold yet polished and high-end. Personally, when I start with the “safe” design and try to amp it up with bold pops of wow moments, it never ends up the way I hope. I end up getting stuck on where to take the design, which areas to amplify or add to, and it becomes tough keeping everything cohesive.
The better way to approach design is to start with the big, over the top look, and then scale it back. Just like fashion designers who make their ready-to-wear collection based on the runway look, as an interior designer you have to know what your “runway look” is in order to create the ready-to-wear version. If you start with the safe, polished version of your look and try to add to it, you probably won’t add enough or let it evolve big enough to truly WOW. Instead, start with a borderline ridiculous, over the top theme or vision so you can edit DOWN not UP.
When I used to do decorative finish work, a builder called me in to do a small repair on a wall that had gotten scratched. The homeowners were applying for a feature in Architectural Digest and wanted everything perfect for the pictures. As I walked through the massive home, it was clearly very expensive with high-end finishes left and right, but there wasn’t a visual moment that COMMANDED attention. Every room appealed to the masses - the designer played it safe. That’s great, but being “safe” doesn’t really get people talking, and it probably doesn’t represent someone’s personality the way a bolder design might. Which brings me to my next point.
Embrace the Weird
Look to your client’s eccentricities for inspiration on over-the-top themes for their design. Custom is my middle name as an interior designer. The more custom someone gets, the less the design appeals to the masses because it’s increasingly specific to one person. Obviously, don’t let a client lead the design vision off a cliff, but if they have atypical tastes, run with it!! If a client tells me they’re obsessed with Star Wars, you bet I’m gonna take that ALL the way. Maybe I’d watch the movies and get inspired by the modular look of the Death Star and translate it into a dream kitchen, or maybe the twinkling of the stars when the ship goes into hyperdrive inspires a crazy awesome chandelier design. Take the “weird” and RUN WITH IT. Live and breathe the runway design so that when you go to create the ready-to-wear version, you do it through avant-garde glasses.