Lessons

Lesson Info

12:45 pm - A Case Study on Personal Style

that's what I think is gonna be fun about this session is we call it here a case study of my personal style, and I'll certainly show you some of the things I love because you've all been showing me the things that you love. But I think this is really an opportunity to talk about the tips and tricks and techniques that I love to use in interior design. So in a way, this session can be about how to design and all of those riel from a dizzy things, a taste of what I cover in my own course called those on from A to Z. So I hope it's interactive. I hope you all will ask questions, and we want questions from the online audience. And let's just make this a fun, interactive hour and 1/ for this session and talk about the things that certainly reflect my signature design style. But we can go a little deeper into that hole ideas Well, anything that any of you came to this course hoping toe learn that maybe I can also teach you. Anybody have any ideas of what you you wanted to get out of this cou...

rse that maybe we haven't covered yet or anything just in general that you would like to know more about. Yes, Um, I have a problem balancing things and like the space, um, so sometimes just it just looks so empty. Like my living room looks to empty. So I have a couple of things that I kind of arranged, but it looks imbalanced then. Eso What do you think? What do you tell me? A little more about that. Like you feel like you need more things in your home or you just don't know which things to bring together in a space. I think I want to bring more, um, their creations apart. Okay. So, even like accessories and finishing touches? Yes. That's great. Anything else anybody would like to Jackie? Yes. I think I'm on the opposite side. Sometimes I think I go overboard. And so how do you balance it that way? Editing. Exactly. We need an editing I and it's hard to not put everything that you love in one room. So had a detached from a few of those things are moving into some other rooms. Okay, that's a great one. Anything else? Come to mind that any of you would love help working with Sally. Sally, Sally as I need so much help, But as an artistic travel, you know, I have all these things that are so cool. These things that are like would be, like a highlight in a room. But my other side is that I'm a really clean sort of modern architect away from my own stuff. And so I can't stand the thought that the stuff I'm not using I would store somewhere in heaven lighter. I would want to rather get rid of it. I can't get rid of it because I love up, but you can't have more than a few things out. So my house is like all these little vignettes of strange little things. It's a little confusing. You're starting from around the world. When you go through Sally's house, you're in one place over here, and you come to the next city over here. Okay, So how do we make those things work together? Okay. Anything else come to mind for anyone? Anything? Uh uh, again. Just mixing two spaces. But I think that will become a more in form and function. But Yeah. Good. So you're already looking forward to the next course? Yeah, I think because I have a bedroom and I have an office and I can't make it be too cozy or to work space. And so they're different sides. The rumor fighting with each other, so sort of life. But that's a great point, cause I can cover that in some of these rooms that we're gonna look at in just a moment to So even like the dilemma we head from an online viewer yesterday that had the husband with the television and the and the desk that also needed to go into the living room. So how in the world do you bring these multipurpose spaces? Are functions together in one space and still make it look beautiful? Okay, Online. Which is quite interesting. Now, this one we definitely touched on yesterday. So you met. This may be a very quick answer, few Toby, but she's saying she's currently read. This is criminal hope. Apologies, criminal help saying I'm currently redoing my home with a designer. I live in South Florida on a notice that she is a certain style that is not my own. I keep trying to explain in words that she understands, but it's she's no understanding it. Any point is to help. Yes, five. That designer, you know what else? Crimson Hyper earlier said. Actually, I cleared everything out and told that you gave the designer open scope and I'm really not had I feel that what she's put in is at OLE Thing. I'm typing. Figured that's interesting. And that's what I said earlier. And of course, I think that I would never want to say anything against any other designers because I know that there's lots of different lots of different personal styles and talents and techniques out there. But I do think one of the most important things and we heard this a little bit earlier from another online beer was. If you're going to get help or if you're going to even thinking about reading magazines or other things, make sure that the guide that you're using for your design process is truly aligned with your personal style. So from the very beginning, we started almost three days ago with a problem solution, right, Like the problem is, I don't know my design style or why do I need to know my design style and these air very clear examples of why it's important to really know who you are. And I see this so often in my design business now, the next step to that. Is it sometimes difficult for designers and consumers to say no to working with someone who is a designer? A lot of people just go well. My style is this, but I will work in any style. I found that I'm best when I'm working with other designers when their style is really akin to my authentic style. So it's like a light. It's a very in many ways intimate relationship with the designer were in people's homes with their most important things and moments, And so just like you look for a mate in your doctor, your spouse or any other professional you're working with, I think it's really important that you align with your designer. So that's interesting. That's a tricky one, and I say that come up a lot well. But one of the things she could do it, she could use a lot of the tools that we've given her over these last few days that really show her design style may be in a better way. So a lot of times people also have trouble visualizing. Or maybe they could envision it but can't articulate what they love to someone else. So hopefully we've given some tools. Some labels Cem Logan you know, some, uh, taste makers and trendsetters and celebrity designers and other people that they can use to really start showing that person that they're working with what they really love. So well, let's look yes, I like I learned what I've done People's homes. It's best that they're not there cause like the a lot of people don't like to put things aside and let out of sight, out of mind on for me. I'll go shopping and buy things and organize it, put it all together and then have them come to the home and then they can get the whole vision right? But I had a situation where he did someone's house and we had a dumpster, and they went dumpster diving and picking the stuff out of this stuff. Well, who was designing their home? So it's better to map out what you want, like showman image, and then have them leave, So you were getting rid of some of their things for them and they were picking them out of the out of it. So that's that's a difficult relationship to because his designers, we think, well, they hired us to give them this look and they told us what one of these things aren't gonna work. We get rid of them, But But then there, too emotionally attached to those and they really are there. So it Zaveri, that's what What I mean by saying it's an intimate relationship were very involved in really sensitive situations is designed professionals. But I agree that it Lietz at the installation. I've never gotten rid of of anyone's things without their permission. But I have have moved, You said, you know, put them, removed him from a room and put him somewhere else and said, Here's some things that just didn't work in this space. Let's find a new home for them or something else. But yeah, it's it is hard for people to be there while you're doing the design, because I can't get the whole vision and they get there's some fear that creeps in white. You're moving that I loved that. That that needs to go in here. But if they come in and see it later and it's all together, I can go. Oh, wow. I never thought about taking that out, or I never thought about using that in this way. So, um, I think both of those things are true. Okay, So let's look at some of my projects and I'm going to highlight in each one of these a specific design idea or technique. But I'm gonna go into each space and really tell you more about wine design these rooms, cause Jay Ko was even saying yesterday the day before, we'd love to see more of your rooms, Toby, and not only see more of them, but really understand the inspiration behind them And why you did what you did in these spaces and unlawful questions were coming through. Right now, they just want more about Toby, okay. And then the next course form and function. The thing that's going to be fun is not only will I show you some of my own work, but we're going to see the ba fours of some of my work in the next course before and after, and really, how the function transformed which believe fund. So how many of you have seen this this design of mine before? Some of you have seen this. So let's talk about this, this space, this room, and let me really tell you about how this is really a great example of maximizing use and functionality in space. So although it's hard to tell from this image, and hopefully a lot of my design ideas are the reason that it works successfully. The the ceiling height in this space is less than eight feet tall. It's only about seven feet six inches tall, so that's a really low ceiling height. But you can't really tell because of the way I've maximized the function and done some other tricks to really, really expand this space. So this was a basement like it has a walk out to the pool in the back of a client of mine, and it really wasn't being used much at all. It was kind of a an extra living space for her, her sons, and now both of her sons live in L. A. In her actors. But at this point when I first started designing this one was still at home, and then her older son was an actor in L. A. And this is their home in Arkansas, and she wanted it to be a space that he could feel comfortable coming home to. She wanted it toe, have some glamour and, you know, a little bit of that Hollywood style. And I think you see quite a bit of it here, and but she wanted it to be multipurpose for him. So you see, we have. And then she also wanted it to be great for guest, other other friends and people that were visiting. And the before of this, if you could see it, includes grab dark red are grass cloth walls instead of having that posed to be a nice square that holds a lighting picture. It was a tiny one, just metal pole holding the roof up. A lot of you've seen rooms like that that just has a post that structural Ah, and in the way and in the middle of the room. And it allowed. It caused her to not really be able to arrange the furniture in a way that she felt comfortable or felt like it was functional because it split right in the middle of the room. So I said, Well, let's use this as a Q and this. These are the kinds of things that will even do in that form and function workshop. So this is just a taste of that. So, as a designer, what I said was, let's not ignore the fact that there's a metal post in the middle of the room. Let's really use that as an opportunity to divide this space into zones. And you need this to work as a um, an apartment essentially for your son when he's home or for guests. So let's create a sleeping zone in a living zone. And then there's also works in that you can't see there's a built in desk area. So I also said we can't remove the post in the middle of the room, so let's make it. Let's not let it be the elephant in the room like we talked about the other day. Let's actually make it work for us, So can we get electricity to it? Can we use it as a opportunity to add some lighting, which we did and then also as an opportunity to for the division of this curtain that opens and closes around the sleeping zone. So opposite on this wall over here is a television, which you can see from the bed if you want to. You can see it from the living here if you want to. Or you can close the bed curtains and really have a little more privacy for sleeping in the in the bedroom area. From a decorative standpoint, what I did was wrap the entire room and white because we don't want to accentuate that the ceiling is is, um, low. We don't want to accentuate that. This room is really long and horizontal. We wanted toe all seamlessly flow together, and we looked at a lot of rooms over the last few days. As of you that were here that were what we would call a white box, didn't we? And it made a lot of things work. So and then the other trick was to take this really graphic black line that makes the ceiling actually seem taller than it is because you see that strong vertical line that makes you feel like the ceiling is a normal height So what? What do you all think about this room? Not necessarily. Whether you like it or not, you could say whether you do, you're not gonna hurt my feelings if it's not your style. But just from a standpoint of function and maximizing the use of space, Does this help any of you thinking maybe about studio apartments? Or do you have any questions about how to make something like this work? Yes. The first thing I think. What I when I look at this particular spaces, I think like here you've done a good job of making a room beautiful, but also making it comfortable. And I've seen a lot of very beautiful rooms, but they sometimes do not make me feel comfortable. And how do you strike that balance between being a beautiful room? But also been a run that I look like? I feel like I could go into that room and feel comfortable sitting down, going from the sleep space, Teoh the chill out space toe the workspace that we can't see. So what are the elements in this room that make you feel like it's most comfortable, even just from the rug to like the colors on the sofa, even like the bed and the space over there were almost like a look to me, so it's cozy, said the drapery. So things like window treatments can add a lot of comfort, and in this instance we use them as comfort and as a room divider. So I love to use things that are both. And yesterday I think it was yesterday that in our course that we were talking about function and style. I typically let function drive that conversation more than style because I I feel comfortable that I can always spring style and beauty to the space. But if it doesn't function, what's the point? It's really it's not a place you're going to spend. Time is, you've got to get the function piece right first, Um, so I always start with that first, and that's when I go back to a floor plan, which again is what we'll do in the next course a lot and get into this in various kinds of spaces. But once I make sure the function really works, that's when I start saying just like you're saying what would make this room feel great and I think of other examples. So in this you could see that I would be inspired by something like a hotel room. Because if you want a space to feel and think about how well hotel. So this is a place you can look for inspiration in your own and think about how hotels air so great the good ones at creating different zones for you in within a small room, cause a lot of people have to work in that while they're in those spaces on their laptop. Some, if you have happen to have one that say, has a sweet or ah, living area. Sometimes you're sitting in that in a living room, kind of capacity on, and then you're sleeping in those spaces. And I love to take cues from those spaces, and the people that are so savvy at hotel designed four spaces just like this drapery. Soft soft finishes are always going to make a room feel more comfortable. It can also get expensive. But if you keep, if you use something like a solid fabric like I did in this, that's a cotton duck. You know what Cotton duck is that? It's really, really inexpensive in the scheme. In the grand scheme of things, as faras fabrics are concerned, I mean even maybe 10 $20 a yard if you try to get a find one at a goodbye and why it is one of the easiest things to find. So this is a very, very basic fabric at a really good price, because we wanted a whole lot of yards of it, probably 30 or 40 yards of the fabric where we certainly couldn't do a $200 yard fabric in a space like this or for this client's budget. But I think that and the pillows, the shape and style of the furniture, it's glamorous, but it's still a little bit overstuffed that makes it feel like you could pile up there and then some people would think a white room felt sterile or to formal, like you would get it dirty. But I think that the sofas is a violent, it's actually leather and the bed is vinyl. They feel to me like they would be easy to clean. I think in this room you feel like you can put your feet it because you can just wipe off the table top and wipe off of the sofa. So do you all feel that way, too? Anybody feel like this would be too sterile for you, like you would be afraid to relax. It is how much room is there. I've got a tiny, tiny master bedroom. It's frustratingly small. You have to turn sideways to get in around the bed. So if you believe you left quite a lot of room on that you would shut, you'd sort of Neil on the bed and pull the curtains. So there's not very much room, but enough to make the bed on the other side, um, set well on that side on this side, you would either close it when you're on this side of the bed like you're saying, and then just pull the curtain back and climb into the bed or you would even be in the bed and you would pull it shit on the other side. I mean, there's probably about 18 inches on either side of the bed, so enoughto walk in. And then there's swing arm lamps, actually for lighting inside the bed, too, I guess. Also, the thing is, you more pulling. It shot when you're using the other part of the room onto than when you're in the bid, like probably so our Or say if I can vision like if my husband and I were both using this space and my daughter and I might go to bed and he might be up watching television and we would pull, you know, in a hotel, you may be pulled the drapery clothes for for privacy if there's more than one person in the room. Yes, I think the other reason it works is because, as pretty as it is, nothing seems to precious know for sure. I think when you're in a room where they're very high end fixtures and finishes, sometimes you can't relax because you're afraid so that's one of the reasons. Probably. We also see a lot of hotel design, not only because we said we've said several times that modern pieces that air cleaner lines you can also do on a lower budget better than something that's really or night most the time. But they also don't feel so fussy. So because this is cleaner line, it doesn't feel like you're in with precious antiques or something that would be a lot more formal that maybe you wouldn't relax in the same way. I think that's a great point. Okay, So really, one of my very favorite things must have design idea for Maia's. We've we've covered really well and we're gonna cover even Maurin. An entire course in March is that function for me has to come before beauty. It just does and think about most people in America and in other parts of the world. Really, Sometimes we don't even have an option yet to get into beauty, cause we don't have the money to do that yet, or it evolves over time. But your space has to work for you just so you can live in it every single day. Like, where do you store your clothing and how do you had it? You know what's in the space that can support you from a lifestyle in living standpoint? So you have. I think you really have toe get function right. And unfortunately, there are some in the field of decorating that are so focused on beauty that we that they don't stop and really get into function, and that's I hate. When that happens, it's It's frustrating. I know for the end user. Okay? One of you asked this. I think it was Jackie. A. How do you edit art and accessories and the idea of saying no to filler? And I think we said this also one day this week. Don't try to avoid going out to the local store and just loading up on decorative accessories that have no meaning to you and bring him all into your home just so your home can feel finished. Now you can do that in some areas. One of the Dean Murray, who was with us for two days during this course, said she used to work for a couple of major retailers that had a home, the home category. And she said it was interesting because as much as she loved her job, she was always a little bit in conflict with the fact that they were just putting stuff out there, just mass produced objects that are really this idea fillers. It was great for them as a retailer, but it didn't really translate to really unique homes for people. So what kind of comments do you have? Do you all have about this is my own living room in my last house. So again, it's not necessarily about the style, whether it's your style or not. But what thoughts do you have? Or specific questions? Can I help you all with us? Faras editing the things that are happening in your space, on your table tops and on your walls? Jackie D. Do you have a specific question like, How can a What kind of things can hear you like Sally? You can't put things away because you love them all. Yes, I am very much like Sally, um, in that, like I love them all, but it can get to be a little bit too much like just too much stuff at the same time. I just don't like storing stuff away in a bunk somewhere. And the idea of throwing away these treasures, it's kind of like, Why would I do that? Because their treasures. So I think that, yeah, that back, it's really tricky for May. I can put things away and what's interesting. I love to move, and I love not not real real often, like I don't move every year or two, but I love to stay in the home five or six years and then moved to a new home and redesign. And one of the things that I love to do is I do put things away Sometimes if they're not a fit for the style or the architecture of the color palette, I'm going within any given house. But when I come to the next time, I get things out and use them in a completely different way and even furniture. What maybe was in the living room in the last house ends up in a completely different room in the next house. So but I know it is hard for people sometimes to put things away. But what I also have found is a lot of times I have clients. At least you have all of these things out, and they almost become desensitized to them because they're so many things that even when they have family pictures and photographs everywhere, which I encourage people to, you know, have things around them that they love. But they can't even remember if you were. If I were to ask them if they weren't in their home now, which which photographs are on the table, they don't? No, Because they don't even look at them and enjoy them anymore. So it would be fun for you to try putting some things were away for a while and then maybe bringing them out seasonally or, um, you know, different every few months and see if that made you actually enjoy them, or do you think you could try it? You know, it would be hard. I can also ask yourself, use the love tests because there's a difference in liking something and truly loving something and say, Okay, if I was, if I was moving into if I was gonna live on a boat and it was gonna get rid of my home, I was gonna move onto a yacht, and I could only take, you know, 15 things with me. What would make the cut start asking yourself that kind of, um, you know, questions is to see Do I really, really love this or am I just sort of attached to it. Is there a true story? So do you think that there if you did that, would there be some things that you could get rid of her? No, no, that would be something absolutely some things that I could get rid of. It was just be a part of just process going to that process. Steve, are you a person that has a hard time getting rid of things in general? Do you keep things for a long, long time in case you might need it or not really know not what I am like that with artwork, but with other things. My life like papers, things like that. I can't stand to see that clutter buildup, so I'm very meticulous about getting rid of that sort of things in my life. But if it's something I got from a trip for, it's a piece of fabric that I love, and it's very difficult for me to get rid of it. Another thing that I love to do that would be very applicability here would be to use containers. We talked about this a little bit as well, to use beautiful things for you, tilling utilitarian purposes. So you know how we were talking about buying a great bowl That's a coat like a collector's item or an antique or peace when I travel but actually use it for the mail to live in or for, you know your jewelry to be in. But you can also take things from an organizing standpoint and have beautiful baskets or boxes and put Ah lot of things in them and store them. And then you could still get him down off of the shelf and look at him. So if its antique textiles that you don't want to get rid of, but having a way to have them at arm's length but also having them out of the way from a visual clutter standpoint, because I think that's what starts getting difficult. Like Sally was saying, You want them all out, but it starts to seem busy. You don't want to get rid of them. So how can you think of creative ways to store them that would allow you to then come and sit down by cheer, get this down and enjoy looking through them? Same with photographs. I think I encourage people to put him in boxes or albums. I think people enjoy them or when they can get him out and sit and take the time to look through an album than having them all over the house. Your style, though, since It's very much in that artistic traveler. I'd, um, style artwork would look great just leaning on the floor like we've seen some images evenhandedly, where there was two or three pieces of artwork just stacked against the wall, which is kind of fun, so it could still be edited and clean. But part of this layering the who does this kind of speak to your question about finishing so you may not be editing it out. You're adding, you need to add accessories. So how can I help you decide what to collect or how to buy things that would represent your style? I just have, um ah, hard time spending money more in, like decorations, the creations that don't have function that are just there without being used. So I don't know, like, I mean, I'm guessing books. It's a really good idea, because I've seen, like, so many books, Yes, a creation. They look great. Um, so I just feel like I need to, um, see what I like. I think that's a great approach for you. So since you love fashion and you love interiors and there's amazing books about both of those, that could actually be educational for you. That's one of the reasons I have a huge collection of design books, hundreds of books and they become accessories in most rooms. Then I'm in because there truly things that I love and that I collect and that I use, and I will literally go get those books off of that table, move the accessories, often, go sit in a chair and read the books over and over again. I use them often. And then the same thing is we were just saying, Don't forget about things like, ah, bowl or a box or a basket or something that has another purpose and even to the point we were making yesterday about If you think, well, I'm gonna buy this, I guess I'll put it on my coffee table for now, think of other ways you could use it, but if I don't need it there, I could move it to the bathroom. It could hold my jewelry, or it could hold soap. Or it could hook, go in the kitchen on the counter and hold fruit. So when you buy things, think of sort of a progression of uses that you could have over the life cycle of those pieces in your home because it's going to give you some ideas to move things around. Then maybe when you buy something you really love for the coffee table. This goes into the kitchen or goes in another place. It's the same the same approach. I take that when I moved to a new house. Things aren't necessarily in the place that they were before. That's been one of the biggest questions people have asked me about my new home. Is it gonna look just like the last one? No, absolutely not. I mean, I'm not gonna get rid of everything, but I'm gonna put things in different combinations, recover some things, add some new things, get some things out that people have never seen before. That I've been in cabinets and cupboards and and re envision them a few times in this section and and actually throughout the last couple days is about visualization and how designers visualize a space. Except is there any really sort of practical ways you can give advice to non creative people who are not designers, how they can help start visualising the space they want to create? I mean, I really do think that other people's images air so helpful. There are also some websites, like there's one. There's some mood board websites. One, there's one called olio board. There's a few others that you can import a picture of your room and then put images of other pieces of furniture into the space You could if you take a straight on image like of this. If you could imagine that with no furniture in it, I could upload the blank wall picture of the blank wall into this website and then go out. And they even have things you can choose from like sofas that you can choose from. You could pick the style you want imported into the picture and see what it would actually look like on the wall. They're awesome. Great on my tools. Yeah, there are some of those sort of plan E. There is something, you know, like Kanye has a vision right when you're trying to plan the kitchen and I have that sort of graph thing and you drag the bits in and I think there are also if you come on the day wanting to just say flat image and try and think the people that I do. It is a profession to think of it in the three days. Well, it's forest function goes. We sometimes make templates. Let's may sound silly an old, you know, with all the technology we have. But we literally sometimes we'll cut out a piece of brown paper like a piece of what I would call butcher paper and literally like if this desk. If we were trying to see if it would fit, we would just go, OK, it's, you know, it's 24 inches of ah, 36 inches or 48 inches. Let's put that in a square and lay it on the floor and lay it next to a assembly shape on the floor and see if I can walk around if I could move it. If there's a much spaces, I think there is because even when you put things on um, cat or on a floor plan software, it's still intimidated. Sometimes to go well, that's still just can't get a feeling for how much space that is between the chair and the self. Is that going to be crowded so you can go toe very primitive measures and techniques and tools of just literally marking it out in your own room. What was the website you said when you could put your own image up? There's one called Polio Polio Board O L I O B O A R D. There's some other mood board sites, and then there's some things on the IPad. Two. I think there's one cold something like Mark on call. I don't know, really know what's called that, but it's little four plan templates and pieces that you can drop in there, several that you can use that way. So certainly I recommend using those kind of tools. There's also a software called Minutes Matter that's a drapery software. So if you can't envision window treatments, which can get really expensive, you can also import a picture of your room, the actual photograph of the way it looks with the windows, and you can add drapery treatments, and you can even upload a certain fabric. So if you were thinking well, I think I want this floral that it might be too busy for me. You can import that pattern onto the drapery and see what it would look like really interesting. There's almost a tool for everything. Now that's great. Yes, tell you what I really like about this Rama's. I look at it, and as somebody who constantly gets bored in spaces is this, this one can be changed relatively easy. I mean, there's enough things in there that you don't have to make to significant investment. Like just be a poster, some of those chairs and change out the green for some other color, and you almost have a completely different room. That's a great point. And I've even shown this on my blood before and after. So I used to not have all the blue in this space, and it was really primarily green and wine. And some of you may have seen that version of my room when it was really more monochromatic. And then, about two or three years ago, my home was gonna be in a book, a friend of mine's book called Designers at Home and How Designers really Live. And I thought I was going to spice things up a little bit. I'm ready for a change, and I didn't change any of the main pieces I brought blue in in the flowers, the vase, the books. I took a scarf. For that. A friend had brought me from payers and air Miss scarf and turned it into a pill of very, very subtle things. And suddenly it feels like a blue and green room, not just a greenery, but by purchasing things like the sofa being all white, keeping the walls really neutral, the chest on either side of the sofa or white, the mirrors gold. The art works really monochromatic, like a gray and white or black and white. None of those things cause you to have to go a specific color direction, like you're saying it's only the chairs, a few pillows that really define the color. I could take those shares and move into my master bedroom and bring in Orange into this room or bringing yellow into this room. So people who think they want to be able to spice things up or their style is going to be evolving as they go. That's a really smart way to make purchases neutral. So for some of the bigger pieces in neutrals and then layering in color and smaller ways the lamps, the pillows, the chairs that's thank you. That's a great observation