Purpose, Personality, & Paris!
Me and my mom at the launch party for Hermes’ new tableware collection, featuring a polaroid photo of us taken at the 25th anniversary celebration for Hartmann & Forbes.
For those of you who have perused the “About” page on our website, you’ll know that from a young age I knew I wanted to be an interior designer. The calling to the craft can largely be attributed to the influence of my mom, who filled our home with a blend of Provençal ease and sophisticated Parisian flair. We spent weekends shopping for antiques in Kensington, MD (one of our favorite stores is Goldsborough Glynn) and delving into the fabric shelves at the late great Pierre Deux. My mom taught me how to create spaces that were personal, comfortable, and original.
To my mom's dismay, I've gradually lost almost all my knowledge of the French language over the years. Oui, oui, c’est triste. Nonetheless, echoes of my childhood French influence resonate in my adult life, manifested in my love for their artistry and style. France is a culture that integrates beauty and design at its very essence.
For this reason, I have long dreamed of attending the largest international design exhibitions held biannually in Paris, Maison & Objet and Paris Deco Off. Both trade shows present the newest innovations in materials, methods, furniture, lighting, rugs, textiles, and décor, offering designers the opportunity to learn, view, and order products before they arrive in the US market
2024 marked the year, and who better to take with me than my Francophile mom, who appreciates design, art, and unpasteurized cheese as much as I do. A bonus is her fluent and eloquent proficiency of the language, along with her ability to get us back to our apartment when my phone dies and we can no longer access Google maps.
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs hosted a solo show for fashion designer Iris van Herpen that illustrates her unique vision where nature, folklore, and futurism convene. Read the article by Vanessa Friedman in The New York Times. Photo courtesy of Luc Boegly for The New. York Times.
Since returning from Paris, a lot of people have asked me about the visual trends I saw. I saw many. There were trends that I thought were on their way out, but now know they will be around for at least the next year. There were macro trends in color, shape, and texture. There were also niche trends in material, pattern, and detailing. These trends will permeate the US market in the next 3-6 months.
But here’s the thing with visual design trends: I don’t like them. I’ve never understood the value of designing a space to align with a trend, because it feels to me like designing in alignment with someone else’s perspective or adopting a generic point of view. I went to Paris with my own trend in mind: finding beautiful and unique new products and sources that embody designing with personality and individuality.
I recently listened to an interview with Tory Burch on the How I Built This podcast by Guy Raz. During the interview, she said, “fashion can change the way we feel about ourselves”, and it made me think about how interior design can do that too. Historically, we define our identity through the environments we inhabit. Whether it’s your home, your office, or a hotel you choose to sleep in, the design choices that were made such as materials, furniture, lighting, architectural details, art, and décor can communicate and reflect our brand, our personalities, our cultural values, and our individuality in ways that contribute to comfort, well-being, and messaging.
Designing with personality and individuality at the forefront tells us about who you are, the world you live in, and the world you want to live in.
We saw many things in Paris that fit with this philosophy, and we're excited to incorporate them into our library and integrate them into our projects. Below are a few of our favorites!
Left: Pierre Frey represents made-to-order, customizable, screen-printed fabrics and wallpapers from the artisan brand Thorp of London. Right: Luteca’s collection of handcrafted, Bauhaus era design, inspired by Mexico, includes this Woven Credenza, by American Michael Van Bueren, 1940.
Designer Timothy Corrigan launched a collaboration with passementerie powerhouse Samuel & Sons called “Bagatelle”, highlighting trim’s versatility in custom detailing.
Collaborating with a designer is valuable as we extract your unique style and assist you in articulating how you want to live, as well as the experience you wish to create in your space. Our design methodology doesn't hinge on trends or someone else's vision; it centers on the identity of our clients and what matters to them. In this way, design fosters unity to ourselves, our values, our environment, and our communities.
We see design as an opportunity to weave experience, emotion, and connection into the spaces around us. That is the kind of world in which we want to live, work, and play.
Design starts & ends with you.
Nous avons hâte de vous montrer la suite.RB.
