Happy World Interiors Day 2024!

I will be celebrating World Interiors Day this Saturday, May 25, 2024, which is an event sponsored by IFI (The International Federation of Interior Architects/ Designers).

Working with an interior designer can greatly improve the experience of your home, how you live in it, and ultimately the value of your space. Life is so much better if you love where you live!

Interior designers can help with:
* Floor plans
* Space planning
* Color palette
* Paint selection
* Lighting selection and design
* Furniture and furnishings selection
* Art selection and placement
* Bath and kitchen remodels

* Whole house remodels

In my own practice, I can help with any or all of these steps. If you have unlimited time and patience, you could tackle some of these yourself, but why bother when an educated, knowledgeable professional can save you time and heartache (and heartburn). But most importantly, an interior designer can save you money by helping you to avoid mistakes that would be costly to amend, fix, or do over, which is especially true with kitchen and bathroom remodels. It is not as easy as it looks on HGTV!

I am an advocate for my clients, introducing them to products and materials that they might not otherwise know of. I can help to expand design sensibilities into new, exciting areas. And I can bring to the project advantageous relationships with vendors, suppliers, and tradespeople that clients normally would not have.

If you have been a fan of design but have never worked with an interior designer before, or if you have been thinking of perhaps working with an interior designer on a possible project in your home, or if you have started a project on your own but can't quite seem to finish it, I encourage you to contact me. I can help to greatly enhance your home and your life in it with thoughtful design. My business motto is, "Shape your home, shape your surroundings, shape your life."

Click on my business logo to the right to see my website, my portfolio, and to contact me!
Happy designing!

Legends of Design: Kelly Wearstler

Can one be a Legend of Design and still be alive? For this installation of Legends of Design, I say "yes."

Kelly Wearstler began her design journey after a stint working in motion picture art departments in Hollywood by opening up her eponymous studio in 1995. She soon met her future husband, Brad Korzen who hired her to design his own home as well as several properties owned by his real estate group, Kor Realty Group. She has since developed into a force in the industry. Known for her clothes and high heels as much as her interiors, Wearstler has mined several design styles, working in once-popular vernaculars and pretty much single-handedly bringing them back into the consciousness of the design community. Mid-Century Modern gave way to Hollywood Regency (previously mentioned here), beautifully profiled in her second book, Domicilium Decoratus: Hillcrest Estate, Beverly Hills, California.

This was my first complete exposure to Wearstler's work and I was dazzled. It is a profile of her own home, the Hillcrest Estate in Beverly Hills. The decor inside is full-on Hollywood Regency with a deft mix of antiques, vintage, and modern with touches of exotica.

Wearstler, maybe more than any other current interior designer, truly revels in what she does. One can tell by her creations that she truly loves textures, shapes, color, space, pattern...all the basic elements that make up an interior design...and the marvelous frisson that can result from their unexpected combinations. Look at the love and care with which she assembled her Hillcrest Estate above, curating a maximalist experience that is jaw-dropping.

Wearstler has designed an incredible number of hotels starting with the Avalon Beverly Hills in 1999 as well as a long list of restaurants; visit her website to see photos of these projects as there are too many to include here in this post. As she has moved from project to project, she has expanded her visual vocabulary and now includes silhouettes and colors of the Memphis/Ettore Sottsass movement (previously here) as well as the rounded sturdy organic shapes of Brutalism. Let's look at her Malibu beach house to see an example of these styles. She eschews the tired blue-and-white beach house theme for a sun-bleached approach with not a blue to be found. The simplicity of the design itself allows nature outside to be the star.

Wearstler has also designed homes for many celebrities and non-celebrities...so, because I just can't resist, I leave you with some views of a home she designed for a couple on Mercer Island In Washington. Again, on display is her commitment to natural stone, textures, unexpected colors, and materials. Just phenomenal.

Happy designing!