As the weather gets chillier, and the nights get longer, all attention turns to the bedroom. The comfort we can get from a cozy design increase as the temperature dips
We all love looking at a beautifully designed room. The impact of flow, form and function in a space can be transcendent. As we face another New Year – particularly after two years of unique and acute challenges, globally, and often, as a result, individually-the comfort we get from a well-designed space can be indescribable. You cannot put words to the comfort, warmth, serenity, or restorative quality of a beautiful room. It is just something that you feel.
As designers, we learned the fundamental building blocks of the art of design. From scale and proportion, to balance and harmony, to colour theory – these principles highlight that there is indeed a very technical side to the process, which can be acquired through theory and practice.
Still, the heart and soul of design is not something that can be easily extracted from a book. Great designers not only design with precision, but also with an incredible amount of energy, creativity and spirit. You can feel the difference when you step into a space that was designed with a deeper intention in mind.
As a designer, my mandate is to thoughtfully reveal the authentic aspirations of each client to create spaces that are rich in spirit and restorative to the soul. Although the process and end product may vary for each homeowner, here are my top 5 things to always keep in mind ahead:
Focus on a feeling
When we start working with clients, this is one of the first and most important exercises we go through. We ask them to come to the design briefing with a variety of inspiration photos that elicit an immediate reaction or feeling. It should be visceral: it either moves you, or it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter if you love a specific sofa or armchair in a living room reference. What’s important is to try and nail down the overall intention and sentiment of the space, because without this key piece of information, it’s hard to actually design with much meaning and purpose.
Get personal
Whether you’re working on your own or with a designer, get very personal. During the onboarding process, a good designer will ask questions in a variety of different ways, trying to get to the root behind your aspirations. If we aren’t getting anywhere with straightforward questions, we may pivot to exploring areas like art, music, travel. Ultimately, it’s not about trying to identify the exact shade of colour you want. Rather, why are you drawn to the colour in the first place? Because in understanding the underlying desire and reason behind a choice, it becomes much more impactful.
Find balance
Balance and harmony can be brought into a room in so many different ways. It can be as simple as highlighting overall symmetry, or utilizing the principles of Feng Shui, or focusing on harmonizing the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). The point is, finding a way to create balance and harmony in a way that visually makes sense to you will add calmness and a restorative quality to your home
Go natural
Finding ways to incorporate natural and organic elements into your home is always soothing to the soul. You may want a very rustic looking space containing wood with a live edge. Bring in a soft alpaca throw or add subtle fluted wood detailing accents or piece of furniture.
Follow your heart
We often intuitively know exactly what we want, so instead of trying to create an endless array of the “why it won’t work”, focus on ways to work with your overall vision and bring it to life. Usually having this sense of direction and conviction is the best way to enter into a partnership with a designer. Because it’s not a designer’s job to think for you. Rather, it’s our job to help edit and bring a certain level of focus to the project, to help bring your ideas to life in the most beautiful and meaningful way possible.