I’m often asked what inspires me when developing design concepts and detailing. I wish I could say that I have a secret Designatron like the Orgasmatron in Sleeper, but it isn’t that easy.
Fashion has always been a resource and it used to take a year or so to trickle down to the residential interiors market and then commercial. Now it is happening within a year. The consumer now understands the importance of expressing lifestyle in interior environments. With a properly designed interior, you can update a whole space seasonally with just a few inexpensive accessory items that represent the fashion of that season. This is nothing new; I remember as a boy when my mother would change the sofa slipcovers every fall for a new, fresh look.
I am constantly looking at new finish and construction products being developed and how they are advertised and showcased. New technologies are being developed more and more quickly, but budgets are not. The challenge I always give my designers is how to use a little bit of the latest product and make it impactful in just the right space to provide that marketing Wow factor that every community is looking for. By the time the price has become competitive in a couple of years, other designers will be using that product and we will have moved on to something else. It is all about creating a unique product for each unique community, no matter what the budget.
The casinos, resorts and retail stores in Las Vegas provide a great resource, but they don’t like you taking pictures in the casinos. I always have my partner standing by telling security that I am not taking pictures of the gambling, just photos of the interior detailing. The disciplined “anything goes” approach the designers take with their designs offers so many springboards for ideas. Just one little metal detail in a chandelier can generate a concept for a dining room, and has. It is also about using typical materials in imaginative ways that tickle the mind into thinking “what can I do with this 2-1/2-inch clam molding other than use it as a resident room base?” I usually get a negative response to my Las Vegas inspiration with regards to seniors, but have you ever noticed how many seniors are enjoying themselves there?
My education brainwashed me with historical architectural references that I use to this very day. Classical detailing and proportioning have stayed constant throughout the various periods, including modernism, but many chose to ignore it. My stomach churns when I see molding applied haphazardly. With just a little bit of effort, it can be designed and applied correctly and at no additional cost. This allows the finishes to be applied correctly so you don’t have any collisions at those outside corners! The modern aesthetic is relying heavily on detailing again. The use of classic patterns mannered in the mid-century is being used by Jonathan Adler today. Or look at Brocade Furniture, with their baroque-inspired contemporary pieces. My approach when creating traditionally influenced interiors is to bring the different periods together to create an eclectic environment, not the tired matched-set approach so prevalent in senior living communities.
I saved the most obvious inspiration for last: nature. I am not talking about selecting carpet with a leafy vine pattern, furniture upholstered in oak green, rose red or sky blue, finished off with Hudson Valley artwork; but this is what is usually passed off as nature-inspired. I am talking about expressing the feeling the natural experience provides to your mind, body and soul. Trying to mimic nature provides a feeling of not quite being able to access those feelings. The challenge is to create environments that evoke the simplicity of nature, the textures of nature, the randomness of nature, the movement of nature. One day I was walking along the Lady Bird Lake trail here in Austin, like I have done hundreds of times; but this day, for some reason, I noticed the random shadows of the tree canopy on the trail and how the people passed through them. The trail reminded me of a typical resident corridor that is usually treated statically with repeated patterns and/or borders with lighting repeated constantly as well. Why not treat the corridor as a path we experience in nature with surprises along the way? Why not?
