Dream Design Live
eBook - ePub

Dream Design Live

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  1. 240 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Dream Design Live

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About This Book

In Dream Design Live, decorator Paloma Contreras goes beyond interior design to show readers how to inhabit their homes in fulfilling and beautiful ways. Divided into three sections, this hardworking book proves that the most appealing interiors are also the most personal ones. Contreras takes readers through the design process and encourages them to seek inspiration from the approach that works best for them. From thinking creatively to improve both your home and your life, to showing you how to turn your dreams into realities, the author reveals how you can take the welcoming space you've just created and spend meaningful time there pursuing the activities you love. With stunning photography and accessible-yet-elegant tips, Dream Design Live fuses interior decorating advice with lifestyle recommendations and demonstrates how living a happy and satisfying life starts at home.

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Information

Publisher
Abrams
Year
2018
ISBN
9781683353201
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DREAM

Every design project begins with inspiration. When starting a new project, my jumping off point can be anything from a beautiful fabric to the colors in a piece of art to the vibe of a favorite clothing store. Inspiration is literally everywhere; it surrounds us at every hour of every day, and it has the potential to be both amazing and completely overwhelming. The chapters in this section address where to find inspiration and I discuss some of my own design inspirations while showing you how to cull through your ideas to create a cohesive vision. The trick is to know how to tap into inspiration and transform it into something that serves your mission, whether it is designing an entire house or setting the table for a special dinner.

CHAPTER ONE

FINDING INSPIRATION

I did not consciously realize during my journey that I had been following the path of inspiration all along. From the childhood bedroom and experiences that began to shape my appreciation for interiors to the trip to Europe that inspired me to deeply examine my life’s purpose and eventually shift gears, inspiration has appeared in my life time and time again, serving as the impetus for many important choices. Whether I’m creating a space for myself or for a client, every project starts with inspiration. Finding a source of inspiration establishes a framework for my vision. It helps me find the road map that will ultimately take me from inspiration to implementation.
Looking for, finding, and committing to a vision is a key step because designing a space, whether it’s large or small, requires making many decisions. Having a strong source of inspiration will help you make these decisions. When things get overwhelming and you come to a halt, or when you have to make difficult budgetary decisions, going back to your inspiration for the project can help to bring things back into focus and help you make the best choices.
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In our office, everyone has their own inspiration board to express what they are gravitating toward.
Inspiration can be anything from the color of a favorite dress to the texture of a natural element such as a seashell or piece of wood. The key is that it must evoke a strong emotional response. Start by thinking of what makes you happy. Don’t worry about whether something is on trend or in style. Instead, find the things that bring you joy. Pay attention to how things make you feel and what you find yourself responding to. Inspiration can be anywhere. It can strike at any moment. I’ve been inspired by architectural details while walking down the street, by memories associated with the flavor of a food, or by ideas that come from listening to a song. These are varied sources of inspiration, but the common factor is that something in these experiences made me happy, brought me a sense of peace, or spurred a strong emotional connection. Sometimes the inspiration is fleeting, and I know that if I don’t capture it somehow, I’ll lose it the next day. Other times, an image will stay with me for years and I’ll be able to think of that source of inspiration and immediately conjure up what I was feeling at that moment.
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In our client’s foyer, a calming oceanscape creates a welcoming vibe.
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A glimpse into our client’s living room from their light-filled foyer.
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A series of framed de Gournay panels in my dining room. They make me happy each time I see them.
Think about experiences that you find moving or memorable. Did you recently attend an exceptionally fabulous party? What did you love about it? What did the hostess do to make her guests feel special? Pay special attention to how you feel when you find yourself in different environments. Did you recently enter a room that felt especially inviting or cozy? If so, why do you think that might have been? Were there beautifully arranged stacks of books? Did candles and lamps on dimmers light the room, rather than overhead lighting? Was there a particular smell as you walked from one space to the next? Or maybe you sat next to a well-dressed person on a plane and noticed the combination of colors and fabrics in their outfit and how their accessories played off the overall look. Experiences can be just as inspiring and formative when it comes to our style as pictures in magazines or individual objects such as paintings.
Once you open yourself up to evaluating your daily life, you’ll start to see many things that inspire you. Try to break down each experience and think about why something is attractive to you and what it is that you feel. In this way, you’ll start to understand what types of objects or experiences make you feel happy and how to draw on them as you create your own space.
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This cheeky photograph by Alex Kostinskyi made me smile the first time I saw it and I had to have it in my home!
For me, inspiration often feels like a moment of panic. I’ll be struck by something that feels incredibly moving and it sparks the impetus for me to act upon it right away. Whether it is an idea for a client’s window treatment, a new product design, or even an idea for a book or blog post, I usually feel an unsettling sense of urgency to make it happen.
I tend to experience inspiration for my projects when I’m relaxed, or on vacation. Travel is endlessly inspiring. It is so easy to get lost in the beauty of a new place. No matter where you are, stop to take in the colors, details, and feelings of a new place. Going on a trip gives us the opportunity to shake things up and escape our regular routine, so we’re more likely to really look around us and pay attention. When you’re going from day to day in your usual rhythm, you are less likely to notice interesting, beautiful, or inspiring things because you are so entrenched in your daily habits that you become immune to your surroundings. Whenever I get away, even if only for a short period, leaving my familiar surroundings immediately focuses my attention on the new place. Even better, I find that I always return rested, refreshed, recharged, and ready to tackle creative projects and see things with fresh eyes.
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For our client’s house in the Hamptons, I was inspired by the family’s desire for a relaxing place to escape the chaos of the city.
While it isn’t always possible to go away on a trip, the important lesson here is to practice looking for inspiration so that you see it when it arrives at your doorstep—whether you go out looking for it or it arrives on its own. A great alternative is to indulge in a Saturday afternoon in pursuit of inspiration. Visit a local museum or gallery or get lost in a marathon of foreign or classic films.
We also have the world at our fingertips thanks to blogs, social media, magazines, books, and films. Between Instagram and Pinterest alone, inspiring images, people, and places are just a click away. Once you start identifying what resonates with you in your mind’s eye, you’ll find everyday places such as your favorite restaurant or boutique can also be great sources of inspiration. Allow yourself to think about the things that inspire you beyond their intended purpose or usual parameters.
Just the other day, I was at a stone showroom in Houston, shopping for countertops for a client, and I found myself completely inspired by all of the exotic stones they had on display. The stones were too exuberant for me use in a traditional application for a client, but I found myself in awe of the fact that so many beautiful colors and patterns occur naturally occur in the Earth. Mother Nature is truly the most talented of all designers! I started to look at slabs of marble, quartzite, and semiprecious stones through a completely different lens. These weren’t just countertop materials; they were works of art. I stopped thinking of these materials as something utilitarian for a kitchen and just started appreciating their beauty. One day, inspired by this trip, I will put together a project where I hang a beautiful slab on a big, white wall and have an incredibly impactful piece that sets the tone for everything else in the space. The showroom experience was a good reminder to think about why I’m inspired by something without ruling it out as “not my taste” immediately. Remember to open your eyes to everything around you.
Kelly Wearstler, a designer who definitely has a very unique and identifiable point of view, likes to cull inspiration from her huge collection of books. She once told me, “I have over two thousand titles of rare, out of print, vintage, and contemporary books on everything from fashion and design to architecture and landscape art. It is the first place I go for inspiration.” If you don’t have quite this extensive of a library, a similar and effective creative exercise to help you identify your inspiration would be to open up a few magazines and tear out the pages that inspire you.
Once you get in the habit of identifying what resonates with you, you’ll start to find inspiration everywhere, even everyday places like your favorite restaurant or boutique. Whether you devote a day to go to a museum, have a picnic in the park, or pursue inspiration via your chosen outlet of inspiration, spend a few hours in this way and you may be surprised by how energized you will feel the next day.
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A chic mix of materials and silhouettes in a client’s living room.

CHANNELING INSPIRATION

After you’ve gathered images, details, memories, natural objects, or other sources of inspiration that speak to you, the next step is to step back and evaluate everything. Evaluating and editing your sources of inspiration might seem overwhelming at first, but it’s simply a matter of training yourself to think through why you were attracted to something. For example, do you find yourself being drawn to one color in particular or the work of a specific designer over and over? What recurring themes or design elements do you find yourself consistently attracted to?
After I have evaluated my sources of inspiration, I usually begin the editing process. Because it can be easy to get overwhelmed with visual inspiration through social media and blogs, I make sure to edit before I start working on determining the inspiration or direction for any given project, whether it is a powder room design for a client or an outfit to wear to a wedding.
First, I find the image or thing that I feel most moved by and use it as the central factor for the project’s inspiration. It could be anything from a fantastic pair of shoes to a great chair or a photograph of one of my style icons, such as Lee Radziwill or Kate Moss. Next, I pull additional images that feel like they are in line with the same overall look or mood that I’m envisioning for the...

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