“Imagine Ilse Crawford in a Halston dress meets Gil Shafer at Il Pietro.”
This brief for a new client’s dining room in Hudson, NY, might be our favorite so far. It’s not only an elegant mashup of some of our favorite artistic icons in a really fun visual, it contains a treasure trove of clues about this client’s mindset.
One of the trickiest parts of our job is decoding what clients say they like, mapping that against what they actually like, parsing that through what the job calls for, and then delivering something beyond their expectations… yet within their aesthetic foil. We never want to overshoot the mark to a degree that we’ve lost them.
That’s why a directive like that is so powerful…. Here’s how we are using that info and having a blast in the early stages of conceptual design for this dining room:
-Ilse Crawford-- Scandinavian but grounded, earthy, authentic and original, streamlined, some mid-century lines mixed with classic pieces
-Gil Shafer-- historical references, classic Americana, traditional but updated, comfortable, harmonious, cross-generational design for families
-Halston-- a favorite of ours- minimalist, clean, elegant, simple but very American-- redefining the disco fashion scene of the 70’s-- such a great vibe for a dining room
-Il San Pietro, Portofino-- heaven, the good life- 'la dolce vita', a celebration of family, friends, and style... also a celebration of Italy and Italian craftsmanship
While we definitely don’t expect or need clients to have references as elevated and design-specific as this one, it’s helpful for us to get any directive that we can even if it doesn’t make perfect sense to you.
Examples:
“I love London and Morocco and I’ve always loved the feeling in ABC Kitchen restaurant in NYC.”
“For my son’s room, I’m thinking Warhol meets Paw Patrol but without blue, he is obsessed with red.”
“You know that movie, The Gentleman? We’re thinking color and texture like that for our library.”
“For my husband’s office, think that show Yellowstone meets Post Ranch Inn with a little Mad Men mixed in.”
If clients can’t articulate their likes this way, we also encourage people to use Pinterest, rip pages out of magazines and/or identify someone or someplace that has qualities you love even if you can’t put your finger on exactly why. The more you can convey to us the look or feeling that you want to evoke, the more successful our project will be.
Click below to book a free Discovery Call so we can start translating your style into a fantastic space!
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