Finding the balance between what’s next and what’s too far ahead – that’s where the challenge lies. Finding what will make your environment, your place, your space, feel fresh for years to come, minimizing cost while maximizing long-term fulfillment can be done by just looking around.

Another place to look for inspiration:

 2. Economics and Social Trends

The Western economy has been in a rough state for a while now, with a few areas seeing some gentle growth, most areas seeing a plateau trend, and most areas (especially in the U.S. and Europe) still experiencing a drop. It makes sense for us to adjust our needs to accommodate our new reality.

Residential design will be continuing to create more at-home office space, and virtual office space. There is a huge social cost of lost time to rush hour traffic and long commutes that I don’t believe we are willing to do for much longer. I believe we will see more merging of urban and rural styles in outlying communities as more of us stay closer to home to work and play, without wanting to completely give up an urban lifestyle.

http://www.ikea.com

Some call the trend, “nesting” – using stable and solid forms with large items in nostalgic and subdued colours and textures. Looking to the past, and using natural materials in an honest way. Yearning for the security of childhood, however, I think we will see more pops of playful colour, creating paradoxical, eclectic interiors with energy and tension between the neutrals and the brights, the patterns, textures and solids.

Recycling, upcycling and a “make do and mend” mentality will continue to grow. A growing number of design professionals are achieving their “LEED” certification (www.gbci.org) along with the NCIDQ (www.ncidq.org). Even on a small scale, reusing materials is not  only socially responsible, it looks and feels really good with the right application – imagine your grandfather’s cozy, memory-filled fishing sweater remade into a throw cushion for your family room couch. Maintaining and nurturing connections to family and community in this way reinforce feelings of comfort.

Lastly, social consciousness remains a growing movement. A great example is the popularity of “Tom’s” shoes in North America. For every pair of shoes sold, the company donates a pair to a child in need. I am waiting to see where Interiors will take this idea and run with it – perhaps a line of home goods raising funds for Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.ca) that could be sold at their ReStore as well as large chain stores across North America? I would love to see your comments below about design companies and their commitments to social change.

Incorporating these concepts in your home, office or retail space will mean you’ll be happier there, longer – and you’ll have better resale/release value when you choose to relocate.

“Be original, no matter what industry you’re in. It’s the people who think of ideas first who are the winners. I’m more interested in what I’m going to do, rather than what I did.”

Fluevog is famous for pushing the envelope and producing designs that are often way beyond trend. One of his most famous shoe designs is the “Munster”, a boxy, clunky shoe, which he launched at a time when pointy stilettos were all the rage.

OPUS Hotel’s Porter Shoes by John Fluevog (Photo credit: OPUS Hotels)

Another one of my favorites is from Raymond Loewy, the “father of industrial design”, one of the most amazingly prolific designers of the 20th century. His design credo was thus:

“Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable (or: MAYA)”.

What he meant is that, while it is important to stretch your imagination and come up with advanced design, you can only market to consumers those ideas that they are ready to embrace. Move too far ahead and you’ve lost them.

Raymond Loewy Home (Photo credit: dalylab)

Both of these designers have found success in their design strategy, yet they stand on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to producing the “next best thing”. One believes in thinking just outside of the box, and one in pushing the consumer right out of the box! So, when creating a space for yourself, how do you know where the balance lies? How far ahead do you go without the risk of going to far “out there”?

The answer lies in a lot of research, a lot of observation, and some good luck. Trend forecasting is a science that attempts to detect a future pattern, in terms of consumer design preferences, based on collecting data from the present and past.

The big question: What kind of information can I look at, to try to predict trends for myself?

Some vehicles that I use for predicting trends for my clients:

1. The Arts – movies, television, literature:

Movies like The Hunger Games, Snow White and the Huntsman, Twilight and Game of Thrones I believe will all soon have a greater effect on interiors. The Hunger Games in particular had a fascinating mix of bright, bold color, with a dark, monolithic mood in the shapes and linear gestures of fashion, architecture and interior design. The rise of comic-book remakes I think will also develop into a japanime-like emphasis on bold colour and simple lines, with dramatic emphasis, in interior design.

…. stay tuned for tomorrow’s Part 2.

Dr. Lee’s offices are described as as: “like the stark beauty of an orchid…transformed into an exquisite example of clean lines and functionality as simple and refined as the orchid itself, and has to be seen to be believed”.

Capital Oral & Facial Surgery Center by FORMA Design, Inc. Photo Gallery

Dr. Lee wanted the design team, FORMA Design Inc., to create a calming space for her clients. “I wanted to create an experience of aesthetic calm and tranquil happiness for myself, my staff and my patients,” says Dr. Lee, ”there is something about being in a beautiful space that just does something to the soul”.

Capital Oral & Facial Surgery Center by FORMA Design, Inc. Photo Gallery

Kudos to FORMA design for a beautiful result.

This is an antique vanity in the beach house where we are staying. I wish I knew its story…

It is your closet.

What you choose to put on day after day is a pretty good indication of your preferences. It is what you are choosing to be the most closely surrounded by for most of your day. It is both a public expression of what feels best next to your skin (like a cashmere sweater set you wear to work), and a personal expression with those things worn only at home (like those ratty – but oh so comfy – slippers under your bed).

yellow and grey again (Photo credit: keeping it real)

What you are wearing throughout your day is probably who you want your peers to think you are. What you wear at home is probably who you really are. Combine these two concepts in your home.

Take your favorite clothes out of your closet. No, not the ones you love on the hanger but never actually wear (not even the impractical, impossibly awesome stilettos on your shoe rack)…you want to choose the clothes you wear often. Pick the outfits that make you feel great when you wear them.

Think about what it is about the clothes that you love so much. It could be the fit, the color, the feel and texture, the sheen – why are they lovingly worn so often?  Why do you pull them out of your closet? Chances are, there is a simple explanation: the clothes feel authentic. The are true to who you are.

If you are pulling out sweatpants and t-shirts, with a closet full of tailored clothes you wear sometimes (but wish you wore more often), I think that your interior design should reflect a more casual, layered, and comfortable approach, married with an overall underlying clean and tailored look with a tight palette. Create your home as a hybrid of who you are, and who you want to be – it will result in a feel that is comfortable for you.

Design concepts: 80 percent of what you wear all the time, 15 percent of what you wish you wore more often, and five percent of the favorite collectible non-worn items (adding a little accessory detail that represents those awesome stilettos – they ARE in your closet because you love looking at them, really, after all).

Dress your home to fit you.

As a designer, it can be challenging to resist the temptation to throw in all of your fabulous ideas into a space -especially one with an amazing context. It leaves the user with an experience of feeling disjointed or disconnected. It just doesn’t feel “right”.

Awareness of your intended transition from outside to inside, a purposeful music of walkway, curvature, texture, colour and pattern is the key to creating comfort in a space. The end users ultimately feel like they are a part of the design story, like beautiful books in a library.

Yesterday, I spent the day with my daughter at Lynn Canyon park in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. There is a sweet little cafe near the trailhead and suspension bridge that has been there for about eight years, yet to me feels timeless, because of its interpretation of its surroundings.  Its details are fun and quirky – from the interior design right down to the way they brew tea. I found it to be a breath of fresh air.

I think the pictures tell the story:

There are so many little details that make this little cafe feel so “right”. I love how the vertical lines from the interior (the window lines) intersect with the vertical lines on the exterior, literally bringing the outside in. It mirrors the slightly crossing and diagonal verticality of the giant cedar trees outside the window. The light fixtures are a fun, quirky touch adding some lighthearted play into the feel of the room. I especially appreciate the glass sculptural dragonflies against the panes of glass, designed by west coast artist Robert Keillor. I love how the stone for the walls and fireplace emulate the horizontal gesture of the stone steps and tree roots so easily found in the canyon, right outside the door. I love how the design team used natural materials in an honest way – using color that accented and complimented the framed view outside the window instead of trying to emulate it.

This little cafe is a gem, and I hope you get a chance to cuddle in its warm armchairs for yourself!

Check out the architect: David Nairne & Associates

A blog from Shiro51144… some gorgeous images of a club/restaurant in Italy I just had to share.

Check out Pineta by Visionnaire. It’s a luxury club with beautiful Old Hollywood glamour. Scroll through all the pictures for a fun look at a night out in Italy!  :)

-William Morris

Defining that which is just useful in contrast to that which is just beautiful is surprisingly difficult to do. Beauty can be defined as “a quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind…” .(www.dictionary.reference.com).

Beauty IS useful.

Comments?

http://browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com/post/24537879997

Tribalism, as defined by the Harvard scholar E. O. Wilson (in Newsweek magazine), is alive and well in our culture. He writes: “Modern groups are psychologically equivalent to the tribes of ancient history…our drive to join a group – and fight for it – is what makes us human”. Designing the environments – the location, the style, the mood –  we choose to surround ourselves with, is no different. Where we choose to live, work and play is a public reflection of our tribe. It is a huge part of who you are. Don’t choose your tribe by default.

Peter Gurnow and Gavin Brown, artists, in their Melbourne apartment. http://theselby.com/3_6_11_PeterCurnowGavinBrown/

Be honest with yourself. There’s a disconnect for most of us between who we are, who we want to be, and how we allow ourselves to be portrayed in the world. Many of my clients have hired me to help them plan their spaces because they initially tried to be all things to all the people that mattered to them- resulting in schizophrenic, unhealthy environments. If you are designing a home – a home, not a house – you’ve got to sit down and think about who you are, not who you are trying to impress. Knowing yourself and your tribes (yes, there are usually more than one) is instrumental in knowing what feels healthy and comfortable for you in your home.

Dorothee Schumacher at home in Germany shot for online magazine mb! by Mercedes-Benz. http://www.theselby.com

To be honest is sometimes unnerving – admitting they belong (or want to belong) to the Louboutin – Louis Vuitton -Escalade – silk sheets – closet AC/DC fan Tribe. Or the Lululemon – Uggs – Starbucks coffee by the side of a soggy soccer pitch – washable cotton – ultrasuede chesterfield Tribe.  Or the Marines, the Canucks, the Gun Club, the scrapbooking club, or any number of Tribes available for “membership”. However, finding your tribes, and how they interlock, is paramount to creating a home you love, as well as a place you are comfortable sharing with your loved ones in whatever tribe they subscribe to. It’s your social identity. Social currency.

Once you know what your tribes are, and/or what you want them to be, how do you move forward? Identify that which represents you. Other tribes will try to tell you what you are supposed to want. For example, high ceilings. Why do we all want high ceilings? Be aware of why you want them. It it to show status? Is it for improved air flow in a warmer climate? Maximizing light penetration?

If you live in Canada and belong to a tribe that covets warm, fuzzy relationships, hot cocoa and sofas you sink into for lively conversation with friends, I would argue that an eight foot ceiling suits you best. Eight foot ceilings, smaller, dedicated room floor plans, tactile finishes like nubbly cotton fabrics, layered lighting with plenty of drama, and meaningful, small scale vignettes of accessories that have a story to tell.

Choose your tribes wisely.

It is a beautiful, organic combination of colors and textures. A vignette with a palette that would make for a beautiful room – where the calm blue juxtaposed with the acid yellow-green of the moss is held together by a stalwart expression of a neutral, natural, weathered wood.

I found a gorgeous tile:

“Fuzio” wall tiles, mother of pearl with glass overlay. La Casa Deco http://www.lacasadeco.com

Mixed with blue cabinetry and dark countertop:

Workbench Magazine. Reposted from http://www.curbly.com

A natural, weathered floor choice:

http://www.europeeanflooring.ca

So, yes: I am inspired by some odd and unexpected things. But is it really so unexpected? Looking back toward the old, the rusted, the weathered and the tarnished, we feel a sense of history, a sense of permanence, a sense of place.

When designing your home, don’t limit yourself to images found in glossy magazines of other peoples’ houses. Use them as a point of reference, for sure, but open your heart to that which you love, those things that surround you everyday and of which you may not even be aware.

Unexpected interesting things take us to unexpected, brilliant design.

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