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Written by : Home Improvement
Title : D&D Panel Discussion

D&D Panel Discussion

As promised, here is my summary of the points made by those wonderful designers at the Moderated Panel Discussion on Friday at Design & Decoration.

In attendance, all looking very suave in various combinations of blue and white I noted, were Martyn Lawrence Bullard (MLB), Marco Meneguzzi (MM), Thomas Hamel (TH) and Greg Natale (GN). The discussion was moderated by Robyn Holt of The Renovators and Vogue Living fame. If you want to see examples of their work, see my recent post here.

Here's the gist.....in point form.

DESIGN INSPIRATION

All agreed that in the design/decorating business your website is the most important thing. Branding, marketing and image are very important. Design is now so accessible and the world and market has become so small. You have to be out there and easily found.

All designers said that they found travel their main source of inspiration and influence. GN is going through a Parisian stage, heavily influenced by a trip to Paris last year.

Istanbul via Google

The new hotspots for inspiration for design are Istanbul and Russia.

MLB said that travel has been his training ground. He is not formally trained in design but has learnt throughout his life from his travels and experiences.

You must be aware of your surroundings and notice everything - that's where ideas and inspiration lies.

MLB loved Australian gumtree blossoms and loved the combination of the pink and orange with blue/green leaves (look out for a new fabric design!).

COLOUR/PATTERN

MM said colour is most important to him, along with pattern. And he wallpapers everything!

GN loves pops of colour and it gives a visual balance to a room. Adding colour helps achieve balance.

MLB used a high gloss Kelly green venetian plaster for Elton John's walls to create a floating jewel box reminiscent of Colombian emerald green. Also added that saffron and orange are huge this year.

via Google

MLB admitted that he had a black and white office, inspired by David Hicks.

Easy to add colour through cushions and soft furnishings, which are easier to change. If you want to experiment with colour, do it in the guest bathroom! Go crazy with colour and wallpaper there as it's only a small space.

MLB was once asked to gold leaf a garage and his strangest request was for a sex room - which he designed, but one of his assistants resigned because she couldn't handle the embarrassment of buying all the sex toys and paraphernalia!

TH chooses wallpaper for his overseas clients because you are guaranteed that the colour will be the same. He has more control over the colour and end result than with paint which looks different from country to country, and city to city. Light and surroundings effect paint colours hugely.

Thibaut

GN said that grey is the hardest colour to get right. He repainted his apartment several times to get the right shade of grey.

RE KITCHENS

All of the designers agreed that the kitchen was the hardest room to design - because most of them don't cook! MM said he would rather go to Lucio's Ristorante than Winning Appliances any day!

TH agreed that he doesn't cook so doesn't really know what good kitchen design is, as long as it looks good!

MLB agreed that the kitchen should only be for opening wine or making a cup of tea.

GN finds the study a hard room to decorate although can be the most fun, because clients usually don't leave much in the budget for the study. He thinks it can be the most fabulous room if given a little budget. Books make a space.

Tracery Interiors

TH said that editing a house or room is very hard, but very important. A room needs to have a history, tell a story and be autobiographical. You must have your treasures there that tell a story and show the life you've lived.

MLB uses his home as his experiment before trying things on clients. He uses his fabrics at home first to see how they work in real life. He wishes he had 5 or 6 homes to do all the styles he likes.

GN when he designs his home it is like a museum and never changes. He just sells it and buys another then starts again.

BEDROOMS

MM says that comfort in the most important thing in a house. A beautifully made bed is most important for a bedroom.

They all agreed that four poster beds were the best thing for a bedroom and added something special.

All loved upholstered bedheads, wallpaper and lovely sheets for bedrooms.

via Traditional Home

MLB unknowingly used a Turkish embroidered circumcision cloth for Tamara Mellon's bedhead.

TH loves four poster beds and says you should feel cocooned in a bedroom.

CREATIVITY

They all need and want a client's input when it comes to ideas, style, inspiration and a starting point. They get frustrated if a client doesn't have any creativity or any idea about what they want. Even if it's a painting, a rug or a holiday that inspires, it helps to start somewhere.

All designers agree they want the house to be a reflection of the client's personality and life, not their own.

MLB interviews his clients to get to know them as much as possible to formulate an idea of their decorative dream and vision. He considers himself the enabler of people's creativity.

MM has a lot of repeat business and has done some client's homes 5 or 6 times.

GN is trained as an architect so sees everything in an almost scientific way. He approaches design in the same way. He relies on his clients to give input, which he combines with his own style and his travels.

THE FUTURE

The US/Europe is now looking for inspiration elsewhere and finding it in the East, like Istanbul and Russia, India and China.

People don't want the typical English country house anymore, they want more exotic looks and are moving to the east for ideas and inspiration.

GN says design is about cycles, usually 10-15 years. Design is becoming more side specific, ie old or now, but not mixing both so much anymore.

MLB comments that the world is much more design educated because of the internet and good design is available to everyone. People are more design savvy.

MLB has been asked by Disney to create a range for 11-14yr who are now aware of design and their own tastes and ideas.

SUSTAINABILITY

During question time, a magazine editor asked about sustainability in their designs.....

They all looked a bit uncomfortable and stunned, nobody really wanted to answer and in the end GN admitted she has asked the question to the wrong group of designers!

MLB has a range of eco friendly cleaning products and candles.

All agreed it was hard to be too conscious of sustainability and the environment with high end design because it wasn't really a consideration at this level.

GN tries to do louvres, water tanks, low VOC paints and hoods on windows, but admitted it was hard with high end clients who just wanted a fabulous house at any cost.

DESIGN DETAILS


MLB thought that ceilings were the most under-decorated part of a room and should be decorated, not just painted white.

It is a vast expanse that needs to be addressed and included in the design and should have attention to detail. Ceiling height the most important aspect of a room and you can paint things in a reflective paint or other material to make ceilings appear higher.

via House Beautiful

TH thinks lighting is the most important aspect of a room.

MLB said get a dimmer switch and lots of candles if you can't afford anything else. And use lots of lamps!

Hope you found this as useful and inspirational as me.

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