Tuesday, October 12, 2010

From Inspiration to Reality

The person that knows what they’re searching for is in a much better position to find it than the one who hasn’t a clue…it’s just common sense.  Logical as it may be, however, it doesn’t make determining what you want any easier.  Design is subjective, so while hiring a designer will certainly help bring your look together even the most highly paid professional can’t read your mind.  So how do you do it, then?  How on earth are you supposed to just know the perfect thing to look for?  The best piece of advice I can give you is to start with an inspiration piece.  Your inspiration piece can be a picture, a pillow, a book….it can be an object that goes in the room, one you saw in a museum, one that only exists in a movie…it can be small, big, or anything in between and I could go on listing possibilities forever.  It can literally be any portion of anything in the world.  Whether you’re currently re-decorating or not, always keep your eyes peeled for a possible inspiration piece…you never know when you may need to reference one.  I try to keep a small file of things that strike me in case the need for inspiration presents itself.  Even once you find your inspiration piece, there is still work to be done…determine what it is you love about it and how you can incorporate that element (color, shape, size, etc.) into your design.  I recently started the process of trying to take one of my own, personal inspiration pieces from idea to reality and I figured I’d invite you along for the ride.  I’ve been holding on to a picture of Michelle William’s 2006 Oscar dress for quite a few years now…the second I saw that shade of yellow, I knew it was a color I needed somewhere in my home. 


I’m not in a place where I can re-decorate right now, but I did feel it was time to start the hunt.  Step one of my process was to figure out the necessary details to make my search more precise- in this case, exactly what color is that dress?  There are a million shades of yellow and I’ve got a very specific one in mind, thus the Googling began.  I came across a few different descriptive terms of the dress itself, the most accurate and specific of which I determined to be “Goldenrod, Saffron, and Mimosa”.  Things got substantially easier and more exact once I knew just what to search for (as I may have mentioned before).  Since I still don’t know just where I want to use this fantastic color, I cast a wide net.  I was excited about what I found, check it out.











New York Botanical Garden Kiku Vase




Mimosa Settee

     

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