Houston interior design – What Inspires?
Great interior design is always inspired, the question becomes where does one find inspiration? As a Houston interior designer, I create environments that elicit moods and nuances and are at once calming – beckoning with comfort and luxury or tantalizing the senses with opulence and beauty. Inspiration comes from a variety of origins, but the most meaningful is often found in unexpected quiet moments that can make the heart leap.
The etymology of the word inspiration is derived from the Latin word “inspiratio” – literally meaning “breathe in” – as in the divine breathing life into your body. It is no great wonder that inspiration often feels like a flash of startling clarity, uncovering truth straight from the ether above, giving birth to the new and very often invigorating idea. I find that inspiration for interior design utilizes three essential elements: nature, travel, and art.
A languorous day spent lounging on a powdery white sand beach and your only task is staring at a cerulean ocean, the memory of which lingers in your mind. That otherworldly blue color becomes a thread in the decorative pillows for your new sofa, just the needed touch and fills you with the same serenity that enveloped you on the beach.
Perhaps you casually strolled through the streets of Berlin and wandered into an art gallery, mesmerized by the muted colors in a Franz Marc painting. Those same shades of taupe hickory and umber become the palette of colors in your bedroom that equally transfix your eyes every time you walk into the room.
A layover in Amsterdam becomes an irreverent journey into the looking glass when you step inside a hotel perched on one of its iconic canals. Here impudent splotches of unexpected color interplay with whimsical furnishings and serve as a springboard for your imagination. The remembrance of those over-sized crimson chairs bathed in clever lighting and accented by modern clean lines find their way into the sensibility of your new home.
These three elements of nature, travel, and art can entice you to exotic locales but are often found within our midst here in Houston. Interior design meets you on your own turf as nature, with all its majesty and emotion, lies just outside our window framing a sky in tumult or repose. It can be tactile, like feeling the smooth curves of an inky river rock found years ago on a childhood vacation, or the auditory wonder when you first heard the stirring sound of a Bach concerto. All serve to create a sense of possibility. With these ordinary moments, ideas are born and give way to the rich, yet subtle gray in your kitchen cabinets, the velvety plane of granite on your countertops or a pair of rococo bedside tables.
Inspiration for interior design may be found by taking the time to renew and rejuvenate your mind and body. A walk on a Houston tree-lined street can replenish the soul and stimulate new creative heights when we observe our surroundings. Yes, there is indeed a multitude of verdant greens in a cluster of trees, and varying shades of scarlet and vermillion in a flowerbed that we might pass every day. These very sights should not escape our glance and our praise. Taking the time to enjoy art in any of its many forms from books, paintings, fashion, music, and movies can leave us brimming with inspired thoughts. Instructing us on how to evoke emotion in an entryway or render a sense of classic style that becomes a grand lifestyle – something to enjoy and treasure, no matter how practical or functional. The revelatory then flows from a mindset embracing the new and traditional, and allows play and rest.
Inspiration is more than what we are in this moment, rather infused with the hope of what we can become. At times it is necessary to step away from the clamor and hit the reset button, but sometimes we can simply take a moment to draw in a breath from the atmosphere around us. Going far is nice, but not required. The muse can be found all around and Houston is a fount of inspiration for interior designers – from the greenery in its parks to the quiet solemnity in its museums, to the richness of its many cultures, and the colorful expanse of its sky at twilight. We are inspired by relishing the everyday wonders around us at any moment. Inspiration for interior design is all about taking the time to curate your experiences and smell the proverbial roses.
