[00:00:55] Dabito: Thanks for having me excited to, uh, be here and chat about color.
[00:00:59] Sue: I can't wait for people to get to know you. Um, so I like to start all of our episodes by asking our guests, you know, how did you get started in the design industry? I think that's a kind of a fascinating question and everyone's got a different journey.
[00:01:11] Sue: But more specifically for you, I'm going to put you on the spot and say, like, this is all about color and how, um, I, I feel like you, you are a designer that leads with color. And so where did your love of color and design start? So take it away.
[00:01:24] Dabito: So I would say color for me started at a very young age. Uh, I remember joining a lot of color contests when I was a kid.
[00:01:33] Dabito: You know, I, there was this, uh, store called Sanrio surprises. Which is like a store, um, Japanese store that Hello Kitty, you know, Pachaco, all those beautiful, fun, uh, characters. And I remember just joining a lot of those contests and winning and realize, Oh my God, I, I'm good at this. You know, and that was from like elementary to middle school.
[00:01:54] Dabito: And my mom also loved color. She would dress me in like aubergine, uh, puffer jackets. She would buy me red leather shoes. And I just remember, wow, this is so fun. And I just embraced it. She embraced it. And then I would say in high school, I started getting interested in like decorating my space. Well, growing up, I didn't have my own bedroom.
[00:02:18] Dabito: I slept in the same bedroom with my mom, my sister, and my dad. And
[00:02:21] Dabito: finally I moved into the living room and I was like, excited about decorating, creating, carving out my own space. And I remember going shopping for curtains with my aunt. And I remember buying, picking out these yellow curtains, and I just, to this day, I still love yellow so much.
[00:02:39] Dabito: And when I see yellow, I think about that time, that, that, that first time buying something for my space with my aunt. And it brings me so much joy. And going into, like, college, I started as a chemical engineer major. It wasn't until maybe, like, the half, latter half of that, uh, first year, I decided to pivot into art.
[00:03:01] Dabito: Transcribed And so I worked with color mixing inks, had a lot of fun with that. And, um, yeah, I think it was after college, I started blogging about, um, decorating my own space, uh, on a budget. My blog just grew bit by bit and here I am doing interiors. Um, but I have a background in graphic design.
[00:03:28] Sue: I think that's an important thing to note.
[00:03:29] Sue: If people are kind of looking at your Instagram page or any articles that you've been featured in, you're very graphic in your representation. And so you can see where pattern and repetition. Um, is integral to your work and I can absolutely see that. Um, and I love it. It just kind of identifies you uniquely and it gives you your own really a point of view on color.
[00:03:50] Sue: But I want to go back to that conversation about, uh, unique, like the, the first color that you really remember. I think all designers have that story and I've never heard it put that way. Um, when I was a little girl, I was maybe seven and I was having a chance to redo my room. And instead of, you know, the typical maybe pink or purple, I picked navy blue wallpaper with these like little teeny tiny flowers.
[00:04:12] Sue: And my mom was astonished. She was like, you want navy blue in this room? And you know, to this day, I think about that moment and I think about that color and it, you know, I didn't know what I was going to do when I grow up, but it made, it was an impact on me. So I love that about yellow. Um, and we'll talk about that a little bit more in the next couple of questions.
[00:04:31] Sue: But one thing that again, with your design style. The unexpected I want to talk about how that's a part of the surprise and delight of what you create in your interiors and how that's influenced your career.
[00:04:47] Dabito: Um, I would say I just, you know, I, my, my approach to interiors. Or decorating styling is very much similar to how I approach graphic design.
[00:05:03] Dabito: I look at it. I. I think all design in general share the same principles. Um, and it's all about balance, uh, contrast, the hierarchy of creating, uh, you know, something visually impactful. And, um, yeah, I just, I love playing with color and contrast and mixing patterns and solids and things like that. I just, I love it.
[00:05:31] Dabito: And I don't think there is like a trick. I, I just, I've always believed in just. doing it and
[00:05:39] Dabito: playing with it and like not Taking it too seriously.
[00:05:43] Sue: Well, and not overthinking it,
[00:05:45] Sue: not overthinking it, right. That's what's so unexpected. So do you start with color when you're starting to work? Like, is, you know, some designers start with texture or pattern or material, but do you start with color?
[00:05:56] Dabito: I do. I think about what is the vibe? What is the story? Because color is such a unique. Experience for everybody, you know, so our reactions to color is very different for everybody. Like I said, like, yellow for me brings me joy and reminds me of that one time I was decorating or maybe that blue dress that my aunt Holly wore.
[00:06:15] Dabito: Um, when I was like, you know, uh, we would like shop and she would buy this, she bought this blue dress and I remember her haggling over this blue dress, floral blue dress. And now I think about it and she still has it. She still wears it. And so. I think that's what makes space is really beautiful and personal is that you can connect with it in a very intimate way.
[00:06:35] Dabito: Maybe yellow reminds people of like urine and that's fine. Uh, or diarrhea, you know,
[00:06:42] Sue: the unmentionables, right?
[00:06:43] Dabito: Exactly. And I'm like, okay, well, that's cool. That's you. But I think it's just I approach every room with about color because. What is the mood? What is the vibe? What is the story? And, uh, how do I connect with it?
[00:06:56] Sue: So if you're with your clients, do you feel like when you're like kind of in the programming phase, right? Having the initial conversations, do they come to you and say, you bring color to life for me, or do they have like strong opinions on their own colors? I'm curious what that process looks like.
[00:07:12] Dabito: It's about how to make them connect.
[00:07:15] Dabito: I asked them, what are these colors? What are the colors that connect you with your, like, memories? Like, I try to, like, jog their memory, like, what are some of their fondest memories of color? Where, where did you travel? Um, any scarves from your grandma, or any heirlooms? Things like that, you know, maybe your favorite food, um, that brings up a lot of these memories.
[00:07:39] Dabito: So, that way, people become connected and, uh, and it, uh, That way they can connect with their room and their spaces. And I think it makes it easier for people, um, to explore color and play with color that way, because a lot of people are afraid of color. I don't know why, but you know, we've all been introduced to color at such young age and like, you know, color is so important for our, uh, our cognitive and, you know, uh,
[00:08:12] Sue: emotional journey or connections.
[00:08:14] Sue: Exactly.
[00:08:14] Dabito: And so somehow along the way we. Started, you know, losing that. But, you know, I'm trying to bring that bring that back.
[00:08:22] Sue: I love you for doing that. And I'll say, I think it's the balance and that's kind of leads into my next question is how do you balance popular preference versus the idea of personal expression and uniqueness.
[00:08:33] Sue: So, like, you are encouraging your clients. To lean into that nostalgia to lean into that identification that makes truly each of us unique, but it's balanced against what's in magazines and what's in popular culture and like, talk about those challenges because I will say from, uh, you know, I've been in the color world a long, long, long time.
[00:08:54] Sue: Um, North Americans are very almost puritanical in their color selections. Neutrals are very important. They rarely break out of their sort of the confines of that neutral space. And like, it's time to get out of that. So talk about that a little bit.
[00:09:13] Dabito: You know, I think it's it's there's no like I've seen like designers or other artists talk about how like, oh, there's.
[00:09:19] Dabito: You do a 50 50 or a 30 70. And I don't think color, there's no math to color. Color has a magical way of all working together. If you look in nature, you look at everything. It's just all, it all blends and it all balances all out, you know? But I think you can play with like. Start with like a piece of maybe art, furniture, lamp, start small and gradually build your color confidence through layering, through just the practice of incorporating color into your space.
[00:09:53] Dabito: Maybe you do an accent wall, and then maybe for another room, you start to fill out, you know, paint the entire room, ceiling, drench it, you know, like I hear everyone's called about color drenching and everything like that. And I think, and I love that magazines. Asher and Williams create these beautiful palettes or a color of the year, you know, capsule collections that help people that guide people.
[00:10:17] Dabito: And it guides me too. And it helps me, um, to explore other colors. Cause sometimes I get really stuck in my color palette and, and then I realized, Oh my God, look at these beautiful, earthy, neutral, you know, colors with more, uh, gray, or maybe even black undertones that give it a little bit more depth. And I think that helps me play with color and balance sometimes a bit more
[00:10:43] Sue: so I'm curious about that topic, too, because people will comment and be like, you know what?
[00:10:47] Sue: You guys are designers. You know that, like, all colors work together, but they'll be like that. We don't know how to do that. How do you do that? So I think maybe your graphic design background allows you to see maybe saturation level or you balance highs and lows. So the right contrast ratio between lights and darks.
[00:11:05] Sue: Can you maybe like put your graphic design hat on and talk to our audience about like that sort of color science that maybe you use?
[00:11:13] Dabito: I think it comes from just mixing color. I remember mixing paint, um, when I was doing printmaking just, you know, I think a lot of people can buy some even watercolor and really adding white, adding black into paint and see how it, you know, creates and you can create your palette through that, you know, on, on like a plate.
[00:11:34] Dabito: And that way you see how color. Interacts with other color, how you can make it not as bright. Uh, you could, you know, tone down the saturation, you know, make this hue, you know, pop a little bit more, uh, accents here and there. And so in a lot of ways, that's how I started, um, understanding color more. But honestly, it's, there's no, it's just, I think just not overthinking and just going with it and playing with color, just.
[00:12:08] Dabito: Find what color brings you a lot of joy. Maybe it's like a teal green or chartreuse. Um, and they just kind of blend and, you know, work together.
[00:12:19] Sue: Yeah, you are. It's like we are mind melding because my next question is about finding joy and I want to talk about that. That's kind of been A buzzword in the design world, um, really probably since 2018 that the idea of joy and color and connection, um, and how bringing color in can can really increase.
[00:12:39] Sue: The idea of longevity and living, um, with, you know, better relationships and the idea of social fitness. So, um, strong connections to family or friends or pets or whatever that is in those interiors. You know, there is a lot of research out there that states that's the thing that will let us live longer, healthier lives on that connection to each other.
[00:12:59] Sue: And I think color is a vital link in the components of that we create in our homes. So talk about, um, you know, next, like, how does color make you happy? Like, what's your happiest moment about the design process with a client?
[00:13:12] Dabito: I think it's really, you nailed it. It's color is so, plays such an important role in our lives, our wellbeing.
[00:13:21] Dabito: Uh, and for me, I grew up really introverted, really shy, bullied a lot. And for me, just. Finding color and adding color into a space really helped promote happiness for me and I can see how that also affects how I like, you know, I don't know. It's just such a, you know, I, I think when I talk to clients about where it's, you know, they are so stifled by choosing color.
[00:13:53] Dabito: And so when you connect color to like a core memory, when you can unlock that. Colorful moment. Colorful story. We've all got colorful stories, right? Whether they're, whether they're, you know, ups and downs and it's this journey, our life. And so color really celebrates that color celebrates our journey, our life.
[00:14:14] Dabito: And so when you can pinpoint a color and add into your space. It just helps unlock that, you know, moment in your life and, you know, you're, when you're surrounded by that, you can go, Oh, my God, you know, look at that, you know, you can appreciate the trajectory in your life and how far you've come. See where you traveled and, and all the connections that one time my friend came over and brought me this beautiful artwork that spread and now I hang it in here and it reminds me of that one, you know, that bestie and it's just fun moments, you know, through color in your, in your space.
[00:14:50] Sue: Yes, I would say that I, your use of color. Um, is very confident and so I would, if, you know, before we were just meeting now, but I would have thought that you were the most confident person on the planet, right? Because you're. Joy and color shows up, like, with this great confidence and this, like, joy of life.
[00:15:10] Sue: What is it? Um, so I love that about you and I, I love that that, you know, I don't love that your experience growing up was, you know, bullying that makes me insane, but, um, it brought you to color and it brought you to this self expression and, you know, you're, you're doing great things for the world and inspiring people, um, and creating these absolutely beautiful spaces.
[00:15:29] Sue: So I'm curious, like, who, you know, are there other designers that you admire? Um, we talked a little bit before we started recording about the fact that you're in New Orleans. Um, so talk about the color, you grew up in L. A., um, and that's, you know, L. A. 's beautiful, amazing weather. But what's it like coming to New Orleans and this old city?
[00:15:50] Sue: And talk about your experience, um, kind of in that region now.
[00:15:53] Dabito: Yeah, every, I would say every city, every country, every part of the world, they, every place has a very unique color story. Um, every culture, you know, every city uses color in a different way. Um, and in New Orleans, I think it's just the color combinations on all these homes, in the corridor, and marinating the bywater.
[00:16:18] Dabito: There's just so many funky color combinations that I would have never imagined putting on an exterior of a house, so I just Find so much inspiration in that and, and, you know, they're even a cool French quarter. There are the French quarter color collection combinations that are approved by the HDLC, which is a historic district landmark commission.
[00:16:39] Dabito: And I just love that there are these historic color full combinations that are just loved and embraced by everybody here. And so I think it's such a great. Uh, vibrant city and such a bohemian city in that way, where people really just love color and use it in a very bold and unexpected way. Absolutely, like unabashedly
[00:17:05] Sue: like love of color.
[00:17:06] Sue: We used to have a color card. I mean, back in like the early 2000, late 90s called Vieux Carre and it was the colors of New Orleans and like just beautiful. I have to show it to you because I have some, I have some old samples of it in my office. But, you know, I think people are rediscovering these cities.
[00:17:23] Sue: We talked a little bit about Savannah before recording like unabashed joy and color. And I think that's I hope that's where we get back to versus just the stark neutral existence that we've been in, which is great. Right? I don't want to tell it people. It's great. But really
[00:17:38] Dabito: great. Yeah, but
[00:17:40] Sue: we need them, but also take a risk.
[00:17:43] Sue: So I wanted to tell you a little bit about how inspiration your work is for my team. Um, we do an annual color forecast and this year is called, um, color capsules. And one of the capsules is called paradox. And it's all about like creative expression and joyful color. And we do a, uh, design presentation for designers and a trend forecast.
[00:18:05] Sue: And there's a section called our gallery slides, and that's like just showing designers in action and who's doing this palette. Well, and you're our 1st slide. It was the yellow color drenched room that was featured in better homes and gardens. And it was all about color drenching and like you kick off this beautiful palette because you have just fearlessly like taking on this mantle of color.
[00:18:26] Sue: Um, so I just, they, they were going to be mad at me if I didn't mention that to you and just say, Um, so talk about like these, these fun moments of color that we're really, um, starting to celebrate the idea of color drenching. You know, Versus color pops. How do you use those in your interiors? Um, and how do you make them meaningful?
[00:18:49] Dabito: So, uh, even this week, I just decided to paint my bedroom. It's been white for four years, and I've been complaining how, like, Gosh, I don't get, I don't get, like, a restful, you know, night of sleep, uh, here in New Orleans in my bedroom. I don't know why. And I realized it was just lacking color. It was lacking a depth of color.
[00:19:11] Dabito: And, um, And so I decided to paint it this, uh, on Monday into this really calming, sort of like a, you know, minty color, but I paint the entire room, ceiling, baseboards, crown molding, everything, just one color. It just helps create a cozy, enclosed space, uh, with, uh, no contrasts of like, white ceilings and things like that.
[00:19:39] Dabito: But. Yeah, now it just brings me so much calmness and coziness and just
[00:19:45] Sue: in it's like immersive, right? You wake up and you feel like this the sigh You know, it's interesting a lot of painting contractors We talked to all sorts of people at Sherwin and painting contractors are like is this color drenching thing real and I think it is And so if you would use a room You know, drenched in color and what that means is ceiling walls, trim doors, everything like just immersed in color.
[00:20:09] Sue: Would you use that technique in a whole home or would you maybe pick some adjacent rooms? How would you employ that technique?
[00:20:16] Dabito: I would be selective about, uh, using drenching in like, Very specific spaces, not the, I love a little contrast, you know, I like to mix it up. I don't think every space needs to be drenched in color.
[00:20:29] Dabito: Uh, I think there needs to be a balance of some breathing, breathing, breathing room. And so I think powder rooms, bathrooms are really. Excellent spaces to go bold in that way, you know, if if some if drenching is Seems overwhelming start small. I think doing in those tiny spaces can really help and guide you and build your color confidence That way and maybe you can do that in the bedroom.
[00:20:54] Dabito: I think bedrooms are great or your office
[00:20:57] Sue: I think you can work in any space.
[00:20:59] Dabito: Yeah, unless I would say unless it's like a open concept where like the kitchen and the living room kind of blur and share the same, uh, like ceiling space, that can be tricky. Um, so, you know, that would be cause I mean, I guess you can do it.
[00:21:19] Dabito: There are no rules, right? I think you can do it in an open space, but I think in a very selective space, like bedrooms that are enclosed, um, are more impactful when you color drench.
[00:21:31] Sue: If so, in open concept plans, would you like, would you employ a accent wall? Sometimes, you know, people always ask, you know, is that a way to bring color in and, uh, you know, a huge expansive space?
[00:21:42] Sue: Yeah. Do you use that?
[00:21:45] Dabito: I'm I use it here. Actually, I'm looking at my living room and, uh, there's an accent wall and sometimes in the open concept. Space, having an accent wall helps at least define each space. So I have this accent wall in my living room that says this is a living room and then I have my kitchen cabinets painted in a, you know, darker, richer blue that defines that is the kitchen.
[00:22:12] Dabito: So color can help define open concepts, open spaces a bit.
[00:22:18] Sue: I love that. That is such a great, such a great tip. Um, so I'm going to move into a kind of a new like questions. Like, we talked a little bit about cultural associations. Um, but like, where else do you find color inspiration?
[00:22:32] Dabito: I find color inspiration from.
[00:22:35] Dabito: I mean, so many places, I mean, from designers, other designers, like, I get inspiration from Justina Blakeney, who is such a talented designer artist, and she just started painting these beautiful portraits, self portraits, and I just find so much inspiration from the way she uses color. Um, to, you know, even like Pamela Shamshiri, all of her interior spaces really, um, inspire me as well, um, seeing how she uses color in a very rich, deep, and meaningful way.
[00:23:10] Dabito: And also just from sometimes going to the paint store, you know, going to Sherwin Williams and looking at the fan deck, looking at what's, what's out there, what's current, like the color capsule and, you know, And seeing what's, what are the current colors and trends that can guide me into, uh, a new direction.
[00:23:32] Dabito: And I love that. And sometimes designers need that. And
[00:23:35] Sue: I, I swear, we are like on the same wavelength. I was going to say designers get stuck too. I'm sure clients don't believe that, that they just think we know all the things all the time. But you do, you get stuck in the, like, kind of the tropes of, you know, you're busy and you know, this color is going to work and it's hard to get out of that sort of like,
[00:23:53] Dabito: one trick pony.
[00:23:54] Dabito: I'm like, I always ask, I always tell my client, my client, meaning my husband, the client, the client, I'm like, gosh, am I doing yellow too much? It's the same yellow. I'm like becoming this one trick pony, one trick yellow pony. And. He's like, just try a different yellow, you know, let's see what's out there.
[00:24:11] Dabito: Like, let's go to Sherwin, go see like, what, what are some of the current yellows that we're bringing? Maybe you want to try a little, you know, like a butterscotch or something like a buttery yellow.
[00:24:21] Sue: And see where that takes you. Did you happen to check out our, we had this campaign this year called the loneliest color.
[00:24:27] Sue: I don't know if you saw it. And we, um, we partnered with, uh, Dapper Dan tap. I mean, this is just so funny, Deb. And it was about, we, we went and looked back over 14 years of all our color data and we found the least tinted color. And I just, like, we wanted to know what that color was. And it happened to be a color called kingdom gold.
[00:24:48] Sue: Which is, uh, gorgeous sort of alchemical gold, um, similar to the stripes on the bank hat behind you, um, maybe a little deeper, right? Like maybe a little richer, but it just happened to be, maybe it was the shade just a little too dark or a little too saturated that people wouldn't gravitate towards it, but it's a stunning color.
[00:25:07] Sue: So we did a whole campaign celebrating the loneliest colors, which what we called it. And it was great. It just opened people's eyes up. Like, you know, I drive around now, I see front doors painted in that color. Yeah. Yeah. So I think just that, like, seeing what's out there, getting inspired by inspiration.
[00:25:24] Sue: It comes in all shapes and sizes, all forms. Um, and that's really a helpful tool to get people out of their rut and, and take on a color. I'm thinking about painting my, my dining room, which I'm sitting in now, which is this gorgeous green. And I've loved it for, you know, since COVID, I painted it probably in 2020.
[00:25:41] Sue: And now I'm ready for something else. I'm ready. I think I'm going to paint this weekend. I don't know what though. Yeah, so I can't wait. Yeah. I'm like looking at that rusty, gorgeous pillow. I'm thinking maybe I should do orange like terracotta.
[00:25:53] Dabito: Oh, yes, or brown. Brown is having a big moment.
[00:25:57] Sue: Yes,
[00:25:58] Dabito: but that's what I love about.
[00:26:00] Dabito: Like, what you do is that you are doing your researching right? History of color. And like, sometimes as designers, we, I'm, I'm not, I'm busy. You know, on site doing things and and so I'm not researching enough color sometimes and I love that you bring other colors from the past, the heritage colors back onto, you know, the forefront and things like that.
[00:26:23] Dabito: And that inspires me.
[00:26:25] Sue: Yeah, well, thank you for saying that we, we really do love that aspect of the work we do and pride ourselves, you know, we want to make it easier for designers. So we'll go do the work. and bring you these gorgeous collections. And, and so, yeah, it's a good partnership. I appreciate that.
[00:26:40] Sue: Um, so this has been amazing, but I would just say what has been your most favorite recent color moment? Is there something that we haven't talked about that people should pay attention to?
[00:26:50] Dabito: Oh man. I mean, I think color we are, we talk about color drenching, we talk about all asset walls. I think, you know, just having fun with color, using it in unexpected ways.
[00:27:02] Dabito: Paint, you know, I been wanting to do color blocking on just painting trims, just the trims and doors, you know, books I love painting doors and accent color. I know, you know. And then painting your door a different color than the trim and just leaving your. You can leave your walls white or have it, you know, three different color tones.
[00:27:22] Dabito: Like I am trying to get to that, you know, but
[00:27:27] Sue: like a gradation, like a light mid and deep value of the same color kind of.
[00:27:32] Dabito: Oh, like that. Not a gradation, but like, just different color blocking, like, you know, painting your walls a different color, uh, and your, uh, your molding, your, uh, baseboards a different color.
[00:27:44] Dabito: And then your door are different colors, so, oh, I think three colorable moments in a space could be monochromatic. Tone on tone or, or it could be three different, uh, you know, contrasting colors and
[00:27:55] Sue: working with that. You'll, you'll have to keep us posted on that. 'cause that is, that's exciting. I just love it.
[00:28:00] Sue: I love talking to you. You're wonderful. Yay.
[00:28:04] Dabito: I love it. You love color. So
[00:28:06] Sue: we try, you know, it's like a constant, you know, what keeps me up at night, I guess, um, getting people inspired and trying something new. And we're kind of out of that Scandinavian minimalism thing and moving into something new, right.
[00:28:19] Sue: This middle part of this decade. So I can't wait to see what 2025 holds for all of us. Um, so this has been wonderful. Tell our listeners where they can find you. If they want to check in. Yeah. And talk about your book. We didn't even talk about your book. Oh, yes. Before we close. Yes. Tell me about your book.
[00:28:35] Dabito: My book, uh, came out last year. It's called Old Brand New Colorful Rooms for a Massimo Living. And it's all about celebrating color, helping people, helping readers find and find their colorful moments and build their colorful, uh, color confidence. Um, and getting inspired by color and use it in a fearless way.
[00:28:57] Dabito: And
[00:28:58] Sue: that's right up my alley. That's amazing. How can be, can be, is it on Amazon? Can they, people find it on Amazon
[00:29:04] Dabito: at your local bookstore, Barnes and Noble? You can find on Amazon. You can find it on, you know, some. And a bookshop or, you know, all the bookstores wherever books are sold,
[00:29:15] Sue: you can find it. Well, I will be ordering that immediately and then I will be bringing it to find you somewhere so you can sign it for me.
[00:29:20] Dabito: And I will sign your copy and then we'll grab a cocktail and talk about it. Deal,
[00:29:25] Sue: deal, deal, deal, deal. Um, so if people want to check out your work, see what you got going on, how can they find you?
[00:29:31] Dabito: You all can find me on Instagram at DaBito, D A B I T O. You can find my blog, OldBrandNew. com. And, yeah, that's where I celebrate color.
[00:29:43] Sue: Keep going, buddy. Keep, keep Keep being amazing and putting these interiors out into the world and making your clients happy and making me happy. I appreciate it very much.
[00:29:58] Sue: In our next segment, we're excited to talk to our October designer of the month, Joni Speer. Joni is principal at Joni Speer Interior Design in St. Louis, Missouri. And she's known for a thoughtfully custom design interior that balances contemporary style with beautiful antiques and inspiration from the past, which is a perfect segue into our discussion on unexpected design, uh, in this episode.
[00:30:21] Sue: So hi, Joni, and welcome to Color Mixology.
[00:30:23] Joni: Hi, Sue. Thank you so much for being here. What an honor.
[00:30:28] Sue: It is It is my absolute delight to have you on. Um, you know, just knowing a little bit about your work. I feel like it's a great, um, we can have a great conversation about designing for the unexpected. So before we jump into that, tell me a little bit about how you got started in this wacky world of design.
[00:30:47] Joni: So, I think as a child, you know, my biggest influence was my mother who loved to decorate. We had a beautiful home and we always had like catalogs. So back in the day, we didn't have restoration hardware. It was the Spiegel catalog or the JCPenney catalog. And so I would take those catalogs and as I was playing with my Barbie dream house.
[00:31:19] Joni: I made Barbie have some neighbors and so I would rip pages out of the catalog and tape them up to my bed and then take like a Kleenex box and turn it upside down and then have the Kleenex, you know, be their blanket and and cotton balls or pillows and, you know, and then, uh, Fast forward, I graduated from high school, went to college and, you know, 17 years old.
[00:31:49] Joni: I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life and I remember sitting in the guidance counselor's office. And, um, it was a Catholic school and, uh, sister, Lisa, Mary, we were going through the catalogs and she said, would you like to take an architecture class? And I said, well, of course, I would like to take an architecture class.
[00:32:17] Joni: And so she's reading through the program and it said, oh, you have to be an interior design major. And I said, okay. Okay. I'll be an interior design major.
[00:32:29] Sue: So
[00:32:32] Joni: I, I have my degree in interior architecture and I have been doing it ever since.
[00:32:40] Sue: That is absolutely wonderful. I think we should take a poll of designers and ask how many of us started with the Barbie dream home because I had one as well, and I would never play with the Barbies.
[00:32:51] Sue: I would just set up. The interiors. Right. You're a very clever girl because I did not use magazines for the neighbors. That's so great. I love it.
[00:33:01] Joni: I mean, I remember like getting the tape and taping it up and
[00:33:06] Sue: Oh, that was genius. See even at an early age, design is in there. It's in there forever. Well, so fast forward now to you've been a practicing designer, your own, your own firm.
[00:33:15] Sue: That's amazing. But talk to the audience, like maybe some descriptions on what your style is and, and sort of what people know you.
[00:33:23] Joni: So I am known for, um, classic interiors with an edge. And also bold use of color. Um, I don't know if you've seen my website, but there's loads of color. I, I love color and apparently, um, that's why people are drawn to me, um, is because they know how I can, you know, Infuse color into their homes in a meaningful way, and it has it has done well for me.
[00:33:58] Joni: Um, I love white. I love beige. I, you know, I love every color, but for some reason, um, the people that are drawn to me are the ones that want these bold interiors.
[00:34:13] Sue: And how do you get them over the hesitation point of taking a risk and trying something new with color? Do you have a tip that you can share?
[00:34:22] Joni: You know, I always have to check their threshold, right? And just getting to know the client and just, you know, conversation after spending a couple of hours with them. And I slowly get into it. What is your favorite color? What is your least favorite color? Do you like daytime? Do you like nighttime? Um, do you like hot colors or do you prefer more subdued colors?
[00:34:51] Joni: And then once I have an idea of their likes and dislikes, I take that into account when, when starting with a color. Um, another thing that really dictates, and again, every, every Project is different. Every home is different, but sometimes the, um, landscape dictates our colors, right? If, if we've got a big picture window or a big sliding door, and it's the focal point of the room.
[00:35:27] Joni: Well, you know, we don't want to compete with mother nature. Right? And and so coordinate. Yep. Right. So that's always, there's, there's lots of factors in determining colors and how to, how to go from there.
[00:35:42] Sue: So you had mentioned that you take sort of a blending of the old and the new. How do you, how would you categorize that?
[00:35:49] Sue: Like, what represents the old and, and kind of what, what's your fresh take on that?
[00:35:54] Joni: So I feel that, um. The past dictates the future, right? I mean, everything is cyclical. Everything comes around again.
[00:36:08] Sue: We've seen before. Sure.
[00:36:10] Joni: Right. And so say my clients love to ski, right? And I will be at an antique mall and I'll see a, you know, a photo of a mountain or, uh, something that represents the
[00:36:25] Joni: Scheme. I always try to connect with something that draws their heart in something that they really enjoy doing. If they love to read, I'll look for, um, a 1st edition novel or, you know, something to make their house different from their neighbor's house.
[00:36:46] Sue: Right, because that's a big part of what this episode is about is the personalization factor of taking a risk.
[00:36:53] Sue: Um, you know, talk about how shopping for an antique is a totally different experience than going to a luxury furniture store and selecting something, um, out of a catalog that you can order. So talk about that sort of unexpected nature. So I always tell people
[00:37:13] Joni: my homes are not show homes. They're not in any way, shape or form.
[00:37:19] Joni: I mean, anyone can go into a store and say, I want that sofa. I want that chair. I want that light fixture. Um, I don't want your house to look like anyone else's house. This is your house, your home. This is your, this is where, you know, I want you to thrive. And so, again, every, you know, Client is different.
[00:37:41] Joni: Every project is different. But my goal is to get to know that person. And the more I know them, then I, I kind of, it's also important to, to, to learn their dislikes.
[00:37:56] Sue: Agreed. I think it's equally as important, if not more.
[00:37:58] Joni: Not everyone knows what they don't like.
[00:37:59] Sue: Exactly. It helps sometimes a designer or psychiatrist or therapist or however we want to call ourselves sometimes to help that guide them in that direction to say, yeah, let's start.
[00:38:11] Sue: If you're overwhelmed with this discussion on color, let's start with what doesn't work for you. And that's often a much more successful path. So do your clients trust you or do you find that you have lots of discussions when you offer up something new?
[00:38:26] Joni: Oh, sure. No, you, you have to gain their trust. Um, I know you had, we had touched based on, um, trends, right?
[00:38:37] Joni: And so, you know, the big focal wall trend and, you know, I I'm allergic to focal walls. I love it personally. I've, I've never. In my career, have I done a focal wall?
[00:38:52] Sue: Done an accent wall?
[00:38:55] Joni: An accent, accent wall. Yes. And so, you know, they're, oh, I, I want the loyal blue, um, with the, uh, you know, the, the molding. I want that to be the, the, as soon as you walk in the house and then you look in the other room and it.
[00:39:12] Joni: Okay. It makes no sense at all. And so, you know, I try to steer them away from trends because what's, what's happening today, tomorrow it's gone. And then, Oh, we wasted all that money, all that wood, all the carpentry. And, and now I cannot stand that color.
[00:39:32] Sue: Yes. Yes. So things change quickly. Um, and so how do you, what's your advice on, um, someone that's interested in color, but they want to find the joy in the unexpected, but you want it to be timeless.
[00:39:46] Sue: I know that's a loaded question with many facets.
[00:39:49] Joni: So a lot of times people will say, um, oh, I was talking to my mother in law in Southern California and she painted her entire house repose gray. And, and she thinks that that'll look, I think she wants me to do that. Right and I say, well, you know, your house is North facing your mother in law is in Southern California.
[00:40:16] Joni: That color is not going to translate. Here in your Northern Exposure room, it, it may look great in her house, but let's bring it to your house and realize it's not going to work. It's going to read totally differently.
[00:40:34] Sue: Totally. So what would your advice be? Can I just ask if you are in the Midwest Northern Exposure full 4 seasons?
[00:40:42] Joni: So I, I love. Uh, blusher, you know, warm colors, um, the 1 project that I just did, we did, um, quaint. He patch
[00:40:57] Sue: peach peach. Okay. On
[00:40:59] Joni: on this on the ceiling, it was again, a northern and and this was a family, um. Moving from Aspen, Colorado, and they had, you know, all the sunlight and here they're, they're moving to St.
[00:41:15] Joni: Louis, Missouri, and a dark, dark house. And not only that the windows were tinted.
[00:41:22] Sue: Oh, man.
[00:41:23] Joni: And so when we put that on the ceiling, it just completely brightened the entire space.
[00:41:30] Sue: I bet that looked magical. Beautiful. Yes,
[00:41:33] Joni: yes, yes. She was very pleased with it.
[00:41:36] Sue: Well, um, I, you know, encourage people to go and check out your website and, and kind of see your work because it speaks for itself.
[00:41:45] Sue: And you can see the love of color come through when you see those, um, your images and, and your sort of, um, your design style. But before we get to that, um, tell me, you know, about, so you don't like trend, but what's 1 color moment that you're seeing now that you're really appreciating.
[00:42:05] Joni: I feel like the colors of nature, right?
[00:42:10] Joni: Are always I love greens. Um, I love putty taupe. Um, I'm, I'm more of a purist. So, you know, we could say red and green and everything in between, but I would say my favorite color is green. Um, and. So, actually, in my own home, um, and this is again, I do this with clients if we're doing their entire home. I say, let's, let's start in the kitchen.
[00:42:44] Joni: Right? That is the hub of the home and so are we. Selecting a natural stone, or are we working. With the natural stone,
[00:42:55] Sue: right?
[00:42:56] Joni: And, um, in 1 project, they had granite that was this orange that had orange tones and she could not stand it. And so a little trick, I'm very old school. And I like to use the color wheel.
[00:43:15] Joni: Right. And so I go with like a contrasting color. And so, um, orange, the contrasting color of orange is blue. And so we introduced blue into the kitchen and it completely. Transformed the space because the saturation of the island and the blue, they were the same hues. So they say they really balanced each other out.
[00:43:49] Joni: That's and so, yes, I, I really take time and thinking about that. The levels of saturation, the natural light, um, Illumination, artificial lighting, you know, there are so many factors that come into play when selecting paint. And, um, you know, it's not everyone can do it. I mean, anyone, you can pick a color from, from your, you know, uh, deck, but it, you know, it doesn't always look good.
[00:44:27] Sue: It has to be,
[00:44:28] Joni: it has to be, it has to check off all the boxes.
[00:44:32] Sue: That's like my guiding principle, I guess, if you will, for design, it's about balance. It can't just be one note. It can't be all cool, or it can't be all warm, um, because it's not going to find that harmony, like that, that thing that makes an interior grade.
[00:44:46] Sue: It's about balance, in my opinion, and color is right there. And it's such an incredible tool to neutralize something that's maybe not your favorite. You put another color adjacent to a piece of marble. That's maybe, you know, feels like. A little outdated and it can take on a whole new life. And I think that's an exciting exercise for people to try instead of just chucking it and starting over, you know, you can, you can get creative with color and help to kind of salvage and, and keep things a little longer instead of, you know, starting over.
[00:45:17] Sue: So, um, yeah, that's a great, that's a great tip. I love it. Well, this was awesome. And so it was great to, to talk to you. Um, how can people find you?
[00:45:27] Joni: I am, I have a website and that is joniespear. com easy. I'm also on house and, uh, I'm on Instagram and Facebook. I'm not super active on, on social media because, um, yeah, like I'm a, I have a very small firm and so I don't have time to post all the time.
[00:45:55] Sue: Sure.
[00:45:56] Joni: Um, I do. At one point, you would ask me, can I add one more thing?
[00:46:01] Sue: Sure, of course.
[00:46:02] Joni: So you had asked me, do people trust me, right? And one of the ways that I try to gain their trust is I say, you know what? If you don't like this color, I will pay to have it repainted. And never have I ever had to do that.
[00:46:21] Sue: That is, you're, you, you're putting yourself on the line. That's what designers do every day because they believe so strongly. And, but that's, that's like next level good for you.
[00:46:30] Joni: I mean, you know, all you have is your reputation. Right. Agreed. And so, and it's true. And I, I stand behind my product 100 percent and if they're not happy, I'm not going to get a review.
[00:46:43] Joni: Right. Exactly. Yes. So yeah. So I, I do try to stand behind my work.
[00:46:49] Sue: Thank you so much for your time. Um, for your beautiful work, keep going, keep doing amazing things. Um, I love St. Louis. I used to come quite often to present trends. Well, thank you so much, Joni. This has been really insightful. I love your take on color and sort of the unexpected and how those, like those moments really matter, um, to make a home really beautiful.
[00:47:12] Joni: Well, thank you, Sue. I've really enjoyed it.
[00:47:20] Sue: Seth Vandenberg is our Featured November Designer of the Month. Seth is known for his visionary approach to residential and commercial design that features unique, vintage, and one of a kind art and furnishings. Hi, Seth, and welcome to Color Mixology. So, we always love to ask designers how they got their start, because everyone's story is so unique.
[00:47:41] Sue: So, how did you get, how'd you get here?
[00:47:47] Seth: Hey, thank you for having me. The question my mom would like to answer that question. So. I actually, uh, started off as a biology major and, uh, my second year in had a, uh, an internship at Walt Disney World as a character performer. And I think that we all kind of go into maybe our professions or, or the idea of what we should be doing or pursuing, you know, obviously based on like we experienced in high school and actually was at that internship at Walt Disney World.
[00:48:12] Seth: I was on break. I was sketching and drawing and talking to my mom and venting about how poorly I was doing in science and not really understanding like what was going, what was happening or what was wrong. And she was like, have you ever thought or considered about interior design? And I'm like, I mean, it was left, it was completely out of nowhere, but we moved around a lot.
[00:48:32] Seth: In fact, I was a product of Wasilla, Alaska and spent a good majority of my adolescent growing up in Alaska in a state that, you know, for. It's pretty cold there, as you probably can assume, and, uh, you know, I think people either gravitate to the interiors, they gravitate to exterior experiences. And my family, we moved around a lot and took on residential renovation projects as we moved.
[00:48:59] Seth: And I think that I was exposed to the idea of renovating spaces. You know, we moved around probably every 4 years. My parents worked for the government. And so every time you move, there's an opportunity to either reclaim what you may have lost in the previous, you know, residence, or you're trying to shape and make the space that you're given your own.
[00:49:21] Seth: You know, I think that through that experience and the exposure and my parents, and we were constantly renovating, you know, there was this constant reinventing and, you know, fast forward back to Disney world. It was at that moment during that conversation that I actually changed my degree from biology to interior design.
[00:49:38] Seth: They did not have an accredited program. And so. Spent 6 months at that school, taking some, you know, relatively, uh, intro classes to the major through their home economics program. Um, and I hate to say this, but there was a, there was interior 101, you know, mind you, like, you know, here I am. I'll give you a little bit of backstory on the science thing, but here I am.
[00:50:02] Seth: I'm looking through a microscope and I'm, I'm, I'm zoomed in and I'm looking at the what's under the lens and I'm drawing and sketching the professors walking around. And he's like, what exactly are you drawing? And here I was thinking that I was drawing the specimen and he looked in and he's like, Seth, you've been drawing the cracked glass.
[00:50:22] Seth: Of the lens, and so I think it was like that moment where, you know, I realized that that was not the not the direction I needed to take, um, for me anyways, ended up going back and taking intro to interiors. And I remember the 1st exam. It was like, a mud house is made up of dirt. Rock or something, and I call my mom.
[00:50:43] Seth: I was like, I think this is the major for me. Like, I've, I've pretty much nailed this degree. Um, it's only got more, more complicated from there, but I ended up transferring to Virginia and graduating with a bachelor's of art from Marymount University and was actually a Clinton global scholar and took a year and went over to study at the American university of Dubai for that, that period of time.
[00:51:06] Seth: And that was a really interesting experience because we're talking about. 2000, probably 2008. And that was really when Dubai was kind of coming into own. I mean, the islands were being, you know, built at that time. So they were dredging the Gulf, um, and, you know, blowing the sand back in to create the islands.
[00:51:24] Seth: Um, Burj Al Arab had just been created. They hadn't even breached the breach, the sky with the tallest building in the world. So I was there kind of in this moment where I got to watch the convergence of money and design and global influences. And, uh, it's the one, even now, to this day, I kind of can reference back to my time in Dubai and say, you know, you can have a lot of money, but doesn't always make for great design.
[00:51:48] Seth: Um, and it's not, it's not said in a, in an insulting way to my experience in Dubai, but it was a moment where you realize that sometimes the limitations of a project that really can shape a project and maybe make the project better than just being given. Um,
[00:52:02] Sue: I think that's a very, very good free reign. I can remember that time limited money was talking about going to Dubai.
[00:52:08] Sue: If you were a young designer, like get on a, get on a plane, go over, go. Cause there was so much work going on. Um, but it was everything all at once, all over the place. I remember thinking that that's crazy that you got to spend that time there. I'm I like, what was your favorite project? Like, I want to know more.
[00:52:30] Seth: Well, so, you know, my, uh, my university, we had 2 programs, really 1 was to London and 1 was to Italy. And I think quite the country. I mean, you're going to maybe through this conversation, you'll learn that I'm a bit of a contrarian, but, you know, I had no desire to go to either of those destinations. I kind of thought to myself, you know, I'll probably end up there at some point, right?
[00:52:50] Seth: Just do basic travel. And so why dedicate maybe a semester to going to places? Those locations, um, no doubt there would probably be more of a classical approach to the design. I mean, maybe my background would have been more classical in nature, but Dubai exposed me to some, you know, naturally I was a modern has always been kind of in my ethos.
[00:53:10] Seth: And so. You know, Dubai certainly exposed me to some really extravagant and cool things. I mean, I got to go on a yacht and after one evening with a shake and I went to one of the palaces and we had camel and, you know, really things I, and, and dare I say this, like at the time, I think we were actually in the war with Iraq.
[00:53:28] Seth: And, you know, at the moment I was flying over and it was like, Iraq was on the map below. And I thought to myself, like, I may never come back here, right? Like, this may be like, the moment is what it is for now, but like, maybe I'll never go back to buy. And, you know, like, I thought maybe Italy and London will always be there, but.
[00:53:43] Seth: Um, certainly device, you know, and actually, what's interesting. We just took a project, uh, last fall. Uh, we worked on a restaurant here in Atlanta and the, the, the owners, they travel to Dubai still to this day for influence in what they want to do and bring to back to the states. So, it's kind of, it's been an interesting, you know, crossover, and it's found its way to kind of either break ice or, or draw parallels.
[00:54:03] Seth: And even now I'm pulling references and. You know, our firm is heavily drawn to international design and so talk about that. But I love the name of your aspect to our work. Where did that
[00:54:16] Sue: come from?
[00:54:21] Sue: It really came
[00:54:22] Seth: from a, so I've worked previously for other designers and and had. You know, every 1 of those practices I worked at, there was, it was the name of the principle on the door, and I don't want to say it didn't create a very, it definitely put you in maybe in the place of who you were at that, at that firm.
[00:54:39] Seth: And when I decided to do this, it was like, creating an environment where a lot of creative minds can come together and not 1 person's voice is louder than another. Um, you know, I, I think, I think I operate a pretty collaborative environment. And so the idea of the drawing room, obviously, there's a historical component to the name, you know, it refers to a room in a home, you know, but but more than that, it was, you know, what we touch on is far beyond.
[00:55:04] Seth: Even an interior, like, we'll, we'll go down the path of branding and, um, personal identification and architecture and landscape. And I really wanted to create sometimes there's graphic design and sometimes there's, you know, all 5 senses are being touched. And so the drawing room was really given that name, or we kind of gave it a name.
[00:55:26] Seth: For specific reason, it was to kind of pull all these creative houses together. Um, and, and really, I didn't want a firm that had my name on it. It was, you know, maybe, maybe I, maybe I, I leave. Yeah. Right. And I did not. I
[00:55:39] Sue: did not go there with the drawing room. Of course. I mean, a Victorian drawing room. I went there as like a place that people draw on experiences together.
[00:55:46] Sue: That was. When I was thinking about the name, yeah, well, I like that even more. Like let's, let's throw that in the mix.
[00:55:53] Seth: Drawing experiences together. Um, writing that down now.
[00:55:56] Sue: So do you touch on primarily residential interiors or do you have a nice mix of both?
[00:56:02] Seth: I mean, I mean, we've, we've certainly touched on commercial, but commercial, you know, I, I did commercial design, you know, back when I lived in DC and that lovely little word that we are familiar with value engineering.
[00:56:13] Seth: Right. Is not my friend. Someone who has champagne tastes, you know, that doesn't really bode well to It's really not that fun either, right? Like, to have to source alternatives to an idea. I mean, it's, I guess it's part of our job, but residential work, there's honestly, there's a completely different component to even how I work with clients that it's a really emotional and it's personal.
[00:56:37] Seth: Right? And that, that doesn't seem to happen in commercial environments. We do probably about, I mean, I'm 85, 90 percent residential, and maybe there's some yeah. Offshoot commercial work, maybe there's a law firm or there's a, uh, someone or restaurant or someone that we know own something and we'll do that.
[00:56:55] Seth: Um, and that's really, that's kind of the extent of our commercial work, but, you know, residential work is so personal. And I think I've found that the most enjoyable, because not only is the product, the product that you're sourcing a lot more personal, let's make sure it's going to last for 510 from a commercial point of view.
[00:57:16] Seth: We're not really worried about double rubs. Uh, the durability of things, right? So, but, but even then more so, like, we, like, I know, it's like, it's a really personal environment and believe it or not, like, the ability to go into someone's home. And shape it in a way that really, they, it changes who they are and how they interact with their space.
[00:57:44] Seth: I think a lot of people are maybe really, they have maybe a superficial idea of what interior design is. And maybe that was my own bias when I was in high school or, you know, high school and early college, maybe my own bias was, you know, that's again, kind of a superficial it's topical. It's a furniture piece.
[00:58:03] Seth: It's a lamp or whatever. But, you know, I've, I've gone into people's homes that were less than awesome. Applied our, you know, applied our, our designs to them and then watch them like, in tears or watch like, their, their energies change around their space. And it really shows the power of space. Um, and what better space to really touch on, or even influences someone's.
[00:58:30] Seth: Home, you know, where they're designed to come that they're supposed to go home and decompress or, uh, you know, find energy again to go back end of the day. Right. Or, you know, where they're meeting family, but. It's amazing that the power that that our industry has on the personal, like, on your personal assistance.
[00:58:49] Seth: On this planet in your environment and how important spaces and how it influences you as a, you know, as an individual,
[00:58:56] Sue: I think that is, um, sort of the unsung hero nature of what designers do. It's not just about luxury. It's not just about something beautiful. It's creating somebody's home. There is nothing more personal than that.
[00:59:08] Sue: Um, and that's what makes this job so challenging and rewarding, I think, uh, for all of us, you know, no matter what your experience is, or, you know, if you work for a huge firm or, you know, just on your own, um, it's, uh, it's quite a journey, which kind of leads me into our discussion about unexpected design.
[00:59:25] Sue: So that's our sort of topic of the episode. And I think you do that really well. It's the idea of embracing a concept, maybe in direct opposition to what's popular. Because what is it that is personal and design? It's like finding the joy in the unexpected. So can you talk about that a little bit and maybe how it relates to the work that you do?
[00:59:46] Seth: Sure. So, um, yeah, I mean, as I mentioned earlier, like there's no better contrarian than than myself, and maybe that's my horoscope. I'm a Gemini .
[00:59:55] Sue: Um,
[00:59:55] Seth: so there's definitely Gemini, always duality. That's why
[00:59:57] Sue: I like you. I could tell. What, what's your sign? I'm a Leo Lion. Okay. Yeah. Leo.
[01:00:03] Seth: Uh, good signs as well. Yes, good science.
[01:00:05] Seth: I, I haven't a Leo in my office, but, um, you know, even here in the south, I mean, you know, our aesthetic certainly isn't what I would consider Southern by any means. And, um, I think being in Atlanta, Atlanta certainly going through a renaissance right now, you know, we have a tax break for movies to be filmed here.
[01:00:26] Seth: Um, and so with that, there's an influx of people coming in from New York and Los Angeles and, you know, producers and actors. And I think that that's, uh, stimulating, uh, other, other maybe design styles, uh, to rise to the surface. But, you know, the South has a very distinct. Style, at least from my point of view, and, you know, kind of running not solo, but running against the against the grain there.
[01:00:52] Seth: It's Atlanta, right?
[01:00:54] Sue: Like, it's not like the rest of the South. I feel like it's a microcosm of its own cultural associations. It's there's so much good design going on in Atlanta. Wow.
[01:01:05] Seth: We just and we just had, you know, a big, big 3 festivals this last week. We have modern Atlanta, which is a big home tour. We had our 1st art fair and then that certainly there was some diversity in the work.
[01:01:17] Seth: But, you know, when you think about the Southeast region, you've got Charlotte, Savannah, Burlington, Birmingham, Nashville. Asheville, um, I think of some others that are some big names, but, you know, that's the, that the culture of those of those cities and the diversity of those cities. But we definitely have a Southern style.
[01:01:39] Seth: So anyways, we are certainly driven by the unexpected. That doesn't really go with our use of color, but really are, are, you know, we, for me, it's important that an object that we select is not just like a chair to be a chair, right? Like, everything in our portfolio, or even in our project has a story and, uh, those products can almost stand on their own in a white box.
[01:02:06] Seth: Um, and maybe that's my experience from Dubai. Maybe that's my influence from Walt Disney World. Like, there's probably a lot of things happening there. That's part of why I think that. You know, everything I touch or everything that goes into a room is, is relatively important. I also don't being a product to someone who moved around so much, like, I dare I say this, but like, we often dispose of a lot of furniture, right?
[01:02:25] Seth: Like I've gone through probably 10 plus beds sizes and shapes in my youth because the room didn't accommodate it. But like, it's hard for me now to just buy furniture, buy furniture, kind of want you to buy it one time. And with that, it kind of needs to somehow attach itself to you. And oftentimes that's just the story or the storytelling of a piece.
[01:02:46] Seth: Art's super important and it's super personal and, you know, art often leads our interiors, um, product. We don't, we don't play heavily with like a lot of patterns or text, like, um, not just patterns, but we're definitely not that firm, right? Like, for me, I'd rather buy a chair with a really great silhouette and put a solid textile on it and kind of respect or honor the form of that piece.
[01:03:08] Seth: Then kind of buy a box and throw a crazy fabric on it. And then replace the fabric when it gets tired and puts the time stamp, I kind of want an interior that not just the word say the word like transcends time, but like, we'll definitely have. Life to it. Longevity. Yep. And that's really because I got probably tired of throwing things out every couple of years.
[01:03:30] Seth: Um, so, but anyways, you asked if we, uh, back to the unexpected, I think that, you know, that goes back to like, why every object may be able to tell its independent story. And then when you look at our, at an image within our portfolio, oftentimes you'll see 1 of 3 principles at play. Actually, it's, it's all of them.
[01:03:49] Seth: Every principle, all 3 principles are at play. There's a, there's an item that happens to be new. There's an item that happens to be now or current or of the moment. And then there happens to be a novel item. So you kind of get this now, new and novel idea between all the pieces. And so you don't have any 1 period of time or a product that's from 1 vendor moment, or I'm sorry, 1 vendor or manufacturer, or even 1 time.
[01:04:15] Seth: You know, timestamp or period. Um, you know, there's product that we designed specifically for that space. There's product that's maybe vintage. Um, there's something that maybe the client brought with them and we built a room around it. Um, so there's, there's these 3 things kind of working and that kind of becomes.
[01:04:31] Seth: You know, the, the formula, if you want to call it, if there is a formula for how we work. That is 1 of our, like, our, maybe our unspoken formula.
[01:04:39] Sue: Yeah, I would say that that's like the. Process, maybe, but everything about what your processes is unexpected, because how do you even begin to source that? I mean, I know that there's a lot of great resources in Atlanta, but are you traveling beyond, you know, Georgia to get pieces and.
[01:04:55] Seth: You know, I, I guess it goes back to like, uh, being the contrarian and being going against the grain. But, you know, if sometimes I've opened up these interior magazines, especially from our region, and I'm like, oh, okay, I know where you bought that. Right? Like, I can go buy that too. And maybe that's a, uh, a play that people are comfortable with.
[01:05:15] Seth: You know, we ask our clients to have courage and, um, really, we do well with people that, that maybe have a stronger sense of self.
[01:05:24] Sue: Um,
[01:05:25] Seth: our early business card was like, we're not going to give you what your neighbor has and to say that, but also to, like, stand on those words, you know, really says a lot about, you know, the confidence of the people that hire us.
[01:05:38] Sue: Agreed. It's a combination. It's you and your firm and also the people that hire you that takes that takes guts, right? To not conform to what everybody else believes is beautiful and and create your own thing. That's. Courageous and really to
[01:05:52] Seth: kind of own who you are. I mean, like, you know, when we're asking someone to get really in touch with themself.
[01:06:00] Seth: You know, and sometimes that's scary, you know, sometimes it's scary even thinking about it when it comes to relationships, let alone, like, what product I want to purchase from my home. I mean, that's a, you know, but like, again, I mentioned, like, I think that this goes back to the idea of, you know, you can have an interior that's relatively superficial, or you can have 1, that's really in personal.
[01:06:20] Seth: And I think that we strive for. That the ladder
[01:06:24] Sue: well, I think we could continue to talk about this all day. And I know I'm super grateful for the time that we've spent together. But I think 1 aspect of the conformity, right? Is a little of the social media effect. People see so many things out there and they believe that that's, you know, they can't come outside of the boundaries of what they see and interpret is great design and that's why it's really important to have designers, um, like you and your team, like pushing the boundaries and showing people that there is another way.
[01:06:53] Sue: That is deeply personal and it's worth like taking that risk and finding the joy in the unexpected.
[01:06:59] Seth: Sure. And to be fair, I mean, the commercialized, you know, furniture market. I mean, it's, you know, you can, you can see there's a lot of commonalities with a lot of the furniture manufacturer, at least from a commercial, you know, retail point of view.
[01:07:11] Seth: They're all kind of selling the same thing. Um, you know, I used to have a benchmark when I was in, so I did lighting design for a year when I was in D. C. and we had a benchmark and it was, if it's made it to the holiday and like the. The style is dead. Now I'm like, what's the benchmark now? Cause like everyone's kind of, you know, pushing the same thing.
[01:07:31] Sue: Yeah. It's hard to find. So I think designers find patterns well, right. And so they know when they've seen, you know, you can see, I've seen it, seen it, seen it. So it's often the thing that you haven't seen that becomes what's, you know, appealing, but it's, it's, there's a lot out there. So it's hard to track.
[01:07:47] Sue: Well, so let's bring it back to color. Is there any color moments that are happening now and design that you are liking or,
[01:07:54] Seth: you know, I, I recently did a presentation for some age, real estate agents here in the city, and they want to talk about trends and I'm like, I really don't conform to trends. And maybe that's my mantra, right?
[01:08:04] Seth: Is to, like, go against the trends and be the opposite intentionally opposite and. You know, from a color point of view, like it's often led by the clients. I mean, there's personal likes by way of color, and I'd rather just lean into those to inform rather than conform to a trend. Yeah, I mean, we just got painting a client's, like, interior canary yellow.
[01:08:28] Seth: You know, that is not by any means, like, on any of the current color trends. And for me, again, it's not that our interiors are led by those color trends. Like, this goes back to a client who knows themselves, right? Or through the, through our process of working together, you know, we try to. Extract what maybe they are stimulated by, and in this instance, she likes the colors, red, black, gray and yellow.
[01:08:50] Seth: Well. What do you do with that? Right? So, um, you know, our, our. Use of color really is a reflection of maybe the confidence that a client has or can bring to the table. So I wouldn't say that necessarily there's a color that, you know, I certainly have my favorites. Like, you know, I do like yellow and I really love red.
[01:09:10] Seth: And, you know, but something that was like, I don't wear color and it's not because I maybe I'm intimidated by myself in terms of my own wardrobe. Um, but, you know, as a, as I say this, but as a, as a rule, if you will, it's 1 that my team will certainly attest to, you know, I like to wear black and I like to encourage that they wear black because at the end of the day, like, our projects aren't about, like, our personal creativity.
[01:09:34] Seth: Right. I like to sit down in front of a client and let them bring themselves to the table. Um, you know, our job is very psychological. And so I spent a lot of time, like, really trying to understand who they are. Um, so really, they, the clients are the 1 that leads the color choices. Um, you know, I'm just, I maybe I'm, I'm here to kind of.
[01:09:55] Sue: Steward, yes, the steward of that journey. Yeah, that's, that's fantastic. Well, this has been fascinating conversation. I'm so excited to have gotten to know you a little bit better. Um, how can people find you? They will obviously ask when
Outro:
[01:10:08] Seth: want to know. Sure. Well, you can find us on Instagram. Uh, I will be very honest and say that I am not the greatest at Instagram.
[01:10:17] Seth: Um, I'm going to,
[01:10:21] Sue: right, right.
[01:10:22] Seth: But Instagram at the drawing room ATL or they can go to our website, which is the drawing room ATL. com ATL stands for Atlanta. So the drawing room ATL. com
[01:10:32] Sue: love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on color mixology and hopefully I'll be down in Atlanta soon and we can meet.
[01:10:39] Seth: Person, come on down. There's a lot of, there's a lot of fun going on there.
[01:10:43] Sue: I love it.
[01:10:48] Sue: Thank you so much for listening. You can find Deto at deto on Instagram and as artwork@oldbrandnew.com and at Old Brand New Shop on Instagram. Learn more about the loneliest color. Kingdom Gold at tlc dot sherwin dot. If you enjoyed this conversation, please consider subscribing, leave us a review, and tell the other design and color curious people in your life all about color mixology.
[01:11:15] Sue: Tune in next time with guest designer Nicholas Obeid as we unpack the fashion and interior design trend of quiet luxury or stealth wealth. See you next time on Color Mixology.