Interior design

Riding the crest of surfacing trends

Through design, we travel the globe, between New York contemporary furniture expositions and design junkets, to Brussels open September, we try to keep abreast of all the trends, inspirations and innovations possible. It's more than just our job, it's our way of life. It is our duty, and especially our great pleasure to hop over to other cities and visit trendy restaurants, designer hotels, and admire and study audacious urban designs and shops not found in Montréal. We are always seeking out that little something, the aspect that will stimulate a decor or an idea that will amaze our client. These adventures instil us with a touch of richness, an aesthetic foundation. It is interesting to participate in local or national supplier trade shows, but one must also leave one's home environment to see what the new trends are overseas, how people live, and what influences guide them at the moment. Without having to purchase a plane ticket, you can also consult various relevant blogs that focus on international influences, visit our Twitter page or our Facebook page to consult the list.

Creativity and observation

Our creativity exceeds our profession, that is, we must find stimulation through different means... museums and art installations are good examples. Fashion is no doubt the most avant-garde inspiration to observe in order to apply the new standards to interiors, colours are coordinated on clothing one year and found on our walls 2 years later. As for textures, they appear even faster. Take knitwear for example: today seen worn around the neck, and the following autumn used as cushions for our sofas. Soak in culture, read articles, attend fashion shows, visit museums and galleries, take part in local events, meet trending artists and designers, never stop being inspired.

Our definition of interior design

Design is defined by a creative activity that can turn to social, political and environmental milieux, it is omnipresent in our lives, and in the end it is useful. The primary goal of design is to invent and facilitate use, to meet a need in order to improve people's lives, to optimize dialogue and promote fluid movement in space. From an artistic standpoint, design is expressed through form. In interior design, it is expressed through volume, space, perspective and textures. The last factor, necessary for all interiors, is light. Without light, there is nothing, and without proper lighting there is no value to our creative effort.

"(…) Through the volume of space, we move, see forms, hear sounds, feel breezes, and smell the fragrances of a flower garden in bloom; space inherits sensual and aesthetic characteristics of all these elements."
- Francis D. K. Ching, Interior Design

Space and light, two separate entities

Space is a material substance, just like stone or wood, but it is inherently shapeless and diffuse. Just as an artist deals with chiaroscuro, the designer must deal with mass and emptiness in order to create rich and harmonious interior spaces. Light... without doubt the least successful element in interior design for homes. It is so easy to miss a perfect lighting design. The designer studies the light source in order to highlight empty or filled spaces and thus draws the viewer's eye to focal points of the design. The force, flux and heat of the light source can have a great influence on the desired impact. It is the designer's task to properly manipulate light and provide the client with the right advice. As we cannot always know everything, it is a good idea to seek the advice of suppliers' lighting advisors.

Design is also the mastery of function

Aside from the artistic component, design is also the mastery of function.
The designer's finished work is not found on a canvas or in a museum, it is used by people and influences the course of our lives. It is for this reason that the designer must possess the technical strength and an understanding of construction, as the impact of a decision can have consequences on the comfort and also the safety of the client. We are interior design professionals; it is our career, our vocation. But what exactly is a designer? An artist? An entrepreneur? A manager? It's a little bit of all that simultaneously. There is a constant duality in the minds of design professionals, between creativity and logic, structure and organic, numbers and plans. Does an interior designer act on her own? No, they are surrounded by suppliers, colleagues, retailers and workers, generally involving approximately 15 - 20 persons working together. A solid team is built over years of experience, investing in an interior designer means avoiding the consequences of a "trial and error" project. The designer is to the worksite what a conductor is to the symphony.