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Student & Web Questions

Lesson 9 from: What's Your Home Design Personality?

Tobi Fairley

Student & Web Questions

Lesson 9 from: What's Your Home Design Personality?

Tobi Fairley

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Lesson Info

9. Student & Web Questions

Lesson Info

Student & Web Questions

Today, this morning and early this afternoon was really our chance to get our heads around what all of the difference styles are so before we were going to move into next how to start using them in your space is and how to really get function and had a transition them and mix them and all of those things with this is kind of our last opportunity, I guess before we move on to really understand what we want to do, you know how we want to bring these spaces toe, toe life so anything else that anybody wants to visit as far as any of these styles we can go back to this morning we can go back to traditional styling u turn because a couple of people asked this is inspired. Christine wants to know is your husband the same categories you and if he's no, how do you decide how you decorate your own home? That's a great question. So the joke and our family is and I'll leave the law hearing to my husband and the decorating to me, and it works really, really well, but for the most part he really doe...

s like what I do and I try teo, you know, try to create things with him in mind, so certainly embrace miles, style and color sensibilities, but I also try to be mindful of I don't wrap our entire house and pink necessarily, even though there is some in and we're working on designing a new home right now, there will be some pink in it, but, you know, certainly don't disregard what would he would be comfortable in, so I know how he likes to live, I know how he likes to spend this time so we can address this again when we start talking function, but you have to really think about all of those things and what fits those styles the most part for the most part. So even if say, I'm more formal in a lot of ways, if what we he really likes, that he was be casual, watch television, relax when he's at home in it really doesn't make sense for me to not create spaces that would support that for him and there's a way to do both at the same time and, you know, have different spaces for different functions. I mean, he would have a tv in every room in our house, which I would have a tv and maybe one room of our house, so, you know, we have some differences there, but certainly for the most part, he I'm kind of I'm mindful of what he like, kes, and he goes along with a lot of what I I did that's that's funny that's funny I just remember when my husband without talking to me about a massive flat screen tv back in the beginning in massive massive and it came out and I had an image for the room that didn't include a wall full of television and then he would say if he couldn't understand why we didn't want to have the entire room oriented at a massive flat screen tv and I have had that with a lot of architectural client state the same thing on black friday because we only had seven tv's in her house and they had a fifty four inch went on for five hundred dollars now where the proud owner of that one is well, so you know and that is one of things how do you start blending? And if you want to be glamorous and you want your husband wants to lay in a recliner and watch sixty five inch television, you know, how do you blend those things and there's lots of tricks that we're going to get into with those air are exciting questions that we'll look forward to answering. Holly has a question on sophisticated calista, which holly says I have a mccoy pottery collection that reminds me of home and family but it doesn't really buy with my style, which is sophisticated stylist mccoy is very country I'm not sure with, you know mccoy so how do you keep sentimental items like my mccoy collection but not have them stick out like a sore thumb in a sophisticated stylistic context so that's interesting? Well, it depends on a lot of times the colors of those air sort of like muted browns and blues and sometimes it might have a little malvo or some other colors in them, right? So I think she would want to take a color cute from those but you know how we were talking about using showing things is a collection you could let the the actual piece of furniture that is display and really be the stylish like like, say, a mirrored at a chair or something that fit the style least, um model I think about a client who was very traditional, but we were trying to make her house a little more youthful and a little more trend forward and she had a collection of russian boxes that her grandmother I collected for her for years and she wanted them on display. So I put him in a cabin in an arm law actually wallpaper the inside back of the arm while with this great pattern and then I displayed every box on a lucite stand, so the idea of blending the loose side with and it made them feel also very important, so a lot of times I'll do that with lucite or even make a lucite box or cover to put over a collectible piece, so it seems not only more precious, but the whole idea of introducing the least site makes it either more modern or more glamorous. So you have to think about ways that maybe don't get stuck in the fact focusing on the pottery itself, which is what's holding her back, but, you know, again opened her mind a little bit, okay, what? What could it be displayed in that would actually bridge the collection to the rain? And I think something like a mirrored cabinet um, could do that perfectly. Sometimes there are certain collections and things that you have that you just don't end up wanting to display, even though they're sentimental, so I suggest to people, if it's something that could actually use sometime during entertaining on their table top for a party. Sometimes, if you're really drawn to a certain style, you're going to just want to put some things away and bring them out for special occasions or use them in a functional way, too interesting question from your lander here, but I know we're going to get more into actual form and function in the next couple days, but the land is asking if you know what your style or star combo is, but you really are working with a very limited budget. Do you recommend some of saving up, trying to do it all in one go? Or do you recommend in the incremental pieces so that way you can stay on style, or does that become mixed it over time? And so, you know, it depends when we work with clients who come and say we want to do this whole project, and my budget is x and it's and it's not even really close to what they're telling me they want, then we have to step back and look, maybe we should wait for six months or a year and let you, you know, put some money aside, and then we can do this project, so sometimes that happen, but it sounds like to me in this instance, if you're really just starting to if you know what your style is and you're really just starting to learn, teo, bring that into your space, why not start collecting a little bit of time? And one of my rules of thumb is always to buy the best you can afford at any given time. So if in your twenties you can afford something that, you know is maybe seems like it's a pretty tight budgets, pretty conservative, but by the best that you can at that time and this long is that something that you that you really love it can blend with things as you get older maybe in your thirties or forties you have a little bit larger budget you can invest in something a little more expensive so you could buy an accessory or something small you could buy a vintage item that fits her budget and start letting yourself get excited about the story she's starting to tell because you know we want to tell the story and I think he could miss a lot if you if you wait we were talking about that the other day when we were getting prepared for this course of if you wait until you have the money or until the time is right you might miss a lot of the things that that would have really told your story at various times in your life trips just things that you were drawn to it different times I know even with my mom's house she's always saying ok I do love that you give me design advice but you're not touching my dining room table in my buffet I love it it's the first piece of front of trouble when you're dead and I got married and I still love it and it's you know it's still beautiful to me and you may not think it the most updated chic thing but it's important to me and she wants to hang on to it and mark around it so aa lot of ten because my mother redid her dining room for years, you and I went to visit, and I was shocked to see this rotten old table still in the middle of the room. You did everything else. Why did you leave that? It was completely is you're saying that sentiment is very it was important and she still loved it. And so there's a difference in it being sentimental and you not liking it, which some of us have to deal with that, too, because we inherit things or whatever, but if you truly love it, and I love that she was able to express that to me, you're not touching these pieces. These really reflect to my style on that's important when our clients do that, or when you do that for your own home, because that's what keeps my client's projects from looking just like rooms that toby designed but looking like what they designed, sir, there are times when I say okay, to get what you're telling me you want, we're going to have to put this collection away, maybe, and just use it very sense. But there's, other times were asked that, you know, when I wouldn't necessarily pick that, but you're right, this is so important to you and your personality, we're going to work around. This piece says they're excellent. We're getting lots of questions about this picture. They want a one day they want to know where this is. It was a show house I did in new york city. Really fun, it's it's in a building on sixty fifth street and sixth and fifth avenue, the corner of sixty fifth street and fifth avenue, and they use it for a show house over and over. So each year and the group of designers comes in and designs this same historic home, which is really cool. So very, very traditional architecture. The paneling was all there at the wall, covering inside the panels, but definitely very glamorous, I think, don't you all think there's some traditional pieces here, but this certainly airs on the side of glamour, and we were looking for I was working with a magazine for this that was sponsoring this event, and they actually gave me some keys for what they wanted the room to feel like s o very fashion forward on dso. This is a great example of how if you want to bring a style into your house, this is an excellent this is actually very appropriate, good question. If you wanted to bring this style into your home, you can deconstruct any picture, so tonight, if you go back and look at my pinterest porter pin some of these things to your own board is you start developing your own style you can do things exactly like I did in this room so I was actually on an airplane is I am a lot designing this room on a piece of paper on in my head and I was thinking, ok, what would be glamorous and fashion forward? Well, couture detailing things you vincey maybe on clothing like piping or grow grain like grow grain on a lapel of a collar is really what I was thinking of when I brought grow grain to the to the sofa you know, cause I wanted that fashion idea the m bordering on the drapery that matches the grass cloth. So I took all these tiny little details and I brought them tow life in different pieces of the furniture one of these great murano vintage lamps from some friends of mine who own a company called swank lighting and I just haven't amazing collection of vintage pieces and then I wanted to bring the gold into the room another way so the gold medal on the um stools, the gold tram and piping on the table all of those pieces, all of those decisions are very intentional to make this room in this style come together so you can certainly do this in your own home the curve of the these little slipper chairs definitely glamorous and each piece was thought out to really fit this was kind of more to fit a magazine story, so it was really reverse engineered but it's not unlike what you would do in your own home because you're going to go take look at all the things we've been looking at today and maybe pull some of those and even other images that you love and pull a mall into a folder and then you're gonna have to start deconstructing each room to say, what is it about this that I want to bring into my own aesthetic? And it does that make sense to you guys? Is there any? Are there any questions about that? Even with any of the other pieces? Are other photos? Anybody intrigued about any of the other images we've seen today too that we can I'm happy to revisit its great we were getting kind of almost like a running commentary as they each image came up people giving lots of different comments and that they're sharing their different thought it was great to read thank you keep keep that going as we go through the day yeah, I think so we have a female I have like maybe five, five minutes or so s o any other last thoughts before we move into how to use all of these things in the ideas you so you're still standing strong on your traditional that's good we don't wait, we want you to, but I love that that you're so confident that but any thoughts that you've had of how you might even within the realm of traditional cause there's a lot of variety in the traditional classic style like anything you want to try or introduced here aesthetic um I want to add more glamour I do have a husband at home who has conflicting styles than I do, and so actually my couch, which I would love to be loved leather and tufted with rolled edges it's not it's, very sleek it's, big it's, big it's like the size of what I wanted but has like a half roll like it's more of an arch and so we had to compromise in the center because he wanted to lay down on it, so we have a very comfortable semi so many traditional couch, but definitely more glamour. I do want toe push more into mirrors I don't have any mirrors anywhere, and so I would like to try and throw that in, but only a little bit you know, a touch here there, so I'm going to try and do that that sounds good, anything else? Anybody actually have a question I'd be, but I'd love to actually get trees is input on this as well? Cassie's news is asking I'd love to hear whatever you recommend I have to decorate a kid's room in the same style is the rest of the house or least somewhat similar similar, but also reflect the child's personality is also something you went through fairly recent I did. And it actually what worked well was I painted her wallet, her walls where this we called it mountain dew green because that's what she picked out when she was twelve years old on and so my hallways like a beijing neutral color and her door you know, ter doors right here and I fell in love with this creamy pink very much like your chair, right? You're like a ballet slipper pink and it looks so nice with my hallway paint. So opening her bedroom door it just if loves so even though the room itself the bohemian style is different, the colors really work. Yes, yes, your point of reference. So that's a perfect example of how you used color to drink transition from one space to another. Andi, I think a lot of times so you're saying, how do you decorate your child's room in the same s o say had traditional style how to make it yeah, you know again, certainly color and color on the walls khun kids can get excited about my daughter's been lobbying for painting chevron pattern on the wall in her room because it is really you know, kind of trendy some thinking I don't know if I want to bring that in but at the same time the wall in the paint option is a really great one because you can always paint over and it's not like buying an entire feet piece of furniture in that style so allowing kids to make some decisions maybe with paint certainly with fabrics, the colors of fabrics and thinking about buying pieces that you're going to keep a long time maybe that air very specific to your style like a really traditional bed but maybe letting them have some fun with the throw pillows on the bed or some other more temporary pieces I think would be a great way to compromise also not being afraid to paint things even antiques if they're not super super valuable or sentiment you can always take them back tio at a later time you khun strip them and re finish them that if you're open to painting things that's a great option for other kinds of spaces like kids rooms as well toby early on you showed the kitchen but jake hang on love that had the gingham feeling you know the other thing is kids for him if you didn't want us to say when you are open the door you didn't want to read the kgb is what if you did the ceiling because somebody online when there was this whole pages and pages of met obsession after you showed that map, I think it was mmmmm and somebody said how cool if you put the map on the roof on the ceiling that's kind of a trend wasn't in the eighties where lots of children's rooms had like what he called the cosmos on the way you still have to see the planets and the stars yeah, yeah, I was going to look at that image one more time this one which is interesting because you most resonated with the cool urban but she really loves something about this I think it's like the english kind of sensibility to be honest, I don't like the giving of game check that's not my start, but I just really like they picked a really you know, vivid detail there and applied in a place you wouldn't necessarily look for it. He sort of looked that maybe in a draper a cushion, whatever that is just really leapt out of because if you took that away, the room is actually quite playing in a way it's very, you know, it's quite muted but that that feature I just that was really startling and I love the color in the green is really cool if you're lying in bed, you know that picture would be the thing would not it's just a whole different for you like looking at my eyes start shimmering there wouldn't they? I don't know maybe not getting on the same thing a place to bring in design actually and it's often for gotten we talked about it in the color of course is the fifth wall on dso it's often forgotten? So it's certainly a place to bring in a pattern all sorts of exciting textures and color and things thirty you know stylist of seems to be the most popular for a while with a lot of running a crystal light instead of what do you see the trend dominating in the next five years so that as I was saying this morning I love this question I really believe that we're going to see things go back to much more traditional design because we have really been seeing for a while sleeker modern things and I think you know, even even things like we talked about this morning with I can target and some other major retailers really embracing the cool urban kind of look or even this glamour look that we have seen a lot out in the marketplace that a lot of people have gravitated to and I think everything really in design is kind of cyclical ahs we've all I heard many times and it's really time for traditional designed to make a resurgence now it's not gonna look like it used to I don't think I certainly think we'll see much more traditional woods and things it's probably not going to look like this, but it might look something more kin to this idea that we were just talking about that's definitely more for but I think we'll even see stained woods and other things coming back in a big way because we it's been a little while since we've really seen a lot of that, I saw some nodding heads, the some of you feel like that's the case, too, and it might be refreshing to have a traditional back for a while. I'll pose that question on my block recently and on twitter and ask people could traditional be a trend, which is an interesting thought because the whole idea of tradition traditional is that it's not trendy, that it is based rooted in the tradition, and but in a sense it really became a lost art for many people in particularly a lot of young people. So antiques have really been coming back in a huge way, a lot of that's because of us sustainability and people's budgets and all sorts of things, I think we're going to continue to see design moving that way, so if you are a traditionalist and we we decided earlier that we think most people probably fall into that category, then that's great, you're going to you're about to be right back in style and every you know, you're going to have lots of choices out in the marketplace. I think in the next five years or so that really appealed to you on that traditional aesthetic, what was c it was the artistic traveler, would you consider that? Also, I feel like it could be also traditional, because, as I think is that you are collecting, they feel like they wouldn't like it will be still traditional, like, even if you have that for years, right? So there was the one room that we even talked about, um, looking almost more, um, very global, but some of these spaces, even this one, I think, certainly falls into the traditional category and a lot of ways, so because, I mean, any of you agree, I mean, that that doesn't really look like an urban space necessarily would certainly fall more in into a traditional categories opposed to a modern when I think so, but like we were saying earlier, each one of these styles can really go, um, one way or the other, depending on what their we blend it with so that's going to be the fun part, and hopefully, at the end of the day, we were starting today with four categories only. But by the end of this course, what your tennessee is, yours is a unique neek mix of several of these, probably in different percentages. So everyone's kind of going to come out with their own unique design personality, and that will be fun for us to talk about at the end of the whole course. So the people who right now are saying, I'm a traditionalist, it's going to be fun to see what you really think. You are traditional, with glamour and a hint of you know what? What does that look like for you, and how are they different from one another? I think that's going to be exciting.

Class Materials

bonus material with Purchase

Add Style With Color.pdf

Ratings and Reviews

Amy Cantrell
 

I was happy to get this class on sale at a time when I needed it. We were painting and replacing some furniture so it helped me get some clarity on what is most important to me. As a photographer I can appreciate most styles and colors so the class helped me hone in on what my design personality is (eclectic mostly) which helped me focus on things to inspire me.

LIndsey Connell
 

What a generous offering. I got so much out of this course. Sure, some of the style references are a little out-moded, but it's incredibly thorough. Tobi is so knowledgeable about all of the styles and is gifted at helping students ensure style and functionality. Dive in! You'll learn so much about your own style and how to make your home flow in a way that you love.

a Creativelive Student
 

Clear, informative and inspiring!

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