Designer Ann Ueno spoke with us on the art of design, and her favorite space to design.
The art of living well means that there is an intentionality to the environment we are in that fosters the state of mind and the feeling we desire to have to live our best lives. It’s not on accident, it’s by design. Someone has to lead and create the room, the home, in a way that achieves the desired outcome the client has – and that’s us! We have this at the forefront of all of our projects, ensuring that each design decision we make solves a problem and creates beauty and meaning.
This is like asking me which kid is my favorite! Ha ha ha. First, residential is our jam. While we do some commercial, our hearts are for homes. Our favorite style is a style that is willing to take risk – with color, pattern, stand-out moments in the home, etc. We love layering. Be it layering art on top of an eclectic wallpaper, combing multiple tiles within a bathroom or rounding out a space in a creative way with layered styling. I suppose this design aesthetic would be named ‘eclectic modern’ but honestly, as long as the project has some risky and forward thinking moments, we are good!
No! Design is an art – and part science of course – so if there is anything we would ever need to be cautious of or that may be too risky for a client, we would use sparingly or in a way that is the perfect amount of subtle. In other words, our job is to be the artist for the client and in that we know how to handle and curate those caution signs!
While cliché, everything is a balancing act in a space. Part of this is based on a percent and part of it is based on feeling. Meaning, if 70% of the room is bold and colorful, with pattern and texture, we may look to bring that down to 50-60% to ensure there is still a peaceful, cohesive tone in the space. Every element in the space has to play off of each other – flooring, paint on walls, material on walls, lighting, textiles, art, furnishings, etc. And of course, scale plays a bit role in this. We can incorporate a bold pattern but if it’s used in a small scale, in a small quantity, we have more room to incorporate some other elements. And vice versa.
All of it! Jokes aside, we are eyeing the Liaison collection by Kelly Wearstler, namely the Doheny. She is my personal design hero (her masterclass was incredible!) and I love the geometry of her work, namely in her tile! I am also LOVING the Savoy collection. I think that collection gives neutral a whole new twist and I can’t wait to use it!
