by Amy Howell Hirt

Steve Kadlec, a registered architect and principal at Kadlec Architecture + Design, has a residential portfolio that runs the gamut from stamp-sized urban lofts to sprawling country getaways. Throughout his 20 years in the world of architecture and interior design, Kadlec has cultivated a common thread that runs through his work; each project has an elegant simplicity based on his reverence for the basic tenets of individual design styles.

“Most of our work, whether contemporary or traditional, is based on the essence of a particular style,” said Kadlec, who founded his company in 2004.

In the Urban Terrace Project, located on the 18th floor of Chicago’s iconic Palmolive building, Kadlec created a refined sanctuary that embraces the owner’s classic tastes, the building’s art deco history and its jaw-dropping location overlooking Lake Michigan.

Affording a sweeping panoramic view of the Chicago waterfront and an additional 2,600 square feet of livable space, the terrace was a major player in the layout and use of the rooms. It wraps around three sides of the unit and can be accessed from all three bedrooms and the living room.

To conceal the roof’s exposed unfinished structure, Kadlec created a border of planters with boxwoods and other evergreen varieties to provide year-round color, supplemented by seasonal annuals, lilac bushes and crabapple trees— hardy enough to withstand brutal Chicago winters—to complete the vision of a modern-day Eden, set against the backdrop of the city’s skyscrapers.

Because the owner was moving from a large suburban home, most of her traditional furnishings were not appropriate for the space. “She was transitioning from a home for the family to a home for herself,” Kadlec said. “It gave her the latitude to do things the way she wanted.”

To give the space “a feminine quality that wasn’t too overt,” Kadlec used a mix of antique and contemporary pieces with soft curves and a lighter scale.

The owner loves bold colors and collects an eclectic mix of art, so Kadlec limited vibrant hues to the kitchen—separate from the living and dining rooms—and drenched the rest of the home in delicious creamy neutrals.The dining room has warm taupe walls. The entry hall boasts sepia-toned floral wallpaper and a rich chocolate area rug. In the living room, a glossy white sideboard contrasts with the brown of the rift white oak flooring that flows throughout the living spaces and bedrooms.

“The ‘restrained’ neutrals won’t compete with the art and will provide a unifying backdrop for the diverse styles,” explains Kadlec.

To add variety to the neutral scheme, Kadlec loaded up on warm textures, luxurious fabrics and sleek, metallic finishes.

“When you use a concentrated amount of pattern, and within a limited color range, texture is important for creating warmth,” Kadlec states.

Working with already selected interior finishes, like the granite countertops and espresso-stained oak cabinetry, Kadlec focused on accessories and finishes that bring soft sophistication to the space. His team added delicate chandeliers in the master bedroom and bath, and a mural of a landscape in the dining room—created by framing out a section of handpainted wallpaper.

Perhaps the most impressive change is in the foyer, where Kadlec married classic fabric wall paneling—used to disguise a series of closets—with a recessed ceiling detail that is a nod to the building’s art deco design.

 words by Saundra Marcel

It took Chicago-based design firm Gary Lee Partners three painful years to complete a monograph of its work. Published in 2002, The Complete Interior: Gary Lee Partners, is a textual history of the company’s steady success since it was founded in 1993. But even as he admits that this particular project was among the firm’s most stressful, principal Gary Lee reflects on the time with good humor. “I don’t give up on anything if it’s worthwhile,” he says. The book is a testament to a do-it-right ethic that has earned Lee the reputation of a man able to accomplish just about anything.

Combined with a stunning sense of style, the Gary Lee Partners’ portfolio of work is also one of beauty. The company’s core business is designing commercial interiors, but they’ve expanded dramatically into private residences, creating breathtaking homesteads that sing of high style. They also work in the hospitality arena, with design projects in the works for the Park Hyatt and Ritz Carlton hotels, along with several restaurants. Lee doesn’t stop at interiors—he also oversees product development, designing for a number of manufacturers including Knoll, Halcon and Decca as well as for its own luxury furnishings company, Chai Ming Studios, which injects artisan flair into its range of work.

On top of all this, Chicagoans this past fall witnessed the opening of Atelier Gary Lee, a furniture design showroom located in the Merchandise Mart complex. Always one to maximize opportunities, Lee combines his own products with a number of carefully curated pieces from around the world. The collection contains hand-selected vintage works, museum quality art deco reproductions, and handmade work from contemporary craftsmen like Nicholas Mongiardo, Pollaro Custom Furniture, and Bolier & Company, to name a few.

Drawing from a number of inspirations and combining pieces in interesting ways is just one aspect of what Lee calls his company’s “school of thought,” although he notes that the firm’s work cannot truly be classified. “So many design firms have a signature style. We choose to think that we don’t. Each new project and each new concept is unique to an individual client.” Lee and his loyal “right hands”—long-time senior staffers—are interested in mixing things up. “I don’t do trends,” says Lee, “but I’m always looking for something that adjusts the edge a little bit.”

A recently completed Highland Park residence in suburban Chicago is an example of Lee’s flexible style, this one an ode to art and nature. “The clients had an extensive art collection, so the furniture just needed to be high-style,” says Lee. “I wanted every room to look outside; to be able to use the outside as a wall, so to speak. So we didn’t use a lot of color in the furnishings. Whatever time of day it is, they will reflect the color of the light [outside]. It’s beautiful in the morning. It’s beautiful at night.” Lee’s favorite space is the central living area, where he plays within a subtle color palette and has included precious-yet-comfortable pieces like a gray, silk mohair sofa by manufacturer J. Robert Scott, silver upholstered arm chairs by Dessin Fournir, and a custom bronze and silver patina coffee table by designer Gary Hutton. Lee was specifically challenged to make this home family-friendly, and his clients have reported that it’s become a hub for get-togethers.

Contrast the Highland Park residence with some of Lee’s other projects and his flexibility is immediately apparent. For example, he designed Chicago’s Sepia Restaurant, a warm and eclectic French American bistro with antique lighting and refurbished chairs. “That was in my eBay days, when I was madly scouring for vintage Knoll pieces,” Lee recalls.

Lee was eventually commissioned to design the Knoll Lee Lounge collection. “It was really the dream of a lifetime for me, being such a Knoll junkie anyway,” Lee admits. “The big joke in the office is that finally, after all these years in business, I get a commission from Knoll, and it ends up being one of the cheapest things they’ve ever produced.” But the result is translatable to different environments, and Lee offers, “it’s one of my favorite things that we’ve done.”

On his success, Gary Lee credits the support his loyal team, many of whom have been with him since the very beginning. But looking back over his portfolio through the years, this somewhat modest designer can’t help but boast just a little. He’s proud of every project, and his work, he says, “just gets better and better.”

 words by Brian Libby

If success is what one makes of it, Henrique Chor and Jorge Esteban have left very little to chance. Not only does their Miami Beach company, Accolade Construction, offer an eclectic array of styles from Mediterranean to Modern to French chateau, but also a range of design and construction services provided in-house. These aren’t off-the-shelf builder plans, but exquisitely refined homes that stay true to their stylistic roots.

“We try to say, ‘When you hire us, you’re hiring everything,’” says Esteban, who leads design for the firm while his partner oversees construction says. “Our product is very eclectic: we do a little bit of everything. Typically architects don’t get out of one style, or they try not to. We approach it differently. A client hires us to provide them a service. We try to build what they dream.”

Natives of Cuba and Brazil, respectively, Esteban and Chor have applied a strong immigrant’s work ethic to their education and careers; between them the pair have engineering, architecture and graduate business degrees, and each a contractor’s license. After working separately in the 1980s, Esteban running an architecture firm and Chor a construction company (and sometimes collaborating on the same projects), they came together in the early 1990s at another company, Breakstone, before buying out its architecture-construction wing to form Accolade. Though out of school for a few decades, their education is continuous as well, for central to an Accolade home is the extensive research that went into its style, function and form. They even once produced an illustrated book of homes in 60 different styles to teach clients. “I would have clients tell me, “I want a French house.’ And I’d say, ‘I’m sorry but that’s not French,’” Esteban laughs.“Sometimes people who grew up here and never moved out are never exposed to different cultures. But If I go to Italy, the first thing I want to see is the Italian architecture. The same thing goes for France or Israel.”

“We have here in South Florida something people call Boca Rattan style,” Chor adds. “They build these villas that are a mix of everything and end up having nothing. Jorge tries to stay true to one style. I think he has this gift, this gift of understanding, and the willingness to do his research.

The firm’s Coconut residence, for example, has an exterior befitting a Roman emperor: creamy white curving arches and columns with intricate carvings beneath rooftop master suite and deck, overlooking a pool that comes all the way into the courtyard between two wings. The kitchen is a study in contrasting tones and textures, from the rich red-brown cabinetry to the white marble countertops. The master bathroom is more like a spa, with its elaborate shelved vanity and generously sized tub. The Hibiscus Island house in Miami Beach, by comparison, is a modern design. Clad in classic Miami white stucco, its simple geometric lines and curves give way to the view outside to an outdoor pool and the bay just beyond. Besides its 8,000 square feet of interior space, a highlight is the outdoor kitchen under a pergola, nestled alongside an open spa overlooking the bay.

“Our clients love water, sound and views,” Esteban says. We try to make that a focus, while staying true to the original style. But we also give clients the best they can get. Today these houses are intelligent houses where the client can be on vacation and if someone rings the bell of his front door he can see on his phone who is there and even open the gate for a delivery. It also should be designed in a sustainable way. It’s all about putting a lot of thought into the design, and being a true style. But at the end of the day, whatever they’re looking for, we try to accommodate.”

words by Tricia Despres

HVJ Design partners Loren Judaken and Danna Vest’s combined travels have taken them to nearly every continent, and the inspirations they have witnessed and shared, have served as the backbone of the company they founded together in 1997.

“I think we balance each other,” explains Judaken from her offices in Venice California. “Danna (Vest) was trained as an architect and transitioned into design. I, on the other hand, first worked as a jewelry designer and then, because design was in my DNA and I desired a larger canvas, I went to study interiors at UCLA. So, when we worked together at a previous firm, it was obvious how our strengths complimented one another.”

The last 15 years have been a time of great growth and renewal for the firm, as HVJ Design continues to grow and expand in California and beyond.

“Initially, we focused strictly on commercial projects, including large executive offices, retail stores and banks,” recalls Vest. “Through this work, we developed relationships with many clients who also wanted us to design their homes. Now we do commercial work for our residential clients, instead of the other way around. This contributes to the firm having many long term clients and a great source of referrals.”

The pair ultimately found out that making the switch from commercial to residential work was one that had a number of advantages.

“We approach our residential projects as we would commercial jobs, being conscious of budgets, schedules and overall project management,” Vest explains. “Having the ability to balance the design with the dollars is a skill that has serves us and our clients well.”

“Residential designs means that we deal with clients on a much more intimate level,” adds Judaken. “You really get to know the personalities of the people who will be living in the space, and help them to develop an environment that serves to enrich their lives and highlight what makes them unique. It’s something that gives both of us a great deal of satisfaction.”

Striving to create family homes with an enduring aesthetic rather than a trendy design that would quickly feel dated either in style or durability, both women say they find their design inspirations in a variety of places.

“Being a designer, you just look at the world differently,” explains Judaken. “You more closely examine the branches on a tree and the shape of a flower. Everything and everyone serves as a form of inspiration, and becomes the catalyst to conceiving a better design. We are also very interested in integrating artwork into our spaces, whether our clients have an extensive collection, which many do, or whether we can help them acquire pieces that compliment their homes.”

When working with new clients, the HVJ Design team visits their existing home to get a better idea of what does and does not work in the space.

“We want to understand why they made the choices they did and what part of the interiors resonates with them,” says Vest. “We also want to establish how we can help the space function better for the client’s individual needs.”

The team also has clients leaf through magazines, searching for components that speak to them, whether it is something specific like the color of a wall, the style of a sofa or simply the overall feeling of a place.

Known for “creating environments of taste and innovation, as well as focusing on the architectural integrity of spaces”, the pair has recently worked on a number of vibrant and diverse projects, including a warm contemporary residence in Los Angeles, an edgy loft in an historic downtown building and an art-filled, transitional home in Century City.

Much of the focus of HVJ Design’s work is on the function and details of each room, with the pair going great lengths to work out exactly how each material meets with its adjoin surface, and communicating this through comprehensive construction documents that help to ensure that everyone, from the designers to the clients to the contractors are all on the same page.

HVJ Design also says that they consider it very important to guide their clients on how to best manage their budget, focusing on the items which will have the most impact on the home and bring the greatest satisfaction.

“We always approach our interiors with an architectural eye, using that as our launching point,” explains Vest, whose firm designs custom cabinetry and furniture. “We don’t simply take what is, but rather, we look for the potential of what it can become.”

See more work from HVJ Design.

words by Gerald Mathews

At some point in their lives most people have dreamed of living at a Disney Theme Park. To have their own room in Cinderella’s Castle, The Haunted Mansion, or the Hollywood Tower Hotel. To be transported about Disney’s property by the Monorail and Ferryboats. To have a view of the famous “Golfball” known as Epcot’s Spaceship Earth and to be able to watch the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular Fireworks Show from the comfort of their own home. Well, Disney won’t be leasing living space in any of their attractions to guests in the foreseeable future, but guest now have the opportunity to build their own castle at Disney World, and live just a few miles from the Magic Kingdom.  Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort is the first luxury, master-planned community located on Walt Disney World Resort, near Orlando, Florida.

Planned as a private gated community, Golden Oak offers a living experience that only Disney World could provide. Developed by Walt Disney Imagineering, Golden Oak sits on roughly 980 acres and consists of both residential and commercial areas. The residential area features single-family custom homes in four neighborhoods; Carolwood, Carolwood Reserve, Silverbrook, and Kimball Trace.  All homes are built by seven of Central Florida’s top custom home builders, and all homes follow strict architectural guidelines. The homes are designed from Old World and Old Florida styles with Venetian, Dutch, and Tuscan influences.  The planned commercial area will include the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort. The 445-room hotel will be set against the back drop of a Tom Fazio designed 18-hole golf course.

The Carolwood and Carolwood Reserve neighborhoods offer some of Golden Oaks most expansive sceneries.  Surrounded by a natural preserve, Carolwood provides a more secluded experience for homeowners. Homes in these neighborhoods are Grand Estate homes. They sit on 3/4-acre home sites and average 7,000 square feet in size. The Grand Estate homes are the largest homes available at Golden Oak and designed to accommodate larger families and potential guests. Carolwood includes 17 private home sites.  Just north of Carolwood lies the Carolwood Reserve neighborhood which will be the location of eight more Grand Estate homes.  These homes overlook the Tom Fazio designed golf course.

South of the Carolwood neighborhoods are Silverbrook and Kimball Trace.  Silverbrook consists of 19 home sites that mirror the architectural styles of the Carolwood neighborhoods.  These Estate homes sit on half-acre lots and average 4,500 square feet in size.  The Tuscan-inspired Kimball Trace neighborhood features 37 Village homes that range in size from 2,700 to 4,000 square feet. Homes in these two neighborhoods are perfect for growing families that want to be within walking distance of the luxurious Summerhouse, a private club for Golden Oak residents. The 16,000-square-foot clubhouse offers a private dining area and lounge, family room with game area, state-of-the-art fitness facilities, and much more.    Exterior features include an outdoor fire pit, courtyard, and park areas. The Summerhouse will host various events for residents throughout year.

To bring Golden Oak to life, Walt Disney employed the services of seven of the best custom home builders in the area. The Golden Oak Village Homes in Kimball Trace will all be built by CAHILL, Goehring & Morgan Construction, and Issa Homes. Estate and Grand Estate Homes located in Carolwood and Silverbrook will be constructed by Derrick Builders, Inc., Jones-Clayton Construction, J. Richard Watson Construction Company, Inc., and Ray Coudriet Builder, Inc. These signature builders were selected based on their reputation in the industry and superior level of craftsmanship. The glowing reviews they receive from their clients and the high level of professionalism displayed by each builder only solidified the choice made by Disney.

Walt Disney’s luxury community offers residents the opportunity to experience the luxury lifestyle, but in the “Disney” way.  From five-star dining and amenities to VIP theme park access, Disney’s aim is to exceed even the most discerning residents’ expectations. The VIP park passes are available for free to homebuyers closing on a purchase of a home-site or completed homes before December 31st, 2011.  The five-year passes provide admission to activities such as the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and more.  Each VIP pass provides admission for the pass holder and up to four guests and each household can have up to five pass holders. The perks offered by the VIP passes are what truly make the Golden Oak experience extraordinary for homebuyers.

Golden Oak residents are centrally located to shopping and entertainment options in the Orlando area allowing for fun in and out of Walt Disney World. Families interested in establishing a permanent residence in this luxury community will have access to various magnet, charter, and highly regarded private schools as well as Orange County Public Schools which include Sunset Park Elementary, Bridgewater Middle and West Orange High.  Residents of Golden Oak have the unique experience of the best that Disney World has to offer while still being part of the larger Orlando community.

With the name Disney behind the Golden Oak community, residents can expect the utmost luxurious living experience. Just a short distance away from Disney World’s famed attractions, this community offers uniquely designed homes, superior concierge and ultimate privacy. Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort easily exceeds the expectations of any prospective homebuyers.

words by Frederick Jerant

Building castles is a specialty of D’Alessio Inspired Architectural Designs (DIAD)—an international residential building design and construction company. Nestled in the tiny borough of New Hope, Pennsylvania, the company creates elegant castles, European chateaux, mansions, and luxury town homes. “I had worked for years as a stone mason,” owner Andrea D’Alessio Jr. says. “And after completing work on a high-rise project in Atlanta, Georgia, in ’96, I’d had enough and started my own company.”

D’Alessio noticed that, after working on sumptuous mansions and other multimillion-dollar projects, he was often invited to client receptions and other events—the builders weren’t. “I had built strong personal relationships with those clients,” he says, “and realized that they valued the one-to-one contact. I decided that my company would be built on that kind of foundation.” D’Alessio prides himself on his continued personal involvement. He will visit proposed sites himself and make detailed sketches of every aspect of the property to understand fully what the site will allow, and what will look best. Those sketches are revised and sharpened in collaboration with the client, and then the firm finalizes them in 3-D renderings.

D’Alessio thinks the renderings can communicate beautiful and abstract details better than flat drawings can. A project that demonstrated this perfectly is a 10,000-square-foot chateau in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, D’Alessio recently completed for an entrepreneur and his family. A key feature is the spiral grand staircase connecting the first and second floors; its gentle asymmetrical curves seem to float as they rise. A graceful and ornate black wrought-iron balustrade with a brass handrail offsets the stairs’ smooth whiteness, and the risers and stringers—encased in sleek imported Italian marble—are unseen. “It’s practically a piece of sculpture,” D’Alessio says, “and it would be impossible to depict accurately in 2-D.”

Although the renderings are incredibly detailed, they still remain flexible, reflecting the company’s organic approach to design. “Ideas often evolve during the construction phase,” D’Alessio says. “This way, it’s easier to adapt to situations as they arise.” At the Bucks’ County chateau, D’Alessio collected interesting scraps of limestone, travertine, and granite and fashioned them on-site into an elegant medallion for the foot of the back staircase. “When we see something that will work,” he says, “we just do it.”

D’Alessio also stresses the use of natural, sustainable materials whenever possible, as in the building’s façade. It’s made from over 200 tons of fieldstone hand-chiseled by the firm—an activity that occupied a crew of five for about six months. The massive stones are broken and chiseled into their final shapes, then arranged to form a unique mix. “We don’t use quarry stones that have come from great distances,” D’Alessio says. “We prefer to explore the property and local quarries [for a lower carbon footprint], and use whatever boulders we can pull out of the ground. By using several types of fieldstone, we attain an appearance that no one else can match. It’s truly one-of-a-kind.”

The chateau’s exterior is dramatic with three functioning chimneys, the tallest of which tops out at 60 feet. They are formed from handmade clay bricks and hand-chiseled bluestone, accented by hand-molded limestone pots that stand over six and a half feet high. Window surrounds, arches, decorative panels, and other details were crafted from custom-cast limestone. D’Alessio says the design process alone took over six months, and a full year passed while the pieces were constructed and installed.

Although other designers might take a “close-enough” approach to historical detail, the D’Alessio team is dedicated to providing authentic appearances. A perfect example of this is the firm’s New Canal Village in historic New Hope, Pennsylvania, a cluster of four 4,100-square foot, four-level townhomes surrounding a garden and central courtyard and overlooking the Delaware Canal.

Using the nearby Parry Mansion (the family home of Benjamin Parry, “the father of New Hope”) as a template, DIAD created exteriors to match the original’s late 18^th-century Federal style. The New Canal Village homes are made from more hand-chiseled stones, and the roofs are slate with cornice crown moldings, soffits, and dormers; copper snow guards and functioning wood shutters accented with finely crafted wrought-iron fittings complete the timeless look. In the end, D’Alessio’s dedication to accuracy paid off after all exterior work was reviewed and approved by New Hope’s Historical Architectural Review Board.

Another historically accurate space is Cote D’Azur, a 6,500-square-foot private residence for a family of six, also in New Hope. The romantic home is infused with the classic European elegance of centuries past. Take the structural walls, for instance. Made from hand-cut limestone, ordinary mortar just wouldn’t do. “Classical architecture styles are derived from Old Europe,” D’Alessio says, “and the mortared joints of those buildings are weathered and worn. To get the proper aged appearance, we add a special type of aggregate to the mortar. After curing, we wash the stone with a special solution; it exposes the aggregate and ages the color of the mortar. It’s a small thing, but it lends more authenticity to the overall appearance.”

More European elements can be found throughout the home. There are handcrafted crystal chandeliers from Austria, a reproduction of a French movie theater with Corinthian capital columns, hand-carved marble sinks from Spain, Rumford fireplaces (a design dating to the 1790s) with Herringbone patterns, and a laboriously finished cherry-wood home office. “We brought in a craftsman from Ireland for that task,” D’Alessio says. “He spent a full month just sanding and staining nearly 300 pieces of cherry wood for that room.”

Taking such time and care with each project is how D’Alessio stands his firm apart from the crowd. In many projects, he says, if a problem emerges, it often leads to finger pointing, but D’Alessio circumvents this by keeping himself involved at all levels. “Everyone blames everyone else, and the project’s cost can continue to climb because no one person is in charge of the entire project,” he says. “That’s why I take charge of everything.”

Discover more about D’Alessio Inspired Architectural Designs

Totem developed out of artist Bethan Laura Wood’s ongoing interest in the layering and mixing of different shapes, colours and textures to evoke connections within the viewer’s imagination. Bethan began working with Pietro Viero through the AAA Cercasi Nuovo Artigiano residency in 2010.

Inspired by the qualities of Pyrex, Totem is made from various glass volumes that are layered and locked together to create an airy light which explores the translucency and thinness intrinsic to this type of glass.

With this collection of lights Bethan has mixed the aesthetics typical of Pyrex volumes associated with the medical and chemistry industries, with the creativity of hand-blown techniques. The result is a system, where depending on how the different components are stacked, an aesthetic of science fiction is evoked; creating robots and rockets to strange aquatic animals and translucent clowns.

Totem has been developed exclusively for Nilufar Gallery.

Text and Photos from Bethan Laura Wood.

words by Frederick Jerant
photos by David Duncan Livingston

Talk about creative inspiration. Diedre Shaw, owner of Diedre Shaw Interiors (DSI) in Burlingame, California, received her formal training at the University of California–Berkeley’s design school. But her passion for design was fueled by earlier creative endeavors—she worked as an international model, earned a teaching degree in ballet, and picked up another degree in literature from UCLA.

Shaw’s disparate educations contributed to her own philosophies about what makes a good interior. “Home is where your most memorable experiences take place,” she says. “The settings add so much to those life events, and that’s why I create beautiful spaces for my clients.”

Shaw obtained her first client while she was still at University of California–Berkeley (UCB). That job was the initial link in a chain of referrals, and she took her business full-time in 2004. “I’ve been working on my own ever since,” she says. DSIs’ market niche is high-end residential work, primarily in the San Francisco area, from the Peninsula to the East Bay. The city is home to a mélange of architectural styles—everything from Mediterranean to Victorian to modern.

“I’m responsible for the whole scope of the design,” Shaw says, “planning the space, selecting materials, choosing colors and patterns—just about everything except drawing up the architectural plans.” Planning and certain other services—such as upholstering and cabinetry construction—fall to a long-standing pool of vendors. And according to Shaw, “I know I can count on them to do excellent work and be good representatives of my firm.”

Client input is essential to Shaw’s projects. “Your home should reflect your best self,” she says, but she acknowledges that every client’s needs and desires are different and that determining them can be challenging. “Often, people can’t get there themselves, and they need to be prodded about their passions.” To help with this, during successive client meetings, Shaw asks plenty of probing questions, and at the same time, she helps her clients expand their comfort zones.

“One of my clients strongly preferred landscape paintings; modern art was off the table,” Shaw says. “But three weeks after we visited some galleries in San Francisco, she spent $100,000 on contemporary paintings.”

That client had contracted with DSI for a major remodeling of her 4,000-square-foot home. “It was a real mix of traditional and modern elements,” Shaw says, “with a motif of bringing the outdoors inside.” In the living room, a side table rests on a fur rug. The table’s cast-bronze legs resemble gnarled twigs, and its top is covered in sharkskin. A large painting on one wall incorporates falling leaves set within seven layers of wax. It is all quite elegant yet maintains a definite earthiness. The bedroom is an exercise in a sage-green monochrome, but contrasting materials—mohair, linen, and silk—bring visual and tactile variety to the limited palette. An tree theme is carried through lamps, and the bedroom’s dressing table, bench, and mirror all contain arboreal elements. Even the mirror’s sidelights look like branches. The dining room mixes hand-carved java wood, neutral silk chairs, and light woods, all resting on a modern shag carpet.

Shaw’s penchant for mixing it up is further exemplified in an 8,000-square-foot traditional Mediterranean home in Hillsborough, California. The interior had been beautifully decorated by a well-known designer some years previously and featured a then-popular color palette and furniture set.

“My clients wanted a complete home makeover,” Shaw says. The husband is proud of his Italian heritage, so Shaw used traditional shades of rust, olive, and taupe throughout the house. A large modern painting above the living room fireplace is enhanced by the room’s subdued color scheme. Clean-lined mohair sofas and antique walnut fireside armchairs with silk upholstery and galloon trim comfortably share space with an inlaid walnut coffee table and an animal-print tufted ottoman.

A centuries-old burled Italian walnut chest (a family heirloom) in the main hallway contrasts with a Corbin bronze sculpture and other modern art; it is balanced by a replica chest crafted by Charles and Charles. And the dining room includes Louis side chairs in rust and red brocades as well as an expandable round Italian inlaid table that can accommodate up to 12 guests.

Currently, DSI takes on a steady flow of three or four projects at a time, which Shaw sees as a comfortable number in the tough economy. She is able to continue offering complete interior remodeling services from the ground up while ensuring that each space meets her own rigorous standards, which go beyond mere aesthetics. As Shaw herself says, “I want to design rooms that are actually useful and not just attractive.”

Learn more about Diedre Shaw Interiors

photos by Marie Pierre Morel, Scheltens & Abbenes

LHQ: When did you first meet and how did your working relationship begin?

SS: It was in the year 2000. I’d designed a bar for a creatives club in Amsterdam where Carole was working as an assistant director. That project was really our first collaboration. It was very hands-on; among other things we painted a room together. You might say work brought us together.

CB: It clicked immediately when we happened to run into each other on the beach around that time. We even spent our honeymoon in the European Ceramic Work Centre, in ’s-Hertogenbosch, so the studio and our private lives are irrevocably intertwined.

LHQ: How does your design process work—from sketch to working with craftspeople and producers to make it happen?

CB: For us everything comes out of working on a design. New techniques such as computer-aided design are quite useful, but we’re not focused on these tools. We care about skills. Working by hand provides very direct feedback. The handle on a cup that looks right in the design drawing might not be in proportion in a cardboard model. You can see that right off. We’re not concerned with a glorified notion of “handicraft”, but rather with the surprising results that can only emerge during the process of making the object.

SS: To work with the industry, artisans and artists is for us inherent to design. We choose to look for solutions in cooperation with the industry. That’s where the greatest problems lie, as well as the greatest opportunities. In the past, people tried to alter the relationship between designers and manufacturers with design statements: one-off conceptual objects. The time has come to address the issue together. We look for that among artisans, but also among industrial producers. The point is to arrive at a product that contributes something.

We design explicitly for a public, although some pieces contain aspects that apply to evaluating art. This is particularly true of the Vegetables; they’re quite autonomous. To us, though, it’s part of design, because it’s about texture, color, craft and the question of functionality. To us a project like this is a source of inspiration for the rest of our work, and that is a personal necessity. But the intent is not to create art. Art poses different questions.

CB: At the same time, the more personal your products are, the better people like it. So the personal necessity is linked to the public imperative. The question is, how do you show the value of a technique and of the industry? Stimulating interest in that is also a form of conservation. At the same time, we want to hold on to that signature, that typically Scholten & Baijings feel. In whatever category it happens to be.

LHQ: You are exhibiting your work in a museum setting focusing on your design process. How did that come about? Can you elaborate on the four perspectives?

CB: The exhibition “Blush—Design in Full Colour” marks yet another coup for the Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch (SM’s). As it did previously with Wieki Somers (2008) and Maarten Baas (2010), the SM’s is first to present a museum retrospective of our work, as part of its efforts to give the latest of Dutch designers the opportunity to show their work to a wider audience.

SS: The recent SM’s acquisition of our service Paper Porcelain, produced at sundaymorning@ekwc (the former European Ceramic Work Centre), was the reason to invite us for this exhibition. The exhibition “Blush—Design in Full Colour” focuses on our individual design process and personal way of working, which are presented from four different perspectives: “Delighted states,” essential collaborations with museums, reflecting on historical collections; “In fusion,” the Atelier approach, based on workshop thinking; “D-constructed,” widely varying production processes with national and international manufacturers; and “Live in colour,” we take on the use of products in a contemporary living environment. The process from concept via design and choice of production to final product is, therefore, the common thread running through the exhibition.

LHQ: How does color play into your process? Where do you draw inspiration from for your color mixing?

CB: We work based on the material and its colour. Colour combinations produce a harmonious whole within a series.

SS: What’s interesting in that regard is that colour has no grammar. Using the rules of language you can combine words into sentences with which you can ultimately tell a story. That’s not the case with colour. All sorts of things have been written about colour theory and how colours relate. But how you can use colour and develop your own palette, that never comes up. We use music as our model for this. In music you can create combinations that transgress those laws and rules and yet are works of genius. We formulate our own grammar of color. And then violate it entirely!

LHQ: What are your individual strengths?

CB: Everything we do, we do together. We’ve tried to divide up projects, certainly now that more commissions tend to run concurrently, but it doesn’t work. Our designs come about in a natural and intuitive way. Working together is our strength. Stefan is all about the big picture. He’s good at getting things done, so that designs become reality.

SS: Carole makes sure the design turns out exactly as intended. She’s the guardian of the concept. I’m about the centimeter; Carole about the millimetre. In the design we’re involved in equal parts, but each product has to be produced, too.

Find out what Scholten & Baijings is up to now

Paper Table
The design for the Paper Table is inspired by the effect created by folding paper. The final design exudes the nature of the modern times: clear, minimalist and elegantly shaped. The folded cardboard models for the crockery (far right) are translated into light gray, unglazed porcelain cups and plates, playing with the suggestion of cardboard delicately. For the table linen Scholten & Baijings offer a contemporary solution: two sets containing napkins and table runners that can be used in various combinations. The design is complete with a set of sober shaped glassware and cutlery.