Lauren’s Favorite Design Advice for Any Room
Lauren Brkaric, photo by Gieves Anderson
We’re excited to announce Lauren recently joined our design team as Junior Designer, and is already making great strides on our projects in the Hamptons. Here’s more about Lauren and her favorite design advice for any room in your home:
Lauren has been interested in design for as long as she can remember. She loves being creative and problem solving (note: designers are professional problem solvers!) Interior design is not just about making a room look good, at it’s core it is about creating a positive lasting impact in our daily lives.
“I love to design for ease - to think of how someone uses a space and what they personally need. Designing residential spaces, you really get to curate the space to each individual client.”
“My favorite thing about interior design is that I can curate a space to evoke certain feelings and emotions. Behind floor plans and picking pretty fabrics, there's thoughtful consideration that goes into color theory and psychology. Our environment has a major effect on our mood, productivity, and energy levels.
It's important to consider the way you want a space to make you feel, what its intended purpose and occupants are. We spend most of our time indoors, so it's critical to be in a space that makes us feel good and adds value to our lives.”
In her free time, Lauren loves to be outdoors! She grew up in the suburbs, biking, canoeing, hiking, anything to be in nature! She also loves painting, wheel-thrown pottery, and sculpture.
“The last interesting place I traveled to was Taiwan.”
“Experiencing international architecture and design in person is an unmatched experience. I love to draw inspiration from design from all over the world. My favorite thing to see was Buddhist temples - they're incredibly colorful and ornate. Taiwan often juxtaposes historic and modern architecture, which I love. “
Lauren’s Go-To Designer Tips for Making Any Room Feel Elegant
When in doubt, trim it out.
Add trim! Trim as in ‘moulding’…Like adding an accessory to an outfit, trim is that extra detail that elevates a design. We love to add trim to awkward walls, somehow adding trim brings in symmetry and visually defines a a space.
The Fifth Wall
Next time you paint a room, include the ceiling in your color scheme. Don’t assume a white ceiling will do. For a “safe” choice - paint the ceiling the same color as your walls and crown moulding. It will create a continuous visual effect and make them appear higher than they are.
For a bolder approach, we recommend adding moulding and wallpaper to your ceiling. It creates a very interesting and intimate feeling in a room.
Layer your lighting
Lighting plays a major role in a space - it can completely change the look and feel of a room. We love to add at least three layers of light - ambient, task, and decorative. Multiple light sources creates a cozier and more refined feeling.
In living rooms that are used for relaxing and entertaining in the evening, we go for soft ambient lighting, and avoid unflattering overhead lighting. That means having all our lighting on dimmers and using a warm bulb temperature of 2700K or below.
For extra flattering cozy lighting is to use warm “vintage” LED bulbs that are 2400K. Our favorite are the vintage LED bulbs that create a very soft glow. And always add candlelight.
In bedrooms, we prefer to have lamps and wall sconces over any overhead lighting. Overhead lighting is not very flattering, so we don’t use it for mood setting, but it can be useful when you need to make your room very bright for housekeeping and cleaning purposes.
Read more about how to layer your lighting to make a room feel comfortable.
Looking for more design advice?
We’d love to help you with your design questions, you can book your 1:1 video consultation here, and get all your questions answered.
