Last week I celebrated a birthday and can honestly say getting older doesn't bother me one bit! Sure, I might make a little more noise when I lift myself off the floor after attempting a few sit-ups, and the daily addition of a strand of grey is often puzzling, but nothing has made me feel older than a client in his twenties who was dumbfounded by one of my 80's movie references. As he belly-ached about how annoying it was to incorporate his girlfriends things into his bachelor pad, I tried to make him feel better by sharing a story from one of my favorite movies, "When Harry Met Sally." As I explained Carrie Fisher's character absolutely hating her boyfriends wagon-wheel coffee table, my clients blank stare told me he was far too young to know anything about Harry or Sally. The point, I explained to this lovely millennial, was that in the end she accepted her boyfriend for everything that he was...tacky wagon-wheel coffee table and all! To help him better understand the idea of blending styles and tastes, I catered to his age group and whipped out my iPad and showed him on my interior design app how we could incorporate her things into his space. Of course his response was, "now who are these people Harry and Sally again??" We've all been there....whether it was a roommate in college, a sibling growing up or a first love we moved in with, there's that moment where we all focus on one personal item of theirs and think, "really? And where the heck are we going to put that??" Sometimes in love, as we all know, you've gotta take the good with the bad (furniture) sometimes! One thing I strive to do in all of my designs is to incorporate as many personal items in a space without making it feel contrived or over-crowded. I've mentioned many times how the ornaments on my Christmas trees tell a story of where my life has taken me, and I love for rooms I design to do the same. As I sat on my iPad this weekend designing a kitchen for a new client, I popped over to the window to let a little fresh air in and there it was...my preaching put into practice in my very own study. There, perched proudly in front of a window is an example of what I try to do...an old chest that once housed Joe's toys used as a side table. On it sits a vase given to Joe by one of his first clients and in it a gourd we grew in our first home together in Pasadena, California. A music box from Joe's beloved aunt sits proudly next to a pair of my fathers binoculars. Joe's favorite peonies from our backyard rest peacefully in a glass decanter given to me by my grandmother as a graduation present. A small palm tree from California sits in front of a stack of my design books and next to Joe's cherished garden books. Different people, different backgrounds but seamlessly resting together in harmony.
