"10 Questions to an Interior Designer" is a series of short talks inspired by the series "10 Questions to...". This time our attention is turned to interior architects. In today's episode, Ewa Więcek talks about her approach to design.
Ewa Więcek - architect, owner of the Make It Yours design studio from Krakow. She has turned her passion for design and love of beauty and harmony in space into her work. Her designs are characterized by functionality, timeless design and paying great attention to the individual needs of her clients.
1 Home for me is.
A space that is cozy and warm. A place that is inseparable from family and safe. There is an atmosphere full of love, acceptance and kindness, where everyone feels comfortable and safe. Home is also the energy that fills the space. Energy created by the people, space and objects inside. It's a place where there is a synergy between the space and the household members. A place where I can experience life with all my senses. I feel love in my heart. With my skin I experience warmth and contact with pleasant materials. With my eyes I see smiles and beauty. The air is filled with the smells of food, candles, incense, and the space is filled with kind and heartfelt words, music I like or silence.
2 The key to a successful interior design is.
Building a warm, friendly, mutually respectful and thus creative relationship with the client. For this to happen you need mutual trust, sincerity, kindness and openness. In such an atmosphere, great things can be created. Equally important is the ability to communicate, both to listen carefully and to present one's position.
Interior design is a synthesis of the client's needs and often, very individual tastes, as well as the experience and knowledge of the architect and the design team. Decorating a space is a very important and sometimes stress-generating endeavor for most people. For me, it is important that clients are well taken care of during the entire process. I myself greatly appreciate the support of professionals. I think it is important that in the design work and during the realization of the drawings, the architect walks "shoulder to shoulder" with the investor. He shared ideas, offered advice, explained, reacted to unexpected situations and in this way was able to make the client feel secure.
3 I look for inspiration....
All around me. The biggest inspiration for me is life, with its array of colors, shapes and sounds. Life in its infinity and diversity. Containing a mystery that I discover in every moment, with every breath, with every look, with every word heard, with every touch and smell. From this attentiveness to life comes a cocktail of inspiration, which I divide into two parts:
The first is nature. The one that man has not interfered with. The shape of the clouds, the colors of the sky, rocks, earth and plants. The different states of the seas and oceans, from calm to very agitated. Naturally meandering rivers. Trees that don't care about perfection, or maybe they are just perfect because of their uniqueness. Flowers, which in an infinite number of colors always reach perfection in the composition of shades....
The second part of life as a whole, from which I draw inspiration, is everything that has been touched by the human mind, the work of hands and what man has produced. When I go to trade fairs, I experience the creative work of other people who have put in the effort to make something. When I attend trainings, I listen to what other people want to share, what they have created, what is important to them, what they have discovered, what has inspired them... When I watch films, paintings, sculptures, photographs I see works that are a combination of the way of looking at the world and the contribution of human creativity in arrangement, choice of colors, perspective, thoughts.... When I listen to or read interviews with architects, artists, people representing creativity in the broadly defined arts, but also athletes, people from the world of business or politics each time I have the opportunity to experience the world as perceived through their senses, value system and beliefs. Each of them pays attention to something else unique for some reason important to them. When I travel, I observe nature, its raw materials unique to different areas and the larger and smaller architectural works woven into it. Solutions in response to various human needs, made possible by available resources and materials, but also by knowledge and ingenuity. Similarly, when reading, I have the opportunity to experience a synthesis of the thoughts of many people edited by people for whom writing is the form of expression that space design is for me.
And the greatest inspiration at the end is meeting that person for whom the project is being created. When that happens, everything I've said about my own inspiration is raised to the power. This is exciting.
4 In working with an investor, the most important thing is.
Develop a model based on mutual trust and respect and excellent communication. Interior design and subsequent implementation, is a process that lasts from a few weeks for small projects, to several months for such large projects as the LivinnX dormitory, in which my studio participated.
The basis in cooperation each time is to define the vision and detailed function of the project. Determining to whom and how the emerging space is to serve? For whom it is dedicated and what value, what tangible benefits will people using the interiors have? Particularly valuable during this part of the cooperation is the ability to listen carefully to the needs and to clearly communicate insights, ideas and share knowledge and experience.
After intensive preliminary discussions, arrangements, and brainstorming, when it comes to conceptual design, a comfortable time full of happy relaxed atmosphere is equally important. Brain physiology, as confirmed by numerous studies, conditions the state of flow, and the exceptional creativity that occurs in this state, from the level of relaxation. Thus, in order for the level of projects to be raised to the highest level, cooperation with the developer needs conscious freedom from time pressure.
These two important elements, of course, have a chance to occur when the other necessary components of cooperation are met. In short, I will call them broadly defined architectural competence and a specified and enabling creative budget on the part of the investor.
5 My favorite design style is.
My choice of design style depends enormously on the character of the place, the specifics of the region and the surroundings. I choose a style to match the bigger picture. I like when elements of culture, nature, other architectural objects combine with the interior. I decorate an apartment in a block of apartments on a modern estate differently, and a cottage in the countryside differently.
You could say that today I live in two places. Both are completely different from each other. The apartment in Krakow is minimalist, bright and dominated by simple forms. The country house, by the forest, is a warm place, with a fireplace and hand-crafted furniture. The main materials are wood and fabrics. It is a mix of different style concepts. What unites these spaces is the abundance of greenery, houseplants, balcony and garden plants. Along with decorative accessories; cushions, candles, lamps, vases, pots, paintings or photos are the link between the two spaces.
With clients, on the other hand, I work in all styles. When designing interiors for clients, I am aware that they are the ones who will use the space. The most important thing for me is that it is in accordance with their tastes and preferences. My role is to move through all styles to provide functional, beautiful, cohesive and balanced interiors in whatever style the client chooses.
6 The most valuable item in my home is....
The objects I value most are those from which the nobility of materials and quality of workmanship emanate. They have energy in them. They radiate the passion that accompanied their creation. I can sense in them the master craftsmanship, the heart that someone put into their creation. Whether they are objects of wood, ceramic, glass or fabric, I appreciate when they were made by hands and not by a machine. When they are in some way unique and special.
There is an item in my home that has recently gained more of my affection. It is an old maybe even close to 100-year-old wooden sideboard. We searched it out on one of the online portals. It is one of a kind. The ornaments and glass display cases so captivated us that we decided to give it a second life, despite its heavy damage. It had recently lain for several years in someone's basement. Time meant that the sideboard required restoration of the back, shelves, leg, sanding, impregnation against bark beetles, which over the years had managed to nibble the wood a bit, and finally repainting. All the work took us dozens of hours. The result, especially after the addition of LED lighting, compensates for all the expenses and gives something much more than having a new-old piece of furniture. It gives great satisfaction and joy, from the fact that we saved a beautiful thing. We enjoy the fact that it is 100% unique and the only one. The process, although hard and difficult at times, was a pleasure realized as a passion. For me, the most valuable thing in such things is what, you can't see at first glance.
7 The most common mistake when doing interior design yourself is....
As an interior designer, I have the ability to take a global view of the entire space, the ability to choose colors, juxtapose, combine materials, knowledge of material science, knowledge of products and solutions in construction and during finishing work. I have knowledge of technological possibilities, what is feasible to do.
In addition, over the many years of working in the profession, I have acquired a sense of the great support of specialists in the finishing and construction industry. Not only do they implement the solutions I come up with, they often co-design them, sharing their knowledge and experience. This is an invaluable sense of support from the large team of which I am a part. This is one of the factors that makes me confident that I can complete any order at the highest level.
In my opinion, people who perform any specialized activity on their own usually limit themselves to solutions they are familiar with, there are some emotions, memories and experiences associated with them. It is not uncommon to feel the influence of stereotypes and beliefs that go back to previous generations, which may have become outdated under the influence of time and technological advances.
It is more than likely that most people who design their own interiors have most often spent time acquiring a specialty other than design. Just as most people lack knowledge, experience and market knowledge in their specialty, these people are less likely to execute a polished interior design project. More often than not, they simply lack the skills. Whether it would be designing, finishing work, or teaching something in which one is not a specialist, the likelihood of making a mistake is high.
In interior design, some mistakes can be related to an inability to see the spatial and functional possibilities, resistance to major changes such as the layout of walls, and installations that could not only bring new functions and improve the ergonomics of the space, but also, in the end, bring a tangible material benefit in the form of an increase in the value of the property or increase its attractiveness in the market.
The selection of color schemes and accessories is also an art. Consistency and the right choice of shades and textures are elements that significantly affect the visual effect, but also the enjoyment of the rooms I think that in this regard, the most common mistake is to purchase furnishings without matching them with pattern books. It is also a mistake to compare colors in inappropriate light, and the biggest one is to select colors from memory. With few exceptions around the world, people do not have the ability to memorize colors. Additionally, we are hampered by the fact that every thing has a different color depending on the color temperature of the light. Taking into account that the color of daylight changes every second, we can say in simple terms that every object in a single day has an infinite number of colors. Our eyes can't register this, not least because everything we look at in a single moment from a particular perspective is affected in the same way. So I encourage you to experiment.
The last group of solutions that, thanks to the work and knowledge of an interior designer, can be brought to a higher level is the awareness of the cost of the property itself in correlation to the effectively used space. Activities related to this aspect involve the value of, in many cases, making furniture to size. When this aspect is not taken into account, we risk, for example, having a very expensive unused space in the corner behind the closet, under the stairs, under the ceiling, etc. Anywhere where something nice, fitting into a broader concept and, above all, functional could exist. When designing interiors ourselves, we sometimes fear that making a functional and matching piece of furniture is impossible or at least difficult. Out of a desire to avoid an additional, albeit small, commitment, we decide to buy, often inexpensive and ill-fitting furniture and objects.
I hope that these few pieces of information from my specialty will allow many readers to avoid joining the group that created a certain saying: "We design the first house for the enemy, the second for ourselves."I wish everyone that the very first house, they design for themselves!
8 My favorite material is.
I definitely like most those raw materials that nature gives us: wood, clay (including brick), linen, silk, cotton. Of the materials used in construction, among my favorites is clay plaster. It is an amazing material. To the touch it is soft, gentle and pleasant, I associate it with velvet. I like the depth of a wall finished with this material. Clay is extremely malleable, and this allows you to achieve amazing effects, which are further enhanced by the play of light. Daylight at different times of the day brings it to life. In addition, beautiful diffusion of mood light, such as wall lamps, can be achieved on this material. In addition to its aesthetic qualities, clay plaster has many wonderful human-friendly properties. It is non-allergenic, is a breathable, air-permeable material, has anti-fungal properties, perfectly regulates humidity levels, accumulates heat, eliminates unpleasant odors (such as tobacco smoke), insulates sound well and is electrostatic neutral.
There is another natural material that I have a fondness for as a woman. It is diamond.
9 A trend that I would like to see pass already is.
Every style has its audience. They were created because people wanted to work, live and live in them. I don't reject any, because I know there are people who feel good in a particular space. Rejecting or discouraging a style is at odds with my design philosophy, in which people's needs come first.
10 I would like to live in... someday.
A world without violence, where people are kind to each other, accepting, respectful of each other's freedom and sharing the space of the world. I would like to live in such a world where everyone can realize themselves in the most beautiful way. In which each person will know his or her own worth and will have no need to build it by belittling others or forcibly and violently imposing their will.
Force, violence and fear bring out people's greatest ugliness, which, consciously or not, they emanate to others and to space. I would like to live in a world where we all manifest the beauty of acceptance, understanding and appreciation. Both towards each other and in all aspects of our creativity, which I include composing space.
Want to see projects by Ewa Więcek? Click HERE
