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Artful Living by Design
Since 1821 when the Santa Fe Trail opened, the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has become a magnet for some very interesting individuals. The Santa Fe Trail brought commerce, products, and people that were indeed a contrast to a very simple lifestyle developed by Native Americans and the Spaniards who founded America’s oldest capital city. Santa Fe has seen many changes, and style is no exception.
With eyes of wonder, new settlers from the eastern United States were caught up in the magic of Santa Fe. One would expect that the new settlers to Santa Fe would bring along their most special of possessions and unique style. So then began the special melding that became the iconic Santa Fe style.
Santa Fe style is an American style uniquely created by the cultural diversity that IS Santa Fe. The Spaniards contributed their European style and building methods beginning in 1608, thus blending the Native American pueblo-style architecture with the European style. This unique melding has had an incredible impact that is much further reaching than America’s own borders. The railroad bought about an ease that carried many a traveler to bask under the spacious skies and feel the embrace of the remarkable landscapes of the high-desert town. Creative individuals were drawn to Santa Fe, adding to the depth and mystique and the legend of Santa Fe.
The lifestyle of Santa Fe developed from a very basic, simple style of adobe walls and earthen floors with the most simple of furnishings to a casual or simple elegance when combined with the furnishings and accoutrements of eastern city living. The ever-changing interior landscape captured my attention as a young girl living in Santa Fe. This evolution of style played a large role in my becoming an interior designer.
The synergistic tension created by blending the old and the new makes my heart sing. Being grounded to one’s roots and culture is important to me. One way to be super close to this creative energetic source is to create interiors that are inspiring, evolving, and simple and complex at the same time. Great interior design is achieved when you create a tension between the old and the new— basically it is a contrast, like the space between the notes in a great musical composition. It’s anticipation, but just enough to evoke a sense of wonder and well-being. So just as the early settlers of Santa Fe created a thought -rovoking mix of style, so does Santa Fe style continue to evolve. Since 1608 Santa Fe style has not been static, and it is not static now.
Our high-desert landscape offers us the bluest sky and whitest puffiest clouds as well as rich earth tones (I call them semi-neutrals) which evoke great design platforms for the creative. The air is soft and light and lovely! These sensual qualities guide me in my interior design work. The space must act as a guide for a successful outcome.
Lisa Samuel ASID, IIDA, is a Santa Fe native and principal of Samuel Design Group, located in the heart of downtown Santa Fe. She is an award-winning interior designer known for creating unique interiors imbued with warmth and elegance. Lisa (info@samueldesigngroup.com) is passionate about good design that supports well-being.