INNER PEACE
4 decorators who perfect your space; what’s hot now
Southwest Florida has an abundance of designers, those making our interior spaces as individual as we are. Times of the Islands has selected a sliver of a very large pie of interior designers to share with our readers.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAS AN ABUNDANCE OF DESIGNERS, THOSE MAKING OUR INTERIOR SPACES AS INDIVIDUAL AS WE ARE. TOTI MEDIA HAS SELECTED A SLIVER OF A VERY LARGE PIE OF INTERIOR DESIGNERS TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS: Julie Albrecht of Robb & Stucky Fort Myers robbstuckyintl.com
TOTI Media: Interior designers, born or made? Julie Albrecht: “Well, that is a sensitive subject. I was born into interior design. My great-grandparents were master tailors, my grandpa a skilled furniture craftsman and reupholsterer. I was always around fabrics. Some of the design interns I’ve trained are super fashion designers. It isn’t brain surgery after all, which I have to constantly remind myself if anything gets too hectic in design.”
TM: Earliest memory of arranging or designing? JA: “My Barbie houses at age 5 or 6 were always top notch!”
TM: Signature style? JA: “My job is to design all architectural detailing, backgrounds and final decorating to fit into what their [clients] desires are. We accessorize, furnish and decorate to ‘ice the cake’ of great design/ architecture details. We are hired to make their environment sing.”
TM: Clients’ needs and communicating that? JA: “Unfortunately, the term ‘programming’ is an entire course in college. There are numerous front-end questions that need to be answered to know all the clients’ desires, wants and needs. I personally am very direct, funny and honest. If I don’t know the answer, I respectfully ask for more time to find out.”
TM: Inspiration? JA: “Having a degree in environmental design with an interior design major and art minor, I find inspiration everywhere! A field trip to somewhere fun in the Everglades, to a continuing education class in Paris, France. Inspiration derives from the new construction job site or gutted-down-to-the-support-columns/beams refurb, to be able to see all the new trends in construction on top of and behind the walls.”
TM: Favorite colors, patterns or textures for 2017? JA: “Everything goes in cycles, about 10-year intervals, on a bell curve. So, colors that I was using in 1993 reared their head again in 2003 or 2013, etc. They just had different textures, graphics and techniques to achieve them, modernize them.”
TM: Banished looks? JA: “I still do not trust brass and its tarnishing nature. I do, however, like to mix metal in my personal accessories. It gives balance and can complement any color palette!”