PASSION PROJECT

Behind his humble personality, Ted Sulisto is proud of his work as an interior designer, although he tells us that his work runs much deeper than mere appearances

The life and style of renowned ‘lifestyle environment designer’ Ted Sulisto

“Creating a lifestyle environment is so much more than just placing furnitures and decorating around,”

Ted Sulisto told Indonesia Tatler in a revealing afternoon chat recently. We were sitting in Laflo, an interior design showroom owned by Alwi Sjaaf and one of Ted’s latest projects. “I worked closely with Katarina Gumulya, Erlangga Boenawan, and Joshua Angsono on Laflo,” Ted added. The main idea behind this particular assignment was to design and create an environment that not only shows the products on display, but also encompasses the artwork and the lifestyle that go with them.

“When someone comes into the store, they not only see the pieces that they would like to own, but also the whole environment and the way the lighting affects the mood, the artwork, and the furniture,” Ted told us. “It’s not just a furniture shop because Laflo gives you a more comprehensive feeling of what you’re getting.”

He further explained that the goal was to create designs that have historical inspirations, such as the Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and Powerhouse movements. “There’s a flow of themes throughout the room, which is why you don’t just pick any piece of furniture randomly. That chair over there, for example, is very much influenced by the Belle Époque and the Art Nouveau movements.”

“My preference in designing is using what works and what represents me”

Being an experienced designer, Ted has worked on many spaces from classically themed ambassadorial residences and mansions to contemporary showrooms like Laflo and many more. Although he is known for designing with traditional and classical themes, people have been moving away from these trends given that many now choose to live in apartments.

“How have I adapted? Simply by not going with the trends,” he said. “My preference in designing is using what works and what represents me.” He further explained about many cases in which a house was designed in a way that would make the end users—in these cases, the inhabitants of the house—to be mere props. “It should be the other way around,” he noted. “The design should reflect the personality and the habits of the end user,” he said. “Don’t use your design as an opportunity to create for yourself; the end user is the most important factor in this, and you need to know him or her well.”

He admitted that it can be quite a challenge to find a balance between listening to the end user and instilling your identity as a designer in your projects, but it’s not something that a designer should be concerned with too much. “First and foremost, get to know your client. If you are good at what you do, and people come to you because of that, your identity will come out anyway.”

For him, the biggest compliment that an interior designer can get is not about his or her signature styles or even how good the design is. Rather, Ted considers it very rewarding when guests come into a house that he has designed and see the personalities of the owners. “It is the job of an interior designer to represent the personality of the client in the design.”

As an interior designer, Ted Sulisto is, without any doubt, very accomplished. However, he still refused to answer when asked whether he had created his own legacy in the world of interior design in Indonesia. “That is really not for me to say,” he told us. “I do what I do because I love it, and as long as there are still people out there who appreciate my work and would like to have things that are put together by me, that’s enough.”

He then closed the conversation by giving some advice to young designers who are just starting out in the profession: “First, you must have passion. In anything that involves taste, you can tell those who are very passionate about their job apart from people who do it just because it’s something that they see their friends doing, or they think there is money in it,” Ted said. “I have great hopes in the future of Indonesia’s world of interior design—it’s in good hands.”

“I have great hopes in the future of Indonesia’s world of interior design—it’s in good hands”