Find inspiration in public spaces’ decor
Sometimes, sitting in a public place like a hotel lobby, you notice a mix of colors you’d never considered using in your own home — and you realize you absolutely love it.
Or you see furniture that’s much more modern than you thought you liked, but it’s just what your living room needs.
Interior designers say clients often tell them about public places with style they want at home. This can function as a useful shorthand, says Lauren Buxbaum Gordon, design director and partner at Nate Berkus Associates, who designs commercial and residential spaces.
“If somebody tells us they love the Park Hyatt in New York versus the Greenwich Hotel,” Gordon says, “we know we’ve got a good place to start with them.”
It’s not about trying to duplicate that space’s style. It’s more about specific elements — the flow of the
space, or the lighting, or “the coziness factor” — that you’d like to emulate.
If a client loves a certain resort in Mexico, Gordon says, that style is “probably not going to translate to Chicago, exactly. But we try to tap into some of the details: If they’re responding to wicker woven chairs, we can certainly incorporate details like that.”
Northern Virginia-based interior designer Tracy Morris agrees: If you fall in love
with the design of a sleek, modern dance club in Miami, that’s worth noting. And though bringing that entire style home to a traditional Georgian house might not work, Morris says, you can bring in “cleaner-lined pieces of furniture” to get a bit of that style.
We’ve asked Gordon, Morris, and Los Angeles-based designer Betsy Burnham for advice on the best ways to make this happen.
“There are so many different layers of lighting in restaurants,” Morris says. “In a house, most people only have two: the overhead lights, and then maybe a lamp or two.”
So, notice which restaurants have lighting that pleases you, and see how they do it: Does the space have “cove lighting,” meaning things like strip lighting tucked out of view underneath cabinets or other indirect light?
Take photos of light fixtures that appeal to you, and considering adding types of lighting you don’t have.
Is there a restaurant where you’d be happy to sit for hours and talk with friends? That’s the way you want your dining room to feel, says Burnham, and often it comes down to choosing the right chairs — in terms of style and comfort.
So, take note the next time you’re enjoying a restaurant: Are the chairs fully upholstered, or made of wood or metal, or a mix of these? Do they have arms, and is that important for your comfort?