MasterClass Live with Kelly Wearstler | MasterClass

hi everyone and welcome to master class live and happy Earth Day this is a new initiative of ours that allows members to connect directly with our instructors in an up-close-and-personal format given the current climate we're providing this normally members only benefit free - for anyone to access for the foreseeable future for those of you new to master class welcome we are an online learning platform that allows anyone to learn from the absolute best we have more than 80 classes right now on our roster with an incredible lineup of instructors people like Thomas Keller Andrew Paul and Neil deGrasse Tyson and here with us today is the inimitable Cali warrior Kelly recently taught our first class on interior design lifting the hood on her creative philosophies sharing her tips for working with color and pattern and layering and allowing us an intimate window into her world Kelly's residential commercial retail and hospitality projects as well as her product designs have garnered her numerous awards and graced the pages of everything from vogue to Elle Decor to Forbes celebrated for her dimensional experiential work she has been named Architectural Digest 8100 Elle Decor is a list and time magazines design 100 and the list goes on and she is world renowned and one-of-a-kind my name is Serena I was senior creative producer at masterclass and as you can see and still trying to figure out how to fully embrace color in my space Kelly thanks for being with us today hi thank you so much for having me I'm excited to be here and this is my first live anything so I'm I'm so happy as with you guys live is exciting and anything could happen so we're gonna go on this journey together you talk in your class really beautifully about design as telling a story can you talk about what that means sure so design is telling a story about anything it could be telling a story about you in your home when somebody comes over to your house what what people walk into says everything about you are you an organized person are you a risk taker do you love color do not love color would you collect art do you like books are you a reader do you love music so your home tells you tell somebody so much about you and your story and it's the same thing when you go to a restaurant are you going to a restaurant that serves Mediterranean food the design might have Mediterranean Flair and design and are you traveling are you going to Japan so that design that that Hotel tells the story about where you are so the story is such an important part of design in in what we do you obviously do rather high-end work but I know that you're also a firm believer that good design can and should be accessible to everybody the good design is really democratic and its essence right so I would love for you to explain what good design is to you and how design might be impacting our lives in ways that maybe we don't even recognize well I mean good design is it impacts in our everyday life it's for example how how for functional and it's like where you want to go and stay like everyone goes to their favorite restaurant their favorite coffee shop because it makes them feel good and the design is great and and it impacts everything we do it makes us feel good it makes us feel confident it makes us feel loved because you're in your cocoon so design is such an important part of everyday life and so important I can attest to this I think in particular when I'm in your hotels and there's this like incredible confluence not only of them feeling like so aesthetically rich and dimensional and pleasing if they just make you happy but there's also this incredible functionality component where you're seeing all these little design elements that actually like make your life and your experience easier so it's like I think sometimes that's a component of design design that maybe people miss that it's like it's the aesthetics but it's also the functionality right yes because you have like a great chain and if you're gonna entertain and you're gonna have a drink like where what is the table that people put their drink on if you're serving food what is that that table what is that that server or that credenza that is serving the food and if you're looking at a book or you're doing some sort of painting like what is the light so so functionality goes hand-in-hand with great design it's so important to consider the height of a table the height of a sofa where is the lighting and how are you lighting art it all really is works together it is a crucial part of design and when it's right you just know it it's like in your bones yes yeah you know immediately I mean something feels good you know I mean it's like when you meet somebody that you you like you know you know it's like the energies there if something's off then you know and you should continue to work on it you should continue to move furniture around or or bring new pieces in and you know in your gut when things are right and it should be right for you because it's all different for everyone else it has to be right for you because this is your home this is your your workplace this is where you spend all of your time so you know and your gut if it's right yeah I think that's such an important you note that it is really design is deeply personal at the end of the day we're gonna dig so much into that I want to get to some of the many member questions we received reading through all the submissions it's clear a that people are loving your class and also that understandably we're pouring a lot of efforts into wanting to make our homes as pleasing as possible is we're in this period of forced nesting right so we are going to dive into some of that our first question is from jewel with a timely ask she says how do i improve the energy and feeling of a windowless small home office so that it is uh that's tough but there's so many opportunities in that in that space not having a window you can create dimension by having a mirror and so for example if you have a small room in the back of your house or the back of your apartment and you want to make it make for example your your workspace what I would do is I would probably bring in a floor-to-ceiling mirror and I would rest it against the wall and put in some sort of interesting pendant some sculptural lamp and I would place it in front of the mirror and that's gonna create a sense of dimension and it's gonna create sexy lighting I would also look at dark spaces I feel are really great with richer color so painting the walls and the ceiling in one cohesive color you could look at also having a another mirror on the opposite side of the room which creates a sort of kind of infinite space and and really it'll it'll make your space come alive and perhaps a rug that also will reflect in the mirror and it really it creates magic it's quite beautiful I think sometimes when we think about home offices we think about them as being these sort of like spare spaces for filing our papers but I love the idea of bringing in mirrors and like sexing it up a little you know yeah and it doesn't have to be you know it can be done in a really like sophisticated way and even in if you just want one mirror for example having the mirror but it's reflecting like an incredible piece of art that you have and and really it's acting as a window it's creating dimension in the space that if you don't have a window that is creating that that depth of perception you have obviously designed your fair share of home offices what do you find are the things that make the most impactful difference from an aesthetic and a functionality standpoint in home office spaces well I mean today it's like we're nomads we really can work anywhere and like just the the old school of thought that you need like this big heavy desk with all the these drawers like you really don't need that I mean you have your computer all your filing systems are there and so you're super light on your toes like with work and so so really I mean just like a super simple table and like one of the things I always say is like organization is the key to success like being organized is so so important and if you just have clutter and like everywhere like it just creates chaos and then you almost add more clutter so it's just good not good that's what like the cabinets for and I'm always a believer I'm like every like couple months just go through your stuff and get rid of what you don't know you do not need and so really just paring down and then when you bring these pieces of furniture in and these like the delighting and the rugs and you add color or what you know or a wall covering then you let the design like have the importance and and it's a place now that you want to be you know I'm like I'm feeling a little called out in this moment because I feel like um I often think when I'm wanting to do a refresh on my space that I need to be bringing more things in and sometimes I realized that when I just take some things out it feels a lot better and maybe it doesn't require anything new right yeah but you know and also like like I grew up in a home that had stuff everywhere my mom collected a lot of things and there's family photos which I love I love having family photos around and and objects of things that I brought back from my travels but you have to do it in an organized fashion so that it's not just like a bunch of stuff like there's a hierarchy of design like what is the statement piece in your room if you want all of your photographs like they're all in one space and it becomes one moment instead of it's just stuff everywhere and then it could become like a little too much for the eye and then make the room start feeling a little a little chaotic and can you when when you are talking about like the focal point or the statement piece in the room can you essentially decide what you want that thing to be and play it up or is it sort of the thing that you're I most naturally goes to you know it's it's really it's up to you it could be a piece of art it could be a coffee table it could be an incredible light fixture it could be the window the window to this insane tree outside your window is is the statement piece in the room so you really want to pick like what is the one thing that is like the drift the drama about one thing and it could be quiet drama it doesn't have to be like loud and in a major statement it could be it could be a rug it could be a chandelier it could be an incredible sculpture piece of art it can be many different things but it's important to have hierarchy so you're not your eyes just everything's just fighting for your attention and you know have that one piece and then like having like groups of furniture that kind of to tell like one story and and and within those stories there is like something that is has more of a statement and another thing that kind of just is like the quiet friend that helps the other one shine you have this amazing line in the class where you say something along the lines of like if everything is fighting to be the star in the room then you're gonna end up with a catfight which yes which definitely is happened you have too many things that are in in the room that are vying for the attention and it's just yeah is it's can be like too much gotta decide who's gonna be the star okay Maria is dealing with what she says is a room having a bit of an identity crisis it's fitting she says it's a guest bedroom with a queen-size bed in it but it also holds a treadmill that she and her family use often she asks can i successfully marry a workout loom and a guest bedroom into one space what do you say and and I think it's great I love people who have gyms at home I mean we can work you know workout anywhere and this time it's like so proven that so I think not having a bed like what if it is sofa and it pulls out to a bed if it 90 percent of the time it's a gym then you really don't need need the bed and then it just provides more room and and it can still look so nice and just paring it down it's like having your sofa and then instead of like a coffee table you have like a small table a lamp and you're just creating like a sense of place that is cleaning and you're working out and you want your mind you know focused on your work out and it can still be a great space and and also like having nice light which is so important like not having like down lights in a workout space just it just doesn't feel good like maybe have a couple sconces or you have a lamp on a table or a bench and it's just cool and simple you know for Maria it's a guest bedroom and a workout room but I think a lot of us are in the position right now when we have Ruiz as we're at home more than ever that are playing double or even triple duty what what to you makes for like a most beautiful or functional multi-use space is it kind of like that point that you were making about you know a couch that can turn into a bed things that can sort of transform yes these things that are very versatile and if you have a place that that may be your treadmill is behind like a folding screen and like you don't want to see it all the time and if the rooms big enough that would be amazing and then you can just close the folding screen up your treadmills there is a gym but then if somebody's staying there it's still like a nice room and the screen can be quite beautiful could be a folding screen that that is skin and fabric or leather or or some sort of really cool timber screen and it makes it really much more functional it can serve as an office and be a multi-use space I love good idea like artful ways of concealing things yes yes um you know I have a rule in our house our may be our only house rule is that we don't bring our computers into the bedroom because it's really important that we keep the bedroom separate from any work stuff entering our psyche and I wonder if you have any like tips or rules in terms of how you keep your relaxation spaces and your workspaces separate especially right now where everything seems to be melding together so I do I do not bring my computer in bed I think just like if she's so jacked up like I did it like a few years ago and just did not sleep well and so you know I make sure like I personally turn my do not look at my computer two hours before I go to bed so I think it's important in anyone's home to have a space where if it's your living room like these places again you can work anywhere but really keeping your bedroom you know off-limits it's a place of you know where we unwind and have like quiet time and and really like - with whoever you're with in bed is is having like conversation and communication and and really you know reading and and doing things that I think are good for our soul and and make the the bedroom this like really like special place sacred spaces yeah so important okay this one is from Christina she asks how can we set up small living spaces like a living room or a kitchen so they're still beautiful but also functional and not cluttered I'm definitely not a minimalist in terms of art pieces in home decor but we do live in a small space so making it feel just less cluttered yeah but she wants it to also feel beautiful and functional and not spare so I think that you know a trick that I really love and in this too with just a lot of vintage furniture and that I love and I buy is like really looking at things and have lower profiles things that are on legs like if you look at the sofa behind me this is a Scarpa sofa and the seat height is only about like 15 inches and typically seat heights and chairs are about 18 the sofas it could be 20 so having like really low profile furniture really helps a space feel larger having things on legs a coffee table on legs where your I can kind of travel through and it makes a space feel lighter and less heavy right you have a point that you make in the class right about your eye not getting stuck in a space can you speak to that I'm sure and like when you walk into a room your eyes should travel around you have windows you have furniture that your eye can travel through whether it's a bench or light fixture that calls your attention and your eye just kind of travels around the room and and so having things at different heights as well like you can see the cabinet behind me I have two low sofa and I have this really unique cabinet behind me so your eye has has a has like is moving around the room and and there's interesting points and you can discover things later like I love going to a place that that you know maybe it's a hotel that I love going to and every time I go back I experience something new and that's like I think what good design is is it doesn't just like present itself and like Here I am but you really discover like oh my god that wood is like so cool it has like a really interesting texture to it and the fabrics and and really discovering as time goes on this is something that is so abundantly apparent in the lobby at the Santa Monica proper hotel that you designed where I mean how many different chairs do you have in that space I've been there probably 10 or 11 times and every time I'm there it feels like I'm seeing it for the first time it's amazing and there's a lot of chairs in there but it's fine like I look like a sucker for chairs I should actually have that on the back sticker on the back of my car I love love chairs and they're sculpture to me and so and that's a place where people are gathering so really over the course of the project you know I traveled all over and really found those special unique pieces that told the story of the hotel and the some of the chairs have the original leather and so there's like a really gorgeous patina or a chair that looks kind of like similar to its shell or another chair that is from the 80s it is reminiscent of like a bird with wings and so there are many different chairs that actually tell a story and they work in synergy and and look beautiful together they all seem to have their own unique personalities their party like there's a lot of cast of characters there big cast of characters for sure um you also have this really great concept in your class where you talk about designing a space like a boat I love this concept will you talk about it oh sure so I don't think like when we design like whether it's new construction or old construction and we're working on the interior architecture is literally considering every space like if there is a 4-inch recess in a wall it's like let's like scan the wall and wood and it's a hidden door and you can store things in there like for example it could end up being just like this interesting Drybar you're you're in your living room and this wall opens up and it's all like a dry bar or that or there's a vine or something and and we have a couple projects where we have like these very small recesses and bathrooms or closets and all we do is we open them up we we skin the walls with with doors and then you open them up we put mirror in the back and it's even though it's three to four inches deep like you can put all of your beauty products you can put toiletries and and many different things so really considering every space because we all have things that we want to store and and then it just lets everything that doesn't need to be out away so you're a great design can chime it's part for those of you just tuning in this is master class live we're here with the one and only Kelly worse lair who is helping to solve our very timely work from home and multi-use space Lowe's some more member of questions for you I'm switched gears a little Lauren wants to know what questions you ask a client to help you represent them within their own space where do you start well you know you really when a client hires you you want to be like a great listener and and you're designing for them and we want to help them tell like their story and how they want to live what they want to be surrounded by what their style is and sometimes clients know exactly what they want which I love that's great it's amazing because I love clients that have a point of view I always say like with with clients you know I learn so much from them I take away so much from each project they you know might collect something I knew nothing about and and then I take that knowledge and you know now you know bring it to to another client like I have this client they really wanted you know who is incredibly organized and like you know and I bring that to my next client and then their clients to that aren't quite sure what they want and so really like really having conversations with them showing them the different things that are out there and and help educate them and and they all end up having a point of view they don't know maybe know how to express it but really like listening to them having conversations taking them to places that they really like the design and seeing what they like about the design and and really engaging with them and it really will help tell tell you a lot about how they want to live it was like it's almost a little bit like like therapy or a detective work you know where with some people who don't quite know how to articulate what they want or they don't know what they want like you're sort of looking for the clues and trying to figure out what they're what they actually mean yeah and - and even joy during the process of design like clients will say you know Kelly I don't know I don't like that and it's like you know what it's like no big deal there's a million ways to to design something and if that doesn't work for you then we'll go back and and and show you something else like it's good to have like an open mind and things turn out better many times when you're like pushed it's like okay like I understand you know they they might want to go in a different direction but it always ends up like to benefit the project and and you want to make your client like of course the happiest you know it's like we're in a service business we're here to provide and create beautiful design and create an amazing experience for for our clients well I think that's a testament to you and your continued openness and humility that even at this stage in the game that you're just like constantly staying open to other people's ideas staying fluid evolving yeah it's about learning I mean that's the best part of like this job and and I love it so much is you're constantly learning and and that's like so it's just like fuels me every day is like you're learning something whether it's from your fabricator it's from somebody on the team at the studio it could be from your client it's you know you just have have an open mind this is of course what we at masterclass are all about okay we have a question from Sophie she is looking for advice for making a small New York City rental apartment your own on a budget like very relevant for a whole lot of us yes so I look at I mean really and and I love color and it's a such a big way to impact your surroundings and if you're fortunate enough to have someone that will let you paint I think that is a great vehicle for really saying something about you and making your space unique and and it doesn't you know it can be a certain shade of white and it can also be a color and and if you can't paint like I look at art I mean art is so amazing and there's so many incredible artists out there and and there's art emerging artists there's things we are out there for at all different price points and so so looking at investing in a piece of art and and not buying everything at one time like really you know it's like if you're gonna cook and you're gonna make some sauce and I was thinking about this the other day because I've been cooking and I made some like pasta sauce and I said I did it like in 30 minutes one night and then another night I did in three hours and it was so much better and I was like thinking about how it relates to cooking and it's the same thing with design like if you rush if you buy all your stuff at like one place it's a little benign and not as interesting but if you really take your time and consider every piece you buy whether it's art or parent a chairs or a rug or just anything and just do it slowly like there's no rush as long as you have like a bed to sleep and sleep in like you know do it slowly and and you will find great deals there are many places to shop flea markets auctions every city has you know great markets even going to like yard sales I mean that's so fun finding like these cool treasures and and just taking your time not buying all your stuff in one place and and then you will create a home that is yours and it feels more collected and interesting flea markets and yard sales just like gave me goose bumps I'm like oh my god today the day that we can enjoy these things again one day on the horizon um I think to your point about art I think art like design can feel really daunting to people and they're worried about making the wrong call what's your sort of rubric for choosing a piece of art especially if people are on a budget is it just about whether it makes you feel something and if it speaks to is that enough yes absolutely I mean it's if it speaks to you and and it doesn't have to be a large piece large piece or a small piece can be just as important and just as powerful and it's how you place it in a room and if you hate and also look at hanging art and then an unexpected place like it doesn't have to be in the middle of the wall take a piece of art and put it really close to like your taste opening at your door and you'll see it's just doing these unusual things like it feels good to you is helping you to get your design voice in your design spirit out there just play around and he's just just moving furniture around and you'll see what feels good and what about scale like you know I think the old adage is that like if you have a big wall you should put a big piece of art on it a smaller wall should have a smaller piece of art where do you stand on that I think it can be it could be anywhere it's anything is is open and a small piece of art again can be just as powerful as it is a large piece and and it doesn't have to the art doesn't have to be on the wall or it could be a sculpture and art could be a piece of furniture that's designed by an incredible furniture artist it could be a lamp and there's so many incredible artifacts and designs that come in many shapes and sizes and materiality and and it's just being open it doesn't have to be like a wall hanging it could be so many things it could be an incredible light fixture that truly is a piece of art so really being open to that 100% okay oh I have to also ask you another one of the old adages for people who aren't furnishing on-budget is that you should spend the money on your couch and on your bed from a furniture perspective what do you say to that so I mean they're they're the largest things in the room and they're important because they're large and you want them to be comfortable and so you know it really you know I think that if you're smart you can spend money and in all places and to consider all things it's just being there just knowing kind of also like where to shop online if you go online and you see an amazing chair that you want and and it's like well why do I and you can't afford it's like well why do I like that chair I like it because it has wood and leather well it's an expensive chair so maybe now go and and look for that chair in in some sorta like vintage you know whether you go online and really price compared and just be smart about what you're buying these are things that you want to have in your in your home for a long time maybe they move from room to room like as you maybe move into a bigger place or you redesign as you go so invest in things that that really feel quality it's it's the craftsmanship it's it's the material it's it's it's the lines of a piece of furniture so really consider all that putting in the time is so key yes with anything you had to put in the time with anything you do period oh my god i I just moderated one of these with Duncan so a couple weeks ago the pastry chef and he was saying exactly the same thing there are no shortcuts in baking and there are no shortcuts in good design yeah no shortcuts in anything that's really worried that apparently which is hard for me because I'm impatient okay Deirdre has a question she says what if you're sick of all of your furniture and decor but you can't afford a full redo what are some easy fixes to refresh your look and I would imagine a lot of people are feeling this way right now stuck in our homes so just looking at moving furniture around and so you can recover existing pieces you can refinish and restain and give a chair a table anything a completely new life and and you know maybe there's like one thing you and invest in maybe it's a new rug there's a really large component to a room maybe you want to look at a light fixture that is something that's large in the room and at night it completely transforms your space and lighting can is so important in a powerful part of design and in any room and then what is on your walls too and it could be a wall covering and you don't have to commit to all you could have one wall in your space that has a really makes a statement it has like a really great color maybe the the finish of the color is is like a plaster or it has some sort of lime wash there are many different types of paint and application and maybe you want to do something graphic on one wall and you have a friend who is an amazing mural artist so so there are many different things that you can do to change your space up and just some of those tricks really will go a long way yeah and if you're in a position where you know you we can't afford some of the more pricey materials things like plaster and we're painting a wall wall covering can be really affordable right yes yeah I mean when I moved when I was in my first apartment I painted myself I was just like you know why but I can afford the paint and I just like painted I got a couple friends and we got some wine and we just have like a good old time and then the next day voila like I had this workers realm there are actually a few things more satisfying than painting a room in your house no it's awesome it's so awesome it is okay we were just talking about lighting and I love this question from Abby she says for temporary homes and apartments do you have any tricks to naturally light dark spaces or how can that darkness be embraced and not feel like a forgotten corner so again the lighting it can come from the ceiling it can come from the lamp on a table and and really looking at what the what the light source is lighting like if it's lighting a white wall it's not as like interesting but if it's lighting a wall that has color and there is some sort of like texture to that that paint that it really helps create some dimension I love that I am I'm a huge stickler for lighting I often find that it's sort of the X Factor in a really great restaurant or a home it's like the thing that makes you feel sexy and kind of magic makes you want to come back to a place and you say something in the class about sort of like levels of lighting and the importance of your eyes sort of moving around a space can you talk about that because I think it's so cool yeah so there there are many different types of lighting there is a natural light which is like the best and then there's architectural lighting which really accentuates architecture so if you have portals or you have cased openings or arts like it really helps to to highlight architectural moves and important factors in your space and and those can come from the ceiling those could be a wall light that also highlights architecture a sconce so looking really at your architecture like what do you want to highlight what are the important architectural factors in your space and then looking at like whether it's a pendant or a chandelier or a lamp it's like these other types of light that really make the space makes your I travel around the space so if you have a chair and you have a lamp next to the chair and that's almost you know a task light it's a lower light and then you have another sconce that's above and your eye just kind of moves around the space at night and it really creates a mood and of course having everything on dimmers is is really important and and and it helps to to create zones in your space and it helps to create depth of perception and and make your space more interesting God do I love a dimmer like so transformative to a space immediately like mood shift okay this question is from Alex she says there's an increasing awareness around where the things we buy come from and how the businesses we support support other people what categories of home goods into core items do you recommend that allows shoppers to support craftspeople and artisans super-important you know that I think is um like when you travel and you go is all over the world you really like want to bring things and take back with you so I think like ceramics things that are authentic to your to your area whether it's like timbered objects a bench in wood and and and different and things that are like easy to to transport I think that you know I'm such a believer in the emerging artists and I love to support them and on all these places that you that you go to and everyone wants to bring something back with them that is a memory and in your giving love there's so many artists all over the world I mean the being you know an Instagram and that is an open platform all over the world you can discover artists anywhere and and it's been such an incredible thing to work with with many of these people given that right now none of us are traveling are there ways I mean you just mention Instagram but like are there sort of ways of engaging with artisans and craftspeople and supporting small business in a more virtual format well yeah because all on Instagram you you discover all these artists and you just D on them and I'll say oh my god I just saw your incredible your incredible designs and I'd like to use something in a project and you know I go to their website and we start a dialogue and that's how I meet many of the people that we that we work with and it's it's it's awesome and you know that that is a way I mean of course travel is a little is a little difficult now but the you know we can shop all over the world I mean we really can and and it's a beautiful thing and and it just brings it brings the world together being able to do that God people must freak out when they see they have a DM for me in their work I love it I really like I so enjoy it it's like it's the it's the thrill of the find it's like oh my god that's so in like and so I just reach out to I mean there is there's so many talented people out there and and it's such a joy and I get so much pleasure out of working with them and and again they teach me things and it's just it's it's super fun it's true when you find that one piece that feels unique to you for whatever reason you never really forget it and you find yourself enjoying it in your space over and over again I just went down like an empty rabbit hole for ceramics cuz I can't go out and shop right now and I probably spent like seven hours at one point I was like I'm just wasting so much time but then I found like the perfect small business and I was so into his vibe and things came and now every time I look at them they bring you joy so again it's worth the time right absolutely 100% okay Hunter is moving into his first bachelor pad and wants some tips for decorating a masculine one-bedroom apartment so I would say that so masculine like that like the first thing I think of is like rich color and and it can be in the furniture it can be on your walls but of course like what's important bachelor pad you also think of like sexy lighting so it's important to not have just like down lights like you want to have different types of light you and have sconces you want to have lamps maybe a pendant over a dining table and and really just like richer woods richer color and and just making it like making it comfortable having it also like really like well-designed and and not cluttered and just like clean and you know great art when I when I think of a bachelor pad I think about the fact that said bachelor is probably wanting to welcome other people into his space walking is so important like the lighting is key lighting is that because you kinda like you know make lovers over there and make them feel like good and sexy and you know lighting slightest importance lighting is so important okay katie has a question for you she says how can I give my home a cozy ambience we're kind of just talking about this I love how you design such a beautiful eclectic spaces that appear to have been collected over time it's maybe a sort of a reiterate reiteration of what you said so just again taking your time not buying all of your furniture like I know I have friends who are like oh I went out and I'd like furnish my old house today are you kidding like you cannot do that you have to really like take your time and not a bind if you buy all your furniture at one place a lot of times it just has the same hand it looks kind of the same it doesn't have like and it doesn't also it doesn't tell like your story like you just feel kind of it's like design and you know it's just I call it like a drive-by it's just like easy and things that are easy don't look great because it's like you know you want to really collect and and and think about what things you want to be surrounded with like I said we all have something like is it music like do you play a guitar then like do something interesting with displaying your guitar do do you love art do you like books and and really look at what you like what you gravitate towards and potentially start you know collecting something supporting all these incredible local and and and artists that are all over the world that that can create beauty for your space and make it unique and say something about you we seem to have this theme coming up again and again about patience and taking your time with things especially with good design and it makes me wonder if you've always been a really patient person or if you cultivated that over time oh god that's a good question I mean I guess I'm patient I am and you know just with anything it of course we all like a little insert gratification and like designed like the process takes a long time like some of our projects I mean most of them are like three four and five years and of course we have projects that are a year but the majority of them are quite long and so we do have we have the fortunate value of time so like for example in this Santa Monica proper hotel that project was four years and like I didn't start shopping at the end I started like day one and I started looking for things that I thought felt like the project things that were reminiscent of shells or things that felt like you're you're at the beach in these really sensual forms and and so I just you know taking you taking your time and just doing and you're gonna find all this amazing you know if you're looking for stone you're you want to have you know a gorgeous bathroom with with marble and and not rushing and just going to the stone yard and picking the first thing you see like I will literally go to stone yards every morning and look for the perfect stone that has a perfect veining for for the project because it you know at the end it just makes such a difference you know we're in a position right now where you know a lot of people can't shop not only because we can't even go to places physically but you know for financial considerations but I think there's something really inspiring and what you're saying and that it sounds like sort of the discovery process and the research process is so important that even if we can't immediately change our spaces like in the physical right now we can be spending this time and some brainstorming and finding inspiration right and it's planning and and and yeah I mean that's so so important part of the process is is putting together like what what do you want again going back to the story what do you want to do like you have your one room in your home or you have an entire house and putting together a vibe page or putting together something on Pinterest or taking things out of magazines and just like laying them out and really studying them and and making a plan and and that will help you with your execution and and and put together a timeline of I want it you know if I have to work on the architectural part first and then furniture but at least you have a plan and you have a direction and that will help you in your journey of creating this great space mm-hmm this reminds me of your vibe trays when you tell people about your vibe trays I love them oh so these are trays like just um there are trays that we have in the studio and they are all the moving parts of all of our projects so like every like if we're working on a residential project and say there are five rooms there you know five bedrooms kitchen every room has its own tray every space and it's all the fabrics or it is cut sheets of things that we may be purchasing it could be rug fibers of we're having like a you know a custom rug made and the materiality for the closet the tile for the bathroom there might be finishes for the plumbing fixtures and everything in that in that space is in the Train and and so we keep it so it's moot it's always like kind of moving around because one day the client could come in and say you know what I want to change the color I want to add something in and it's kind of this like moving it's always like moving into it's always what's the word I'm looking for and it's always blossoming I guess you would say philosophy I love that so then like the at-home version of that is kind of making your own mood board of sorts whether that's online or actually pulling things out of magazines seeing how they play off of each other yeah and if you find something online you know and you want to request fabrics like it's like people should feel fine about calling somebody and say you know what I see this great chair online and I can't it's really difficult for me to see what the fabric is can you send me a sample 90% of the people are they're gonna send you the sample I mean they so start gathering things like go to you know a store and just ask for samples bring everything back to your home and you can start gathering your own your own vibe tray and then you can see the room and design come together I have never had the pizza to call someone and ask for a fabric swatch so thank you for and another thing it's just because we all shop online and we buy online that that when you buy furnitures or lighting anything it's so hard to tell scale and like you know when I first started I would like I remember I bought this mirror and I could have sworn and I looked at the measurements I could have sworn it was like 4 feet I think this big thing I got it and it was like this big it was just like oh my god what is going on and so that is like a big big thing that you have to always like really study the the scale and the dimensions and ask somebody to sit in a chair or or if you have a dining chair that you're interested in getting have the person take a photo of somebody sitting in the chair with a dining table and it will really help you to understand the scale of an object or or a light fixture or an accessory or anything that you're buying like you know everyone's so amazing and and so helpful in all these businesses and and it's great it's a great tool so smart I love it ok for those of you just tuning in again this is masterclass live we are here with the wildly acclaimed designer Kelly Whistler who teaches our master class on interior design she has been so kindly answering member questions before we wrap up I want to go through a few new photo submissions with you things that could use your expert eye we're gonna pull up the first one this picture is from Garrett he asks as a person renting can you recommend some key things we can do to help make a small la cottage with mountain views feel just as beautiful on the inside recaulk the tub make curtains sand the floors we'd love to on a budget what are you so so looking at this space because it is kind of right now it's like one space and it's just like not confident there's like stuff everywhere and you can see there's no focal point so if we start with the architecture and what can we do to this architecture so like what I see is this really nice portal that has these rounded edges and so you really have one space but you also could have potentially two different spaces I see that there's like a bookshelf with a stereo in the back and then you do have these windows that look like there is an amazing view so with the architecture I would say what what is the the bookshelf like what if we add like completely cover the bookshelves with books and and then look at this portal that separates the spaces and perhaps it's like skinned and wood I also think it would be great to look at color and perhaps the office has one color and then the room and the foreground has another color and they could be colors that work very closely together like maybe this first room and the foreground is like terracotta and then the back room is like a faded rose color like something that's very muted and earthy and in the windows I actually would not put any window treatments on the window I think it the room feels kind of architectural and cool and there is a view and I just think that the windows are actually quite nice you could potentially paint the casing of the window maybe even a richer color that's still in that monochromatic color story that we're talking about and then the shelf in the bookshelf that's behind the desk is what about like a piece of art just leaning on that and that's like your focal point you come in you see the window and you see this really incredible piece of art and there's maybe a rug on the floor in the office and then there's a rug on this living room and and I actually loved all the plans I think it feels great you're kind of bringing the outdoors in and potentially taking like I like the plant in the foreground on the left and maybe you actually add another plant like that on the right side and you're kind of framing that entrance into the office with this greenery and I think that would look amazing Kelly that's incredible that is really truly your mastery at work right there that was phenomenal to witness okay let's do let's do one more this photo comes from Sophie she says we've just moved into our new apartment and we have why high ceiling hallways that don't have much natural light I love the arches we're drawn to a deep blue but we're not sure if it'll work in this space what would you recommend in the space in general okay so here is it's a space that so I'm just going to kind of like talk through this so it's a space that has a lot going on there is a lot of architecture you have doors in the foreground you have another door on the left side that's probably going to another room you have a portal that kind of lost its way on the right side like it doesn't come all the way down you have this long cabinet and and then another door at the end so there's just a lot of architecture going on so it's like a very confused space and so how can we pull this together and make it sexy and also functional because you can see there is a lot of programming here so this first portal what I would do is I would actually I would create a series of portals which is a series of spaces in a hallway or a series of rooms which is could be really nice and create dimension and in architecture it's called on falak and so on this first portal I would create two of them the first pair of doors on the left side I would actually recreate those on the right side and get rid of that long cabinet I'm having tall doors and storage is like incredible to have and those doors are actually nice I think they have a nice profile to them and then also what I would do is I would pinch the the width of the portal so you're really kind of creating like a sense of space and then you will not see that door on the left side that's going to put you know probably another room and Kelly how do you how do you how do you pinch the width of them you just make it like where that portal is I would just make it bring it in more so then you can you like you're not gonna see where the cabinet is you're not gonna see all the way down so you're really making that that portal cased opening narrower so you're creating like a series of small rooms and and you can do interesting things of lighting you can do interesting things like the carpet you can have like one long rug you could have three different rugs as you're creating these three spaces and and then in then sconces and I would probably just look at having maybe two colors like you could have all the millwork which is the doors and the base molding could be one color and then the walls or another color so it does help to give a sense of dimension I'm in the space beautiful Wow and in terms of color itself you feel like could this work with a bold color on the walls or would you steer clear of that given the lack of light you know I think it could be I mean you could do something that's really dark and sexy you know it just depends on what is going on in the other rooms and you know it could be with two very light shades of white it could be to contrast colors you know anything goes but it really is what are you trying to design into and we all have these hallways in our house these corridors and and whether we're I'm designing a laundry room or or a living room like we put as much love into every space because every space you're experiencing it and you're living in it and every space should be equally as beautiful right no detail is too small yes thank you for looking at those that was amazing by the way we have a related design challenge for our members using the principles from Kelly's class we're challenging you to transform a space in your home and submit before-and-after photos in the master class community five members with the best submissions as determined by Kelly will be selected and will receive a copy of Kelly's new interior design book which is called evocative style check out the master class community for more details on that Kelly before we wrap up is there anything else you want to say no just thank you guys for tuning in and master class was like so insanely amazing and I just I grew so much from it and and it was an incredible experience like and and I've told you guys a million times like you guys are world class and just like the like it's just the most incredible experience like that I've ever had and it will just remain so close to my heart forever that is so incredibly wonderful to hear thank you and thank you for being here today and to all of you for tuning in and asking such thoughtful questions and submitting your spaces our next masterclass live is this coming Wednesday April 29th with the self-proclaimed gangster gardener Ron Finley whose masterclass on gardening launched today Earth Day it's a really incredible class Ron is teaching us how to grow our own food keep plants alive and thriving on how to improve ourselves our communities and our planets I can't think of anything more important right now so here's to you sprucing up your living room and learning how to grow a thing all from the comfort of your home stay safe and we'll see you next time

Channel: MasterClass

Views: 208,851

Keywords: masterclass, master class

Id: GPkH_o-I3Iw

Length: 60min 29sec (3629 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 18 2020