Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Interior Designer & Colour Consultant Corinne Kowal. Her blog Emerald Green Interiors is a regular inspiration to me, so I thought I'd get to know Corinne a bit more and find out some of her hot interior tips. Here is what she had to say...
Q. What
is your design background?
A. I
studied fashion design and worked in the fashion industry before deciding to
pursue what I truly loved: interior decoration and color in particular. I don’t
have a formal training in interior design but have worked for a long period of
time for a French decoration house, which allowed me to get exposition to the
key players in the industry
Q. What
do you do now?
A. Right
now I am taking a break as I just gave birth two months ago to my second son
and plan to take time off until the end of the year. I do however continue to
work for a long time client in Saudi Arabia whom I am helping on a commercial
project after assisting her with their home. Before my maternity leave I was
also working part time on weekends as a residential color consultant for a
well-known English paint brand.
Q. Why
did you decide to start Emerald Green Interiors?
A. When
I founded my company back in 2010 in Berlin, I was very clear about the fact
that I could not exist as a company without a web presence to showcase my
work. So the website was born at the
time as a static website even though I used a blog template.
Q. Why
do you write a blog?
A. I
didn’t write a blog at first but then started to discover and to follow
interior design blogs online; With that came the fact that I also wanted to
share my passion and knowledge of color as I’ve realized that people are still
afraid of it. Blogging is time consuming and I have been more regular at it
only for a year now but it’s a great way to connect with others and a very rewarding
experience. It is also positive for me in my work as a designer: it forces me
to keep my eyes wide open to new products and ideas, which I can then revert to
for client’s projects.
Q. What
does an average day at work look like for you?
A. Pretty
busy! Usually getting my 3.5 year old son ready for school, having a quick
breakfast, starting to work. I start with a quick social media roundup, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, then I read a couple of blog articles before either
working on clients projects or researching material and writing my next
articles on the blog. The morning is then over pretty quickly, I eat lunch at
home, do some house stuff and am out by 2:30 pm to pick up my big boy at
school. We then spend the afternoon together. When all goes well I get back to
work after 9pm for a couple of hours. That’s a “normal” day but all of your
readers who have kids know that the normality of a schedule can get turned
upside down in no time. With a two-month-old boy at home, I end up doing a lot
of things with one hand while I hold him in the other arm.
Q. Being
an Interior Designer you would work with a range of styles... What style is
seen throughout your own home?
A. My
own home is quite an eclectic mix. In the previous years I have bought many
items on impulse and then tried to make them work together. Impulse purchase
doesn’t mean wasted purchase: Some of those furniture pieces and objects have
moved with us to three different countries already and I don’t plan of getting
rid of them anytime soon. Nowadays I aim for a more collected look but I still
love to buy accessories on impulse. One of the biggest issues I have with our
current place is that it is a rental with a very picky landlord, which means we
can’t paint the walls. Pretty ironic for someone who preaches the use of color.
Since we might not stay much longer it’s not really an option but our next
place will have loads of color, rental or not! You can view images of my home
here.
Q. Who
are your 5 favourite designers/artists at the moment?
A. I
really love the work of American designers Amanda Nisbet and Jamie Drake. Both
are not afraid to use very bold colors that they layer for maximum impact and
mix with contemporary and antiques pieces.
Jean
Louis Deniot has a restrained color palette although he has done colorful
interiors in the past. He is a master at mixing neutrals, which is a very
difficult exercise. He also always brings a lot of texture and interesting
shapes into his interiors.
I
love to follow the work of Mary Douglas Drysdale. Her interiors are usually set
in historic homes with beautiful classic architectural features. She has an
extraordinary eye for those details and very often brings in a lot of color.
The result is surprisingly restrained, timeless and elegant.
Matisse
is probably the artist that has had the most influence on my love of color. I
was exposed to his work at a very young age as I’ve been spending a lot of time
since childhood in a village in the south of France (Collioure) where he worked
and were he really started working with colors leading to the fauvism movement.
Q. If
you were to give 5 tips of design advice to someone wanting to restyle or
decorate their home what would they be?
A.
- Don’t be afraid of
color. Color is such a wonderful tool to use in design and it can truly add
another dimension. Start with accessories or go directly for wall color. In the
worst case it’s only paint and can be changed pretty easily, just like a bad
haircut except that you don’t have to wait for it to grow back.
- If you are completely
at loss as to what color you should go with, take a look at your wardrobe.
Chances are high that you’ll love the colors you wear in your home and on your
walls.
- Try to include
vintage/antique objects or furniture in your interior. Those one of a kind
pieces carry their own history and will add personality to your home.
- If you see an antique
piece your really love, buy it and don’t wait even if it seems too expensive.
You’ll never find another one just like it. To this day I am still haunted by a
20th century portrait in a gorgeous frame I saw in a store in New
York when I was 20. I returned a couple of times to the store and one day it
was gone sold for a physician’s office. It was a little over a thousand US
dollars at the time and I was a student so it seemed way out of reach but I
should have found a way to get it.
- Trust your own style.
If you like it then it’s just fine even if the entire universe hates it. Don’t
forget that it’s YOUR home and that YOU should feel comfortable living in it.
* Photos by Holly Marder, found
here.
