1. More Is More
More is indeed more. But the 'more' is curated and strategic. Maximalism isn't throwing everything you love into one space or home. It is a conscious pairing of colors and patterns that play well with each other, carry an intrinsic tension and engage the senses.
2. Beige Is Not A Color
I don't consider beige, white, or off-white as colors, but I respect that for some clients, every surface cannot be Isabel-a-fied. Decorating with beige is a necessary banality, a foundation to play off. But just because the foundation is beige or white doesn't mean it has to be boring.
3. When Is Enough, Enough
'The short answer for me in my own home is that enough is never enough. But for clients, I respect boundaries and work hard to discover their threshold for maximalism. They hire me knowing who I am and what I do as a designer, so there is an inherent baseline. But through conversations and visual cues, I can determine their threshold and how far to push the limit.
4. Create Your Happy Place
What I love the most about design is its ability to transform how you feel. Design can energize or calm you and certainly make you feel content and grounded when you walk into your home, your happy place, your retreat from the world.
Explosive, vivid, saturated color makes me the happiest. In many ways, my design sensibility reflects how I dress and live: very passionately and in full color.
5. Mix And Don't Match
This room is a perfect glimpse into my brand of maximalism. Nothing in the space matches, yet everything works. When using multiple patterns, there must be a connection point; scale in interior design is king for me. The large-scale print on the pair of slipper chairs is a classic from Quadrille called Les Indiennes, and instead of choosing the multicolor version, I chose the Olive single color and paired it with another single color but smaller scale wallpaper.