Traditional Interior Design

When a client asks for a “traditional” Interior Design approach to their home, that only begins to crack the surface of interpreting their dream home. When I have the first meeting with the potential client, I not only visit them in their present home but if there is a potential new home in the wings, I ask to see the plans or we drive to the new location.

The first meeting in this quest for what traditional Interior Design means to client takes a few hours. I walk around their present home, having them point out what they love about this house and what they “hate”, “Dislike” or want to “adjust”. I pay attention to the adjectives and the adverbs that they use as they usher me through the tour. Everyone that I have met through Interior Design is on a journey…they move into a home, use it, love it then find that after a few years the function or style of the house no longer fits their developing “Lifestyle”, Job changes, increased finances, increased family, more or different pets and extended family members all figure into the mix of why the family needs to develop a new “Lifestyle” plan.

Bergen County Residence

But when it comes to styling, traditional interior design is the broadest of terms used. Clients may mean English, European, French(specifically), Americana, Mediterranean or Middle Eastern. All of it harkens to the past. So when they ask for traditional Interior Design the client is trying to recapture a feeling that is evoked from this scenario that they have in their head. However, there are clues everywhere in their present home…a favorite traditional piece that comes from family, pieces from a collection that they may have developed….traditional highboy, or Bombay chest…or maybe a large portrait that has been in the family for generations. All this needs to be absorbed and processed.

Morris County Residence

And within each traditional Interior Design category there are periods that fall under political headings…the Louie’s, Victoria, Edward, etc., each harkening some twist to the overall tone of the home. Mostly I find that what client’s actually want in their traditional Interior design project is opulence, a layered quality that shows antiquity, and generations. They want it to look settled and comfortable, but fresh with a twist that shows that it is theirs.

East Hampton Residence

A good interior designer takes all of this into account. A great Interior Designer takes the information and becomes the ghost writer for the client. He infuses his styling and makes sure that it does not override the client. It is a measured, contemplative approach to working with a client. The result should first and foremost look like all the client’s problems have been solved, all their needs and dreams about Traditional Interior Design have been achieved.

Then finally…the wow factor! “Wow!” needs to be said and when a guest walks through the house they should not be naming the items and where they came from. The design should overtake the conscious separation of the parts making up the whole. It is a canvas and everything needs to work in concert to achieve the proper balance of “Wow” and the Traditional Interior Design approach.

Morris County Residence

Do you want traditional Interior Design? Are you itching to move or find the house of your dreams? Look for your new place and as you do…explore the rest of our website and see our personalized approach to Traditional Interior Design.

Bergen County Residence