It’s that time of year again, when the kids (and some adults) are going back to school. Just a little learning about the right things can go a very long way.
So, please come along with me on a journey meant to enhance your design skills as well as add beauty to your life. Let’s start with one of my favorite authors and designers, Ilse Crawford.
It is well worth the time to take a few minutes and watch a documentary in the Netflix original series “Abstract” which features her life and work in the episode “The Art of Design”. Her upbringing, life and talent will amaze you!
One might think after watching the program that we common folk could never equal her amazing talent or her accomplishments. Yet this was her gift to the world. We can learn so much from her, not only on the screen but through books she has authored which help us along in the process.
Ilse was the founding editor of Elle Decoration in the UK, which is now known as Elle Decor and considered to be one of the top 10 design magazines ever published.
Luckily for all of us, in 2015 Ikea launched her SINNERLIG collection. Check it out, and don’t be intimidated!
Not only is the collection totally fantastic, take time to read comments her Design Manager Markus Engman wrote about her designs titled “Designed to engage your senses”. Even if her taste is not the exact look you’re going for, the principles will stand true and can provide a fresh perspective on how we decorate.
In 1998 her first book “Sensual Home: Liberate Your Senses and Change Your Life” was published. In these pages she offers us the keys to maximizing the gifts of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. It is strange yet true our senses are often overlooked when we are making our decor choices. You will find informative text and beautiful photography as she covers subjects such as harmony, balance, peace, comfort, texture, space, proportion, energy, spirit, light, shade, sustenance. And love.
“Home is Where the Heart Is” followed in 2005 and was written with the premise that "the more virtual our world becomes, the more we need the physical”.
If you wish to see more of her work, I recommend her 2014 book “A Frame for Life: The Designs of StudioIlse”.
I do hope you will enjoy her philosophy and work as much as I do, and that these concepts can inspire you in all that you do.