The Study was designed by Nestor Santa-Cruz, LEED AP, IIDA, of Gensler.
I see the job of a designer to be a combination of wearing different “hats”: a psychologist and a teacher at the same time.
In the past, I have said that my interest lies in achieving a balance of both visual and physical comfort. But in creating a room for an imaginary client in a show house, I am interested in the visual experience and generating an emotion in the visitor’s mind.
The WDC Design House provides me with opportunities. I like spaces to reflect personality that are referential to design history, yet the design sends a message with a modern point of view and provides a little inspiration.
For this small study room, I used French decorator Madeleine Castaing as the inspiration, but it is not about creating a replica. She liked all kinds of blues, and mixing it with black, red, green. She liked pattern.
She liked old, but fresh. I visited her shop once and I left with an important lesson: make it personal. I said to her “Madame, votre boutique est tres belle,” to which she replied something like “J’ai cree ses chambres pour vous monsieur.”
Elle Decor is the premier magazine for featuring personal, beautifully designed, chic rooms. It is with great pleasure that I join my colleagues of The Washington Design Center’s Hall of Fame in creating a “living” Elle Decor experience.
To watch Nestor Santa-Cruz share more of his design inspiration, click here!
