PacificSD - Pacific San Diego Magazine

DESIGN
DESIGN OF THE TIMES
Homeowners seek more personal, daring motifs in 2011
D
uring the subprime real estate boom, while
investors were fixing up and flipping houses,
design choices tended toward the predictable
and staid: elegant yet safe options with massmarket
appeal, such as granite countertops and
stainless steel appliances.
Robert Wright, a past national president of the American
Society of Interior Designers, says homeowners these days are
making bolder, more personal choices that reflect a desire to
stay in their homes for the long haul.
“I think people are really looking at their homes more as a
home and not an investment,” says Wright, a principal and
co-founder of San Diego-based Bast/Wright Interiors. “People
are kind of reclaiming their homes, so now the interior design
solutions are a little bit more customized and personalized.”
Counters and flat surfaces made of composite stone are
replacing natural stones, such as granite.
“It’s a more of a clean, contemporary feel—more
straightforward,” Wright says.
Though stainless steel is holding steady in the market, Wright
says homeowners are leaning toward tinted and painted stainless
in kitchen appliances, window frames and furniture trim.
“We’re beginning to see a big redirection towards gray,
mauve and purple— everywhere in the house, in upholstery
and paint colors,” Wright says. “Stain colors tend to be leaning
more toward the grays. I’ve seen it before; it’s coming back.”
Like fashion, interior design is cyclical. However, a home is
more of an investment than a new suit, so the cycle moves slower.
The colors and prints used in today’s fashion typically appear in
home furnishings four years down the road, Wright says.
“Basically, whatever you see on the cover of a fashion magazine,
you’ll see it in your home three or four years later—the fabrics,
prints, designs, colors,” he says. “Typically, more fashion-forward
colors end up in accents or easy elements to replace, such as
upholsteries and paint.”
While Oriental rugs would seem to have run their course,
Wright says people are more emboldened to match design
schemes these days. That ostentatious Oriental number might
still work when contrasted with a woven, contemporary rug in
an adjacent room.
“They bounce and play off each other,” Wright says. “Some of
the wonderful, classic furniture looks beautiful on Oriental rugs.”
Less is more, again
Though San Diegans aren’t ready to jump on Japan’s capsule
hotel trend (in which people rent coffin-sized, stackable lodging
for the night), they’re definitely downsizing, preferring aesthetics
over cavernous square footage, Wright says.
“People want to live smaller and better,” he says. “Proportionally,
contemporary interiors are working better, because these homes
are smaller and contemporary furnishings tend to be lighter in
scale. They’re open and more airy. They’re not big and heavy
and cumbersome, so they fit better in these smaller, clean-line,
contemporary spaces.”
Chic and Sustainable
As the demand for organic and eco-conscious building materials
increases, the supply and variety of fabrics, cabinetry and
countertops made from these materials have increased and
become more tasteful. There’s no excuse not to build or design
green, Wright says.
“I think, within the next 10 years, it’s going to be expected and
just woven into every one of our design solutions.”
bastwright.com
“The million-dollar market in La Jolla, Bird Rock, Windansea and Del Mar
still moves, (but) people are not going to be buying the vanity homes that
they used to—the $850,000 one-bedroom, two-bath with a massive floor plan.”
—Seth O’Byrne, Realtor, Troop Real Estate
50 pacificsandiego.com { March 2011}
FROM LEFT: Rotating dining room (see Page 41); La Jolla home, interior design by Kellie McCormick and Robert Wright; La Jolla ranch remodel by Robert Wright.