Find your Top Ten Designers: Ghislaine Vinas
About a week ago I was gifted with the amazing opportunity to meet my unknown role model, Cindy Allen. Editor in Chief of Interior Design Magazine, she was the woman who had unknowingly pushed me towards Interior Design with her now famous Post 9/11 cover. She was coming to speak at my college and I was entranced, she was like a friendlier Miranda Priestly but for epic interiors. She was sharing the stage with a woman named Ghislaine Vinas, an Interior Designer who had worked with her many times over the years. The name sounded familiar but I was more focused on Cindy Allen, so it was not until she started showing her work on the projector that I realized just how incredible this designer was.
Her designs used color, and I'm not talking soft pastels to timidly give the sense of vibrance. She was using bold primary colors, neons, the colors I stared longingly at and wondered how on earth you worked them into a design without scaring away your client. They grabbed your attention and directed your eyes through the space with effortless energy. They created beautifully playful, yet sophisticated interiors and seemed to compliment the space instead of overpowering it. She was the designer I wished I was brave enough to be.
The project they were showing was one of her favorites, a beach house in Montauk she'd designed for a well loved client. The house was tantalizing, with unique patterns, intriguing art, and impeccable design. The colors stayed mostly true to the area, blues, reds, some yellows and oranges. But, Vinas used her own creative energy to take this pre-existing style and transform it into something special. It had all the appearances of a quintessential beach home, the bright whites to bounce light around, the tropical patterns, the odd surfboard placed just so in a corner. But there was also something distinctly different about it. The colors were vibrant, they were the focal point of every room. The tropical patterns were commanding and bold instead of subtle, and the overall style of the home is an eclectic mix of modern and traditional. I think my favorite touch to the space is a bench placed against a large window. In raised letters it says "Summer is Here", a celebratory slogan I can see becoming the property's catch phrase. It has the overall impression of a down to earth and relaxing home, while still imbuing the user with the energy to get out and explore. The home also housed some distinct art, most memorably several highly stylized statues of naked women. Somehow the room that housed them managed to match them perfectly while still maintaining a tie to the house, a feat that I am sure took a bit of crafty thinking on Vinas's part. The other room that particularly struck me was the twins bedroom. It is light, open, airy, and distinctly childish. It's the kind of room that inspires sweet dreams and wondrous playtimes. Large colorful shark heads decorate the walls, as if they are peaking through the paint to keep watch over the inhabitants of the room. The beds are placed far enough apart that each child can have their own distinct space, but not so far that they cannot leap from one bed to the other if the mood strikes them. This room particularly captures the mood of the home, sophisticated playtime.
As Allen and Vinas were walking us through this incredible project Ghislaine gave us all a bit of an assignment. Find ten designers who we really loved, and who inspired our own unique style. Well, who better to be the first on my list than Ghislaine Vinas herself? She had a style I could absolutely learn from, her boldness and willingness to use colors a trait that I lack. So I am going to do my best to use her as an inspiration to put down the pastel fan deck and grab the neon one instead. To stop trying to gently nudge those in my space and instead lead them through with an arm on their shoulder and energy that leaves them feeling breathless and exhilarated all at once. I am going to use her work as a stepping stone to find my boldness and remember to have just a little fun while working.
Please check out Ghislaine Vinas's website, all credit for the photos attached go to her firm.
