I agree with others that youtube is missing educated interior design creators that approach design with values, theory, and structure. I also appreciate your thoughtfulness and succinct points without being overly prescriptive. Subscribed and looking forward to more!
Hello Nick, why do you not ever mention "context"? I think you said, "A tuscan kitchen is fine if you live in Tuscany....or olive garden". The last part at least sounds like something you would say. This context concept, is just as important as unity and cohesion. Do you not agree? An architecture professor, once said you can break the rules, but if you do, you must really break them, otherwise it will look like a mistake. A jungle restaurant in a desert would be a conflict, but it IS the design and it is intentional.
"your space is for existing in" - such a simple thing, but people overlook the most important aspect of design, how we interact and want to experience the space.
As somebody who is developing an interest in interior design and wants to understand it, I'm so glad the youtube algorithm worked for once and recommended your channel!
Preach! I had a major breakthrough when I made the “honest materials” rule for myself and weaned myself from the “design” milieu that’s rooted in cheesy diy’s. I enjoy your perspective!
YOU are the first one I've heard mention "context". Not long ago Joanna Gaines convinced everybody that they were living in a farmhouse. Can you imagine a McMasion or a NYC micro-apartment with barn doors, "live, laugh, love", and chicken wire cabinet fronts? Evidence that too many people don't get it. "Function follows motif", I guess. Done in the right way, this could look good and create interest through tension. Like a double-wide with a few over the top, ornate, elements. You have to be intentional about complete contrast while keeping it to a minimum. Even these elements have to harmonize at least through color and scale. Props for addressing "context", but all very valid points.
@@kaizen_5091 Sincerely this is the first time I heard the design concept of "context" directly mentioned by anyone. I believe it is a very important one. Just as important as cohesion or unity. I subscribed to him.
ha so true! To be fair to Joanna tho, that was pretty emblematic of her Waco, TX context... just seems everyone took her style literally out of context.
Yes!!! This is exactly what was missing from RU-vid! I don’t mean to diss a particular creator that I have in mind, but most of the interior related content creators I like to follow don’t have a background/schooling in interior design and it will sometimes show in their content. The content they engage in, albeit entertaining, is very surface level and they don’t engage in a very thorough analysis of how design works or what makes design good! Again, thank you!!!
The fact that The Sorry Girls have to re-do or re-create their spaces or design projects so many times highlight that it wasn’t done well or thoughtfully to begin with. With Paige Wassel my biggest criticism is that she doesn’t share what she’s best at which is prop styling. Where are the videos teaching us how to style our bookshelves ect?
@@happykidddd I honestly think that's because she doesn't follow "rules", she just has a really keen eye and works very intuitively. Which is something you can't really teach? I honestly think if she made a video on how to style your bookshelf it would be like..."do this because...it looks the best". Love her though.
You have such valuable insights! This is so beyond helpful. Thank you very much for talking in depth, slowly and calmly about these principles. This feels so much more meaningful then the very surface level videos I gave been watching so far.
LOVE this content! Your reference images are exceptional! They really help me visualise what you’re saying! That last point ‘authentic placemaking’ is such a great way to think about design. All the interiors I’ve ever liked have a sense of that! I would love to know more about the books you’ve read and what you’d recommend to someone interested in design. So happy to see you on RU-vid! Can’t wait for the next video 💗
I’ve been thinking about social context a lot. I’ve been watching a couple classes from designers emphasizing for instance the need to have places to set drinks in seating areas as requisite for comfort. I get that but it’s not feasible in my current life right now with small children and entertaining my friends with small children. Most coffee tables and side tables are either low, sharp edged, or easily knocked over, so with small children it actually feels less comfortable having them. We all would rather set our cups down somewhere and be able to relax without worrying about hovering over our kids to make sure they don’t knock over coffee or wine or trip and hit their head on a hard edge. When we move out of this life stage, our context will change and we can have end tables again!
i am an architect from argentina. i am glad that i share all these principles with someone working in a distant place with very different resources and contexts, it reassure my own perception of how my work should be focused
Enjoying and agreeing with your insights! I wonder if anyone else wanted to see the inspiring reference photos for a beat longer? Such great references! Yes to honest materials, books, plants, art, vintage, collected meaningful things…! Happy I found your channel!
I would have agreed with you about the wood flooring vs composite but having done some work lately and seeing IN PERSON CLOSE UP what has been an incredible offering of refined alternatives to the original plastic-look.
Not me over here side-eyeing my fake tree in the corner. 😂. I don’t even know how it got in my house! 😂😂😂. So glad I found your channel. So refreshing!
I thought I'd liven up my place so I bought a nice African Violet. I was allergic to it. I tried three other plants and had to keep giving them away due to allergies. Finally, I hit on the perfect solution: a lovely artificial monstera plant that looks incredibly real. I also have 2 fake trees on my balcony. I get direct sun and I don't have to worry about watering them when I am away for work. Do what works for you!
To add to your comment at the end, Noah, don't worry about being a yt personality. We're here for your knowledge, and i look forward to watching more of your content 😊 truly because it's helpful
Totally agree. When considering honest materials, there is also an additional advantage. Natural materials tend to blend well together, so by using real wood in different tones, natural textiles, real plants, you are organically creating harmony, even though pieces don't have a specific theme. Great content! keep it up!
wow i appreciate this framing so much. i feel like i've felt and thought these things when experiencing spaces through what felt weird or good about them, but i didn't have the proper vocabulary to describe the dissonance or the ease. thank you for bringing something fresh to the discourse!
Great video, nice presentation style. I totally agree with your basic guidelines. They are helpful, and made me feel better about my home, LOL. Especially loved the pictures you referenced, anything with books, modernist houses, and the cozy looks.
Please ignore the hate. I for one love your content. I seem to have very similar opinion on things. Please keep posting great content. Also, love your unique style for making videos.
I just stumbled upon your video and what a breath of fresh air! I am somewhat tired of all the "you must follow these rules, this particular way, always!" crowd in interior design. You saying that we don't want a home looking like an airbnb or a pinterest board is exactly the type of thing I long for. I don't want perfect. I just want to make things better, for me. Love it. Keep the good content coming, pleaaase!
The principles you outline here align so well with your inspo photos and also with my design interests! I see Nick Lewis commented--his do, as well! Many of the other professional designers on RU-vid have a very high-end and (more) traditional aesthetic, so I don't enjoy them as much as I do some relative amateurs/newcomers. You strike a very good balance, here. I'd also advocate for just a "beat" longer on each photo. :) Great content, and I'm happy to subscribe!
I am renovating my old flat, and this video is great for someone who does not work in the industry but is choosing a designer that makes sense to me. Thank you so much!
Your videos are exactly what I've been searching for while setting up my new apartment! Practical advise for design noobs and the creatively challenged.
Excellent guidelines! I liked that it comes from knowledge and you explained the why, very logical. The images you shared also help bring your points across. Your rhythm and tempo are relaxed, which makes listening enjoyable. Well done! I’m subscribing.
Ahhh just found your channel and all of your inspiration photos are just pic for pic my whole ass inspo library. Fun to hear you articulate what it is I love about about all of those spaces
Hi Noah , it’s very lucky for me to find out about your channel, especially in my graduate - crisis . I’m just really confused about how to apply the things I’ve learn from design school into reality. Which is why I feel your video is easier to understand all the knowledge . In your upcoming vids, can you talk more from your perspective about the basic of interior ? Like proportion, mix n match material, … I think it will mean so much to the people who need to know about the basic before start working in this field , thank you sm !!
Loved this video! Total Paige Wassel style vibes 🥰 I feel like most interior design videos on RU-vid have a different style then what i prefer and often a lot of the design choices recommended look really cheap! I was kind of sad that your video was over so fast 😅 but definitly gonna subscribe to your channel!
Just subscribed! I really loved all your thoughts on this stuff. You’re seriously so good at describing the “why” of it all. I am definitely looking forward to you taking us on a deeper dive with these! And on that note, I did have a question for you or anyone here in the comments who might know. How exactly can one use cheap but authentic materials to achieve a beautiful finish in a budget friendly way? There are SO many videos on how to use peel and stick to create renter friendly, budget friendly hacks.. but almost next to nothing on how to use cheap materials right. And in defense of peel and stick (certain tiles, grass cloth, designed wallpaper etc), they can still be an improvement over builder basic stuff, they don’t require contractors, or expensive tools, or skill or much knowledge, and can be renter friendly- which is the reality for a lot of younger people who still deserve a space they can feel at home in. I am just having a hard time picturing an alternative that can fulfill all that criteria 🫤
I've just watched all of your videos and I must say, you're delightful! No, you're not unnecessary ornamentation. Not in the least. Your down to earth and honest without being pretentious or preachy. A couple of years ago we had the good fortune to buy the house of our dreams. I had the task of making it a home. The things you speak about were all in my mind, unuttered, but driving my choices. I'm passionate about tropical houseplants and designing jewelry with semiprecious stones and metals. I have a shop for my jewelry and incorporate my plant passion into my home - I do not have an IKEA cabinet for plants that cannot survive in the desert Southwest. What I'm saying is that authenticity is essential to me, in all things. I get your vibe and delight in it. I can't wait to share in your hunt for and design of your new home! Thank you for putting yourself out here for all of us - your grounded approach is fresh and unfettered. You're teaching us how to live - not just how to decorate. You're designing lifestyles! Thank you.
I am an accidental viewer who is now experiencing an accidental genuine interest awakening in a topic I previously rather snobbishly regarded as negligible and a bit trashy. Mea culpa of course, but also thank you for bringing this slower, contextually situated, and basically HUMAN approach to RU-vid which sorely needs it
I agree with pretty much all of what you said. The only thing I would note is that "fake" vintage rugs are ok as long as they are made from natural material. Reproduction is fine as long as its not synthetic/fake in material. A wool rug is quality regardless of when it was made.
sooooooo helpful, at 58 i still have a lot of placeholders ;> but have finally begun editing and curating my favorite and beloved things-I'm noticing all the things I truly love fall into these rules.
Hi! Love these golden rules and couldn't agree more! I moved into my first own apartment about a year ago and I have to say I have had the same thoughts. However, the practical application of these rules has me a bit 'stuck' when it comes to designing the place. I prefer not to buy from big box stores but to get stuff second hand, but then I can't find stuff I like and I don't have a car to pick things up either... or I would like to buy quality stuff, but its too expensive. It's hard! However, I am trying to be grateful and taking my time curating :)
Me here, looking at my just updated boring tile floor to vinyl wooden floor material, hearing Noah judging about materials. i was so proud of it too. sigh...
I like Daniel said “Stone should be stone….” Although It budgeted up, that made me think strategically and spend limited resources only on items I’ve deserved.
Finaaaally someone said it: honest materials! (I mean, I agreed with all the rest, but damn i hate fake stuff haha). I will also mention that having wood for the wood look, or stone for the stone look, does the environment a favour too not just the looks and feeling of your home. Vynils and other plastics are terrible in every possible way. I'll keep checking out your videos, nice introduction ;)
This approach you are using, to discuss aesthetics intelligently has pleased me greatly. An added plus ; you are based in the home of the best European design. Good work..
After the series of scrolling videos here in youtube which is all about house decors. I jusr stumbled in your channel accidentally. This is a kind of channel I really like to watch. So much learn I will get because very informative. Thanks tho.
Thank you for this video! It's been so illuminating! I had already followed your channel when I saw your BenjiPlant example and it really let me know I was in the right place
Very thought out video! You obviously know what you are talking about. I just bought a home and was looking for inspiration/guidelines. One thing I am disagreeing with though is the faux materials as some here have pointed out, not everybody has the financial means for a hardwood floor, or actual brick walls. Some faux materials have come a long way in looking really close to the natural product. In my case I am away from home more then half of the year so real life plants are not the most viable option. That being said, I still think you make a valid point. Thanks for the video!
I'd like to see you discuss more what you meant by "avoid themes". I've been thinking about how architecture has, as a whole, suffered since WWII. I visited Maine recently and was pleasantly surprised to see no McMansions. All the houses followed a general New England theme of colonial homes with painted wood siding or cedar shakes, 6-over-6 double hung windows, maybe a stone foundation. They didn't look cookie cutter, but they all looked like they belong together. I could feel the overall context. It felt like a place with actual culture and history. It seems to me that homes built after the war have prioritized mass manufacturing, cheap construction, individualization (to the extent allowed by standardized materials), and an ability to brute-force apply an incorrect style to a different environment (sticking an "Italian villa" in the middle of Tennessee). I think people have been "avoiding themes" to the detriment of design. Sticking to a theme forces you to tell a cohesive story. If you want a Georgian house, you have to use the materials and proportions and molding contours and other elements of actual Georgian homes. I got a lot of these ideas from @BrentHull, who has a RU-vid channel and runs a millwork shop and a historic architecture consulting company in Texas.
Just subscribed and followed! Like other commenters have said, your perspective has definitely been missing online. I would love it if you did a series on bringing higher level design ideas into small spaces and apartments. Like you alluded to, there are so many "renter friendly" hacks that involve using stick on wallpaper and things that just come off as fake in the end.
Great video! There's something to be said for fake plants though. I heard about a study - on some ID RU-vid channel, could have been Posh Pennies 🤔 - that indoor plants have a proven positive effect on people's mood / experienced wellbeing. However the effect appears to be the same for real and fake plants! It's like even though we know what's real and what's not, our subconscious can't make the difference between the two, and seeing the green and the organic shapes of plants affect our emotions in the same way. I'm sure most of us prefer real ones but in situations where they're not an option, it could good to not discard fake ones at face value
Hi! love your content :) a lot of the examples you use for a modern/cozy look is what I gravitate towards. I would love to hear more about educational books and people you would recommend to learn about/from.
Thank you so much! There's so much I could say - I feel really inspired by early modernist movements and their designers. Would recommend looking into the works and philosophies of Richard Neutra, Charles & Ray Eames, Alvar Aalto, and others iconic modernists. I also would recommend reading "Dieter Rams: As Little Design As Possible", as well as "The Nature of Order", "A Pattern Language", and other books by Christopher Alexander :)
Just found your channel and immediately binged all videos!! I'm really enjoying your perspective on interior design, especially since I've just recently started conciously and purposefully styling my home. I'm definitely looking forward to an in depth video about considering the context of your home bc I feel like that's an area i'm still struggling with:) The honest materials are so important to me as well, I'm currently renting an apartment with vinyl flooring made to look like hardwood floors and sandstone slabs and it pains me to live with those lol
Most designers talk about and reference spaces which are not most people's reality. Homes are meant to make the occupant feel happy or comfortable. Not all rules fit all people. And then some of us can't even be authentic in our own homes because our responsibilities mean more than our wish to make the home our style. I wish designers tried to help regular folks achieve comfort and pleasure in their homes rather than give rules on what ticks the right boxes for design. Thank you for your perspective. I do agree that form should follow function but in all the houses I have lived in so far I have had to make do with what was already formed whether functional or not.
Can't wait to hear about authentic placemaking! Awesome content!
6 месяцев назад
honest material - i never thought of it this way, love the name of the concept... FAUX (french for fake) is just fake at the end of the day and reflects on you and your choices.
hi, if you have the time, can you please provide some examples of "Honest Materials" that are affordable? i 100% agree with you, and I can't stand luxury vinyl plank flooring and DIY laminate marble!
yes, here for all of thisss. i don't know your tiktok (yet, but will sub there as well) but stumbled upon your youtube here and love the content and format so far. good luck on your youtube journey babes!
Enjoying your channel! I would welcome your hot take on blinds - and window coverings for spaces that may not warrant draperies (eg floor heating vents around the perimeter of the space) In design magazines there are no treatments, which is not reality for many people as sun will damage furnishings and antiques. Plus in apartments, privacy is crucial. Thanks!
Ok Noah I just subscribed. I love your philosophical tone. How about pics of your actual work. Even renderings. You’re not just all thought and talk probably. Are you a practicing designer/architect. You don’t have to be degreed. Like Paige Wassel shows us her designing her home or her job.
Love this video (maybe because I couldn’t agree with you more…) and all of your content; looking forward to more! Some topic suggestions would be on architects or themes that you find particularly interesting (or not), discussions on famous furniture pieces or buildings, and thoughts on the philosophy of aesthetics/beauty in architecture/design and the effect on people in/using those spaces (one of favorite topics to ponder these days….).
something I would like to know more about is what you've said about dressing a room like it's a chateau. I actually like the idea of having a different vibe, from room to room. making each space individual. I would like to make a special library office space with different design ideas than the rest of the house. would you consider that tacky?
Really like your content and understand your rules. However I would qualify on vinyl floors. There ´s really good brands now with good quality stuff that mimics Wood floor really well and lots of advantages when you can’t put on real Wood in kitchen or bathroom or simply when you are not allowed to get rid or plane your doors. And the price (Even if it’s not a guarantee of quality) are very often really close to real Wood floor.
People always defend vinyl floors when I talk about this haha but to be clear I’m not against vinyl, there are so many good reasons to use vinyl floors! I just think it’s not nice to have it printed to mimic wood, regardless of how convincing it is. There are extremely cool vinyl floors that look authentically vinyl, and imo the best interiors always embrace and highlight the materials they’re using :) Will definitely be doing a video all about this in the future 💫
Context is something that I have felt strongly about but didn’t know what it was I had noticed or how to articulate it. Like when people add ornate molding to an apartment that is clearly contemporary and it reminds me of the Bronx 😂 but it’s in Manhattan!
Love the video, thanks for the tips Noah. I just bought an apartment and I am struggling with honest materials because it is so expensive. Think about real tiles (for the atm blank fireplace) and super white boring windowsill. I also think that cheap real materials could also work but could use some inspiration. Could you do a video with some inspiration on cheap/on a budget ways to give your home that finish that makes it whole in stead of a white box lol.