Living Luxe: It’s almost that time of year when trend forecasts start coming out. One of the things we’re hearing about is biophilic design, as more of us yearn to be closer to nature. What are you seeing in terms of this and how do you incorporate materials like wood, cork and bamboo into your design?
Dee Dee Taylor Eustace: First and foremost, design the exterior landscape of your building — don’t leave it up to the gardener. Build structure with boxwoods and yew hedges while selecting pea gravel with solid limestone stepping-stones. Let your exterior furniture be the sculpture. In terms of interior design, use what is vernacular to your region — I prefer oak in Canada to bamboo. If you love bamboo wallpaper, you don’t have to be so literal to use the exact material. The floor and walls in the same wood is dramatic and calming, but make sure you punch it out with recessed LED lighting and for a soft glow from overhead ceiling fixtures.
Living Luxe: Photography never goes out of style and many of our readers have cherished photographs hanging in their homes — some even commission work that is unique to their lives. You have a spectacular photograph of the port side of a yacht, in both colour and black and white. Tell us about the importance of architectural photography in your life and work, and how composition affects design? How do we know if we should opt for colour or black and white?
Dee Dee Taylor Eustace: Photography is today’s medium for expression, and we can all have it at a drop of a click. Sometimes we get true beauty, and other times, it is with determination and skill that the image is captured. I personally love both black and white and colour images — the juxtaposition of both in an interior space is fantastic. I have many different subjects of photography, from horses and landscapes to historical interiors, and they all co-exist in the same space. Repetition in hanging photos is dramatic and captures different light with various compositions of the same subject.
I also photograph or have my own work photographed to evaluate the design — I find it very helpful in the final stages of design. I work with many photographers, and each has an individual style. I prefer a composition that has depth and longevity that you can look at over and over in delight.
Living Luxe: Nostalgic design is also a style our readers gravitate toward, but you’re a believer in mixing and matching — combining vintage design with modern pieces. What are the best ways to achieve this look?
Dee Dee Taylor Eustace: Buy what you love and be bold. If you invest in furniture pieces, you can have them for a lifetime with a simple re-do — a new fabric, a different sheen level or different colour revives the old. Keep these pieces and add what you love of today — they can all blend. Perhaps the fabric might need to be a neutral white, so that the shape of the modern piece doesn’t overwhelm the antiques. If you have modern art, put in an antique frame and vice versa.
Take a vintage table and add a middle leaf to extend its length, then give it a new set of chairs. This is a perfect blend. There are times where modern just needs to modern and exist solo. Remember, there is a reason for many different flavours of ice cream and our tastes change as we gain experience in our lives.