Here’s what Alexandra has to say:

How does your work in the fashion industry influence your interior design aesthetic?

A great outfit is all about proportion and balance- even 1/8” makes a difference in creating the perfect look for a garment.  Making visual assessments like this daily  translates back into my home environment- searching for the perfect lamp to balance the weight of an end table, slightly changing the angle of a chair to affect the proportion of the room, making sure my color palette is engaging and agreeable.  I’ve always absolutely loved fabric; working in apparel, I find that I am bringing new assessments of handfeel, finish, and construction to the home textiles I am attracted to.

Even more so than the very direct parallels (color, print, fabric, details), I find that current styling direction and lifestyle influences start to pop up in my home.  I work creatively all through the day, which sets me up with a very forward-looking mindset; when it comes back to my personal aesthetic, I’m still wired to seek out “what is next”.  What I am excited about in fashion right now- layering textures, added embellishment, eclectic combinations of modern and vintage, mixing materials, creating a base wardrobe of classics with novelty pieced in- could be applied directly to what I am excited about in interior design and how I shape my own personal aesthetic.

How did growing up in such a pretty … idyllic, even… mid-century home affect you and your view of design?

What hit me immediately when I first walked in the house was what we still call “the feel” – it had an obvious strength of heritage and family.   We renovated slowly with care, really working to restore and enhance the architectural integrity of the home.  I could elaborate for pages on how we did this!  As a finished product, it actually has a very current feel- expanses of windows, bright open ceilings, an open plan- but all well-grounded within the era of the space.  Like this home, my view of design is very much about mixing old with new, emphasizing joyful light, and nurturing innate qualities to bring forward something beautiful.  It is very easy to find vintage objects or spaces and memorialize them merely as artifacts.  After living in this house, I learned to celebrate the beauty and principle of the past by supplementing it with harmonious current touches of today.  My favorite way to do this is through material- I love to build collections of different eras and detail, but with consistent physical elements- glassware, home textiles, even jewelry.

Your photos are so “luminous” — the “light” is the star. Talk to me about “light.”

Honestly, I just love light!  I’m always seeking out the window seat at a restaurant and try to be outside in the sunshine as much as I possibly can!  What I love about light is it’s changing qualities through the day, the way it forces you to focus on an item or view for that one specific moment, because it never will be exactly the same again.  I take a lot of pictures because of this- I don’t want to miss anything that I think is beautiful.  When you go back, it is never the same.

All of my background and education in architecture has really influenced my photography- when designing, I was always fascinated by how light and sun exposure could be “shaped” to create environments.  Photography gives me the same excitement and even control- I love to see how I can capture or shape the light to create a mood for the viewer and really portray a sense of physical environment.  Early in the morning is prime photography time for me- the day is fresh and the light is crisp, warm, inviting and positive.

Readers, the quote that really resonates with me (emphasis mine):

What I am excited about in fashion right now- layering textures, added embellishment, eclectic combinations of modern and vintage, mixing materials, creating a base wardrobe of classics with novelty pieced in- could be applied directly to what I am excited about in interior design and how I shape my own personal aesthetic.

I think this is right on, and worth paying attention to. Invest in classics when it comes to the expensive, lasting stuff… then layer, add bling, get eclectic — and get creative — with accessories and soft goods. It’s funny, but these same terms apply to collage — another art form that has a lot of learning to offer us as we grapple with designing interiors that deliver both function and beauty.

Oh, and one more thing. I love this quote that Alexandra put on her website. It is my quote of the year:

still round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate – jrr tolkien

Thank you, Alexandra. You are a rising star.

To get to Alexandra’s flickr images, click on any of the images featured in this story.

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My name is Carrie, I was not born (actually 1976) during the times you mainly discuss on your blog; however I have been very fond to all things vintage instead of new. I have been an addicted reader of your blog for more than three months now. It is nice to know there are so many others out there who are just it in awe of the 40s 50s and 60s especially mid century modern. I am very much inspired by all the things you have written about, and everyone else who contributes as well. Especially real estate time capsules.  I have just purchased a house where I live and it is a time capsule.  The house was build in 1964 and has only had one owner….

Carrie’s 1964 Storybook Ranch — aka “Cinderella Ranch” or rambler — is a real time capsule purchased from the original owner who never changed a thing – and Carrie pledges not to, either! Speckled laminate…knotty pine kitchen…original pinch pleats… Sears lights… just look at those awnings!  This house is terrific! 14 photos.

Carrie writes some more:

…I have also come to find out that my kitchen counter is formica and it is just BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am not changing a thing in the house everything will stay as it is. The only thing that I had to take out was the accordion shower door because it wouldn’t close and the plastic pieces just broke into pieces when I was trying to remove it carefully.  I will find a nice shower curtain to compliment the room and all its details.  The wood paneling, wallpaper murals, knotty pine cabinets are all staying and pretty much everything else.  I do however would like to get a new stove and refrigerator.  I have already found them – they will come in the fu+ture cause they are pretty expensive.

I live in a small town in the Central Valley of California “Los Banos”……it is about 2 hours south of Sacramento but only an hour north west of Fresno.  It is centrally located to everything, only an hour and half to Monterey or to Santa Cruz.  Also you can get to Yosemite National Park in 2 hours, its GREAT.

Here is a link to more photos — http://www.flickr.com/photos/31338833@N03/

Keep up the good work, Carrie.

Thank you, Carrie — you are an inspiration! Your house is happy it found you!

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