Jared Hughes, a wildly talented designer and super cool friend of ours, has us totally gobsmacked over his bedroom in this year’s Southeastern Designer Showhouse. From his beautiful use of Décors Barbares textiles to the ornate detailing of his custom wallpaper collaboration with Gracie Studio, we were thrilled to learn more about Jared’s inspiration and creative process for this project.
Q. Tell us about the overall inspiration for your bedroom design in the Southeastern Designer Showhouse. What kicked off the design concept for the space?
A. The showhouse has a decidedly California feel to it. I wanted to keep in line with that but put my own spin on it. I had taken a family road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway last year and had tons of images of the coastline through Big Sur. I knew I wanted to create a real transportive spirit in the room so I reached out to Gracie Studio and asked if they would produce a custom design for me based on my images. We took the images as well as images of Rex Whistler’s mural work, a famous British mural artist, and combined my visuals with his "style" of painting and voila. It is now part of the Gracie collection and available for order!
Q. Looks like we share an obsession with Décors Barbares textiles! We represent Nathalie Farman-Farma’s gorgeous line in our to-the-trade showroom and you used a few Décors Barbares fabrics throughout your space. What drove your decision to use Nathalie's textiles in your design?
A. I have been obsessed with her fabrics and instagram since I discovered them I guess 2 years or so ago. I have always been drawn to the layered and collected vibes of the English Country house. The mix of multi cultural textiles, architectural details, art, wallpaper, and accessories is right up my alley. There is something about it that automatically makes my eye travel to different continents, climates, and cultures—all while creating a cozy sense of home. It is relaxed yet formal in feel at the same time. Her fabrics lend themselves perfectly for this. The tribal patterns, florals in beautiful color palettes and various traditional cultural patterns create layers and depth in projects and easily can play the star or work perfectly in the background to create a more intense effect with other fabric elements. I try to travel as much as possible and her fabrics remind me of details from various trips. I knew I wanted her fabrics to help convey the message as soon as I started working on the showhouse room.
Q. Your stunning ruffled leading edge draperies...tell us more!
A. This goes back to my love for English Country Houses. Fenton House, touched up by John Fowler in Hampstead, England, has a drawing room that shaped SO many of my favorite design concepts. Yellow walls, an antique oil portrait of a foreign royal, and micro pleated ruffled on draperies. Silk is taken through an old school machine while secured in molds that pleat the fabric down to as small as 1/16 of an inch. The result are thousands of tiny micro pleats that are attached as the leading edge of the same silk drapes. When the pleats fall and loosen a billowy, romantic effect is achieved. It is truly a couture level of detail and has been so well received.
Q. Who and/or what is on your design radar lately for inspiration?
A. Obviously Nathalie of Décors Barbares, I may be biased BUT I am a sucker for the decorative paintings Hayden is doing with faux tortoise and faux marble as well as Tony Crespo, who has Loft Antiques LoftAntiques, a major inspiration with his mix of English pieces, bleached wood pieces, and gorgeous Italian pieces all mixed with some Indian/Anglo Indian vibes. His stuff is STUNNING. World of Interiors also keeps me BEYOND inspired with their perfect way of representing a wide range of projects that are all so well executed and the imperfect livable styling that really relaxes you.
Q. When you're in a design rut or things are feeling stale, what do you do to get yourself back in a creative mindset?
A. Get on a plane when possible. If not I literally dig back through images on my phone of travel. England, Morocco, Greece, Italy, France etc. I have thousands of saved images on my phone of minutia from travel that can really jump start something—2 patterns together, an architectural detail, a plate of food, a persons clothing, colors, a mood I can remember feeling from a picture, a piece of art or sculpture, a section of a garden. I am quick to do a re-binge of a show like Downton Abbey, or the Durrells of Corfu that can make me feel something about something to reset and feel creative again. ALSO, auction Catalogues. We buy so much stuff at auctions for clients that I have amassed a large collection of them and seeing pieces from all different genres and eras can make a shift in the brain.
DÉCORS BARBARES // VÉRA and NABOIKA
The Southeastern Designer Showhouse is located at 1130 West Conway Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30327 and is open to the public for tours from June 4th - 28th, 2020. Tickets can be purchased here.
Jared, we adore you! Thanks so much for sharing the inner workings of your mind-blowing creative brain.
IMAGE CREDITS // Jared Hughes Design