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Interview: The Design Magic of Tobi Fairley
Standout Designer Shares Her Advice for Creating a Bold, Colorful Look
Hello there! I'm Erika Ward, Owner and Principal Designer of Erika Ward Interiors. It's my greatest pleasure to inspire you to live well, to live in style, and to extinguish the myth that style and budget are mutually exclusive. Read more about my design philosophy and my work at http://www.blulabelbungalow.com
Hello there! I'm Erika Ward, Owner and Principal Designer of Erika Ward... More »
For more than a decade, all-American designer Tobi Fairley has been a favorite of her peers and design enthusiasts alike. Among her many talents, a standout is her ability to consistently execute timeless, well balanced, colorful, and totally livable spaces. Clients feel like they can even put their feet up on the coffee table without destroying the design she's created for them. Want the same look in your home? Read on for Fairley's formula for choosing fabrics, ideas for recreating her signature look, and her best advice for living with what you love.
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| EW: In the early stages of a design project, what is the process you go through to create your unique style?
TF: Most every design idea I have stems from a colorful or patterned fabric that I have fallen in love with. I typically create fabric and color “stories” for a project first just to get my creative juices flowing and then go back to the beginning and enhance the architecture and floor plans to complement the design scheme. In addition to color, symmetry plays a prominent role in Fairley's design. Each item within this vignette is beautifully duplicated to create a look that is balanced and pleasing to the eye. |
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EW: What approach do you take when selecting patterns and colors?
TF: The art of mixing color and pattern with success is all about scale. I typically start with one large-scale signature fabric for each room. It is typically either a floral or a geometric. I then begin to pair other fabrics in a medium scale, then down to a smaller scale like a mini-print and then on to solids. Solids really make up the majority of most of my rooms, but I use the signature showstopper fabric in such a bold way, it is really what people notice the most. Some people who try to use large and colorful prints mix them with too many other bold fabrics of the same scale and then the eye doesn’t know where to focus. Just one “diva” of a fabric for each room results in the most success.
This space is an textbook example of Fairley's approach to mixing fabrics.
TF: The art of mixing color and pattern with success is all about scale. I typically start with one large-scale signature fabric for each room. It is typically either a floral or a geometric. I then begin to pair other fabrics in a medium scale, then down to a smaller scale like a mini-print and then on to solids. Solids really make up the majority of most of my rooms, but I use the signature showstopper fabric in such a bold way, it is really what people notice the most. Some people who try to use large and colorful prints mix them with too many other bold fabrics of the same scale and then the eye doesn’t know where to focus. Just one “diva” of a fabric for each room results in the most success.
This space is an textbook example of Fairley's approach to mixing fabrics.
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EW: What are a few of your favorite finishing touches when designing a room?
TF: I love to do unusual things to some of the often-forgotten parts of a room to add detail. Painting a stripe around the ceiling in a pop of color adds interest. A gorgeous and graphic tape trim on the skirt of a sofa or pair of swivel chairs gives them that something extra. Grosgrain piping on a lampshade takes an ordinary lamp to extraordinary. These sorts of designer details make a room truly unique.
Here, Fairley added a red trim to a creamy pedestal table, a clever method of distributing the accent color from floor to ceiling.
TF: I love to do unusual things to some of the often-forgotten parts of a room to add detail. Painting a stripe around the ceiling in a pop of color adds interest. A gorgeous and graphic tape trim on the skirt of a sofa or pair of swivel chairs gives them that something extra. Grosgrain piping on a lampshade takes an ordinary lamp to extraordinary. These sorts of designer details make a room truly unique.
Here, Fairley added a red trim to a creamy pedestal table, a clever method of distributing the accent color from floor to ceiling.
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| EW: What sort of elements would you say most defines or influences your simple yet fresh signature look?
TF: Have I mentioned fabrics? Pattern and color are key to my style. But it is probably the fact that I use furnishings with a very traditional scale and form as the basis for the room that make my spaces have appeal across styles and gender. This also makes my spaces have a timeless quality. So even if you decide to recover furnishings in a less colorful or trendy fabric down the line, you have still made a sound investment in a good timeless piece of furniture. It just makes sense. Fairley put a playfully spin on this traditional kid-friendly family room. Time-honored silhouettes have been updated with unexpected mustard, green, and teal hues. The wavy rug in like colors add a vibrant energy to a new classic mix. |
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EW: How would you say your design style is most distinct from other designers?
TF: Well, though there are lots of people who use color and pattern, not that many people are as bold as I am. I’ve often been called fearless when it comes to colorful drama in a space. My design idols are Dorothy Draper, Diamond and Baratta, and my friend Jamie Drake. I’m sure you can see a piece of each of their styles manifested in my designs.
Fairley never missed an opportunity to wow her audience with bold hues. Here a fresh green enlivens the neutral space with jolts of color on the bookcase, the lampshade, and the throw.
TF: Well, though there are lots of people who use color and pattern, not that many people are as bold as I am. I’ve often been called fearless when it comes to colorful drama in a space. My design idols are Dorothy Draper, Diamond and Baratta, and my friend Jamie Drake. I’m sure you can see a piece of each of their styles manifested in my designs.
Fairley never missed an opportunity to wow her audience with bold hues. Here a fresh green enlivens the neutral space with jolts of color on the bookcase, the lampshade, and the throw.
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EW: What inspired you to start organizations such as InBox Interiors and your popular design camps?
TF: I love the business of design as much as I love design itself. So I can hardly go a week without brainstorming and creating new business concepts and opportunities. The online design concept wasn’t originated with me. I saw several very smart and talented designers across the country entering this area. So few ideas are ever really original, but it’s understanding if they are a fit for your firm that helps you determine if you should make the leap into that area of business.
As far as the camps go, people have been coming to me for over 10 years wanting to “shadow me, learn from me, spend a day with me.” I am a teacher at heart and love to share ideas, help people learn from my mistakes, and help people gro
TF: I love the business of design as much as I love design itself. So I can hardly go a week without brainstorming and creating new business concepts and opportunities. The online design concept wasn’t originated with me. I saw several very smart and talented designers across the country entering this area. So few ideas are ever really original, but it’s understanding if they are a fit for your firm that helps you determine if you should make the leap into that area of business.
As far as the camps go, people have been coming to me for over 10 years wanting to “shadow me, learn from me, spend a day with me.” I am a teacher at heart and love to share ideas, help people learn from my mistakes, and help people gro
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| EW: When not designing you are ...
TF: Designing. Design is my work, my hobby, and my life. But that design takes on different forms. I love to paint with my daughter (she is an art junkie at age 6). I spend a lot of time reading business and self-help books and working on designing a better business and a better life. Here, Fairley daughter's room primes her in becoming a new member of the next generation of tastemakers. A simple palette of lilac and white allows the shapes and patterns to coexist harmoniously. The custom crown above the plush daybed has to be the icing on the cake. |
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EW:Biggest influence?
TF: Mom. She gave me my knack for design, and she is my rock and my sounding board. Plus she just has fabulous taste! You can’t buy that ... you either have it or you don’t.
TF: Mom. She gave me my knack for design, and she is my rock and my sounding board. Plus she just has fabulous taste! You can’t buy that ... you either have it or you don’t.
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EW: Best advice?
TF: Buy what you love and I mean what you truly Love. Not because it’s on sale, not because your friend has one, not because you heard it’s the latest trend. If you always use this rule of thumb, you won’t grow tired of your design elements and you will be much happier with your home. After all, you are the person who has to live there, so it doesn’t matter if other people like it, as long as you do.
Though this entryway is a palette consisting of only two colors, the high-contrast of black and white, bold pattern found in the wallpaper, and color blocking on the dresser employs three layers of design and makes this space both dramatic and captivating.
More: See more of Fairley's work on Houzz and on TobiFairley.com.
TF: Buy what you love and I mean what you truly Love. Not because it’s on sale, not because your friend has one, not because you heard it’s the latest trend. If you always use this rule of thumb, you won’t grow tired of your design elements and you will be much happier with your home. After all, you are the person who has to live there, so it doesn’t matter if other people like it, as long as you do.
Though this entryway is a palette consisting of only two colors, the high-contrast of black and white, bold pattern found in the wallpaper, and color blocking on the dresser employs three layers of design and makes this space both dramatic and captivating.
More: See more of Fairley's work on Houzz and on TobiFairley.com.
Ideabook updated on July 29, 2011.
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"Design is my work, my hobby, and my life."
Love her explanations of combining colour and pattern.
Theresa Strickland
Brandwave.org