Workation at friends & a chat about my Interior design work

[Music] spee spee [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] B everyone welcome back to another video I'm coming to you from my friend's gorgeous house that they recently bought it's about 2 hours south of where we live it's in the south of burgundy in a region called L and I absolutely love spending a few days here I'm using these days as a break as you may know I juggle many different activities that I do for work and one of them is interior design so I'm here to help my friends um gather some ideas and get some ideas on what to do with this gorgeous house that has so much potential they're also going to build a tiny house cabin and I'm also using these couple of days to be inspired for other projects that I'm currently working on and I I didn't know this region and I find it absolutely stunning and even though it's only 2 hours south of where we live it is completely different so as you can already tell from the color of the facade of this house the color of the stone here is such a beautiful warm yellow golden color and and these little details give me so much inspiration we're just driving through the little Villages here and the architectural style I mean it might look all French to you but I can definitely see differences between the different regions in France so some details are different the color of the stones is very different and I like taking these kind of trips to be inspired for the projects that I'm working on cuz every project I do is is is unique so even though I always stay true to a certain style every project is unique and and just driving through a village gives me so many new ideas and the other thing that I feel really really inspired for since being here is a second book I already have a lot of ideas for a second book and some of you have asked if I could talk a little more about interior design in the next book like how to bring a little bit of France to your interior although I would not describe my style as French French country or French Farmhouse and maybe you've seen the post I did on this in the community section of the channel to ask you how you would describe the the style cuz when I see French country that is not the type of design that I make French country is much more colorful it has more details it's not a sleek and clean or some would call it minimalist I don't think my designs are minimalist but they are not there's nothing there that doesn't need to be there for functional reasons or to balance the design so I usually feel in truly French Country Interior does not make me feel feel good it I'm I'm not happy in that it's too full there is too much color there is too many patterns the furniture is too detailed for me like wood carving details or the wood colors are too dark I can add a little bit of that in a next book uh without saying it's French country because it's not it's not and it's not French Farmhouse because the interesting thing it is a farmhouse so I talk about our French farmhous house because that's where I live this is a French Farmhouse that my friends are turning into a beautiful home that I'm helping them with but this style is not French Farmhouse because I don't think there is any french person that would recognize what mostly in the US people call French Farmhouse as being French that is a style that really only exists in the US um so that is not it either so I feel and it's really thanks to all of your comments so thank you so much if you've been one of those people who've taken time to think about that question and to share your ideas with me I feel my style is is elegant because to me it feels a little more clean very soft very earthy and still very cozy and not minimalistic but the French have a really beautiful word for this and it's a so it means that you're leaving out anything that makes a design feel too crowded or that doesn't add either function or balance I'm calling it Ure but there's no real English word for it I asked my French American friend and she said oo that's a tough question all of your answers have also shown me that maybe I shouldn't try to label it because everybody has their own ideas I do know that whenever I work on a project it has certain elements that will always come back like broke on touches it's pretty clean and it always has a very earthy feel to it every project is unique to the person that's living in that space that's going to use that space so for example my friends have a different style than I do so they need to create the space that makes them feel at home here and typically what I do is I help people see the potential of a space I also help them see certain architectural elements or certain um technical structural things that need to be taken into account and then I refer to an architect or I work with an architect to work on those and I help them see the layout and I help them think about the function of a room uh and I think that's something that people often underestimate because they they they look at what they love to look at but that is not going to be the only thing to take into account it's really what does this room need to be for you and and does it offer you all the things you want to be doing in this space and is it is it adapted to how you naturally move through the space and then what I also do is help people pick a color scheme and and then furniture and Decor and design elements and I also often make a shopping list for where to find these items according to your budget and I like um I like authentic materials but I also like thrifting things or finding more affordable Alternatives because there's one thing I do know when you do a renovation project like this the money your budget will need to go to whatever needs to be dealt with structurally first before you make it beautiful which is horrible to be saying to people because it's not what they want to hear but it is very important so we're spending a little time we're looking at their house we're driving through the beautiful Villages and I'm getting so inspired so I'm really excited to be going home and put all those ideas into the designs that I'm working on thank you so much for being here I try to still put out a video every week so that I can keep giving you a little Glimpse and a little feel of the French country life that I know many of you really appreciate and look forward to every week so I always try to make time for that in my week so I can share that with you and I really really appreciate all of you who are here and who are watching and who are commenting and even if you're never commenting or liking anything I feel your support and I get to share the beauty of life with you and I don't take you being here for granted so thanks again so much and I will be back next week