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Tableaux Faux Iron Interview

indesign Published on: November 19, 2014 Category: Interview

Interview with Residential and Commercial Designer Eva Murzaite of Interiors In Design

How long have you been customizing and selling Tableaux Faux Iron, and a brief description of your role at Interiors in Design:

Eva Murzaite is a nationally certified Interior Designer and established Interiors In Design in July of 2009, Brandy Holden has been a subcontractor for In Design since 2011 and came to work with the company as a full time interior designer in 2013.

Brandy and I have collaborated on this project as well as many others, each of us bringing our unique flair of creativity and expertise to the table.

Other designers will be reading this article, and wondering how you’ve been so successful at designing and selling Tableaux products. Without divulging all your techniques, will you please describe how you recommend, design, and sell Tableaux products to customers?

We love working with unique architectural products such as Tableux. They give us a great medium to incorporate texture and pattern and add a decorative element into our projects. They are light weight, and customizable in shape, pattern and color giving us complete freedom. The design possibilities with Tableux are limited only by our imagination and the installation is simple and easy.

The Tableaux Decorative Faux Iron Lattice Traceries project was very creative (Order ID: 4234BD2T), and Buds Drapery Den listed you as the designer of the custom piece. How were you able to determine that the Tableaux faux iron product was your client’s best design choice among all others? At what point were you brought into the design process? What inspired the particular design?

Brandy and I have been involved in the project right from inception. Our clients came to us with a request to incorporate their experiences from their world travels into the space that surrounds them every day. Jordan The Asian culture had left a lasting impression for Tina and Michael and we decided to incorporate it’s rich and dramatic flare in the kitchen and family room area.

We quickly discovered that Tina and Michael were not afraid to be adventurous with materials and finishes and were eager for us to incorporate some interesting architectural details into the design. They asked us to create an architectural dropped ceiling feature in the family room.

Buds Drapery Den (BDD Inc) is our supplier for window coverings and specialty products and they do such a wonderful job in educating us on the new and unique products available in the market. They had introduced us to Tableux and right away we thought … this product would be the perfect solution to fit our application because of it’s light weight textural quality and customizable options.

According to the order details, this Tableaux product was 36” in diameter, and was to be suspended from the ceiling with chains in a home. What was the most challenge aspect of this project? How were you able to overcome the challenge(s) and move forward to meet and exceed client expectations? Where precisely was this Tableaux installed within the home?

This project is a collage of seven panels of various sizes, the largest one of them being 4’ x 8’. (We love working in large scale for a dramatic effect.) The pattern incorporates an abstracted dragon, lotus flowers and a geometric design which are significant symbols in the Chinese culture and history. The panels are suspended from the ceiling with a cable system at varying heights and highlighted by recessed lighting above and red silk lanterns floating below. The right lighting is key to highlight the patterns and textures of Tableux panels, the shadows that appear infuse the space with another dimension of interest and ambiance.

Creating this dropped ceiling design came with a few challenges. The first was the open concept floor plan of the home. There was no edge to start and stop the panel installation. To overcome this dilemma we came up with a free form layout which creates its’ own presence within the space and also serves as a visual element to unify the family room with the open concept kitchen.

The biggest challenge was to coordinate the installation and find the right hanging method and hardware that would not distract from the visual effect of the panels. Tim Polito and Larry Cobb from Gipson Corwin Homes who contracted the project put their minds together and came up with the right solution. It took four people on and off latters two days to hang this project. I think we all agree it was worth the effort to create something amazing in the end.

Have you collaborated on an interior decorating and/or an interior design project with other professionals? If yes, who was it with? What was the end result? Would you collaborate with other professionals again based on the experience?

We strongly believe that every design project is a collaboration, between the client, the design team, the contractor, suppliers and craftsmen. We have been very blessed to be a part of a very strong team of people who really care about each other, and each project that we do together. We rely on each other’s expertise, thrive on collective creativity, learn from each other and problem solve every nitty gritty detail on paper as well as in the field. Every person shows up and puts their best foot forward to make the many parts and pieces come together, every person is equally important in the process.
We also love meeting and collaborating with new people and would love to expand our network and grow beyond our current abilities.

Where do you see Interiors in Design in the next 3-5 years?

Interior Design is our passion and focus, we hope to do many more creative projects that allow us to learn about and incorporate the fabulous materials and products that are available to us. Recently we have been granted a wonderful commercial project in Colorado and hope to continue our expansion into other areas in addition to Arizona.

Product design has always been a passion of mine and I hope to join creative forces with a manufacturer to create architectural features, furniture, lighting and decorative objects.

What has been the most rewarding experience of your career thus far?

This is a tricky question, really every day is rewarding in its’ own way for no other reason than being able to do what we love.

Brandy and I often talk about how lucky we are to be able to wake up in the morning and go to see people who we love working with, be able to create something new, and be in command of our own path and our own destiny.

What is the most challenging part of your career as a Nationally Certified Interior Designer?

The most challenging part in our work is setting and communicating our role in the course of the project. Every project and every client we help is so unique and different . The time they need with us and the time that the contractor will need us can vary greatly. It’s hard to know and determine that when you are working with someone for the first time. Spending time with our clients and getting to know them enables us to design something wonderful and practical for them but also helps us determine the parameters of the work. This is also the reason why we love building relationships with people who work on the projects, knowing how each other works, our abilities and limitations takes a lot of the guess work out of budgeting money and time.

According to your biography, your grandfather and mother played a large role in your creative career. How do the lessons and inspirations you inherited from them help you achieve your interior design goals?

Yes my family and background have played a tremendous role in my design philosophy and aesthetic. My grandfather was a furniture designer and maker, anything his hands touched were made to last a lifetime, he worked with natural materials and loved clean, classical lines and folk patterns. Sometimes I walk through the lumber department just to get a wif of that freshly sawn wood smell that brings me right me back into his workshop.
My mom is an artist on a completely different end of the spectrum. She works in many different techniques and materials. Her method and form are free flowing and organic, she is forward thinking and avant garde.

I suppose I am a mix of the two, I love being adventurous but have to have solid ground beneath my feet, I think my designs reflect that. I catch an inspiration and run with it but I have to think it through, how will it function, how will it be implemented, what will be the best material, will it look dated too soon.

Which Tableaux design is your favorite? Do you have a favorite color or finish you like to recommend to your clients? Do you prefer to customize Tableaux products for your customers?

Two of our favorite patterns offered by Tableux are Amalfi and San Gimignano. We have used Amalfi Panels as decorative treatment in high transom windows, the pattern is pretty open and is perfect for filtering light into the room. San Gimignano was used in a Spanish Colonial style home office. We inserted the decorative panels in the upper cabinet doors to make the wood feel less heavy and break up the monotony. This pattern was more tightly woven and provided a great screen to hide the contents inside. Tableux offers a great selection of colors and you can really find the one you need to compliment any design style. And we just love being able to dream up a pattern and have it made into a panel of any size we need.

Which Tableaux application has been the most popular for Interiors in Design? Why do you think this application resonates with so many of your customers?

The wonderful flexibility that Tableux offers allows us to use the product in so many ways. Window screens, room divider panels, wall texture, art work, the possibilities are endless!

Do you have any recommendations or suggestions to Tableaux to make your one-to-one interior design experience better?

We would love to have the input from Tableux on the hardware and installation method for new ways we find to use the product. For larger scale panels we would love input on the scale of the pattern or more rigid farming to ensure stability of the panel.
It would be a lot of fun to be able to choose the color /finish of the Tableux panels by matching a paint color, pantone color, or just a palette of a few dynamic and bright colors chosen by Tableux. I think that by using different colors we could change the same patterns from a more traditional look to something completely modern.

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