Shop Talk with Ghislaine Vinas Vol. 14

RBW: What do you want people to feel when they enter a space you’ve designed?

GV: I want people to feel something positive. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming joy. It can be comfort, curiosity, or the feeling of coming home. I want someone to enter a space and simply love being there.

RBW: How do you approach designing a space for someone else?

GV: You have to get inside your client’s head and understand what brings them joy, what they love, and what resonates with them. If every project came entirely from me, I wouldn’t be doing my job.

Sometimes that understanding happens quickly. Other times, it develops as the client reacts to different ideas. You’re putting together a puzzle until you reach the moment when you can say, “I get it.” Then you bring those pieces together, add your own secret sauce, and make it happen.

RBW: Where does the design process begin?

GV: We begin by creating the DNA of the space. What is the story? It might come from the family’s heritage, the location of the home, or something distinctive about the people who live there.

From there, we develop a language through color, pattern, and unexpected elements. Once we understand that larger idea, we move into the floor plan, furniture placement, views, natural light, and how the house will feel at night.

RBW: What defines a successful space?

GV: First and foremost, function. How many people need to sit there? What does the room need to do? How will it be used?

If you get the function wrong, the room won’t be successful. It may look great, but what we design is ultimately meant for living. Beauty and function are so intertwined that you can’t pull them apart. If you’re doing a good job, the relationship should feel seamless.

RBW: What makes a room memorable?

GV: Atmosphere is one of the hardest things to get right. It doesn’t necessarily come from the furniture, wallpaper, or table. It comes from what fills the room and gives it a soul.

That might be art, objects from travels, something found at a flea market, or an item that holds personal meaning. It doesn’t matter whether it cost two dollars or two thousand. What matters is the connection and the story behind it.

RBW: What role does lighting play in shaping a space?

GV: Lighting can completely change a room in seconds. Stark light can be horrendous. Softer light, filtered through shades and coming from different directions, creates moods, shadows, and personality.

Everything should be on a dimmer. A good room might combine recessed lighting with pendants, sconces, and table lamps at different heights. Sometimes you walk into a restaurant and immediately feel that the atmosphere is perfect, even if you don’t know why. Very often, it’s the lighting.

RBW: When does customization enter the conversation?

GV: Problem-solving is a huge part of the job, although I prefer to think of it as meeting a challenge. Customization is often the answer.

We rarely select a product in its standard form and say, “That piece, exactly as it is, in that color.” Customization makes the work more complex, but it also makes it more exciting. It’s the difference between having a box of four crayons and having the enormous three-tiered Crayola box with the sharpener in the back. You have many more possibilities.

RBW: How have you worked with RBW to solve for color?

GV: When RBW moved its factory to Kingston, I visited and saw the booth where everything is powder coated. I remember thinking, “Oh my God, don’t show me this. I can do whatever I want.”

That flexibility makes color feel like an easy solution instead of a problem. I also value receiving a physical swatch. Seeing the real finish beside the other colors, fabrics, and textures in a room is essential. There is nothing worse than receiving the finished piece and discovering that the color isn’t what you envisioned.