What Sets Vestige Home Apart, A Perspective on Design
REBECCA McALPIN Photographer
VESTIGE HOME Stylist
I’m writing this from my laptop on a road trip to Florida with my husband, Adam, an our two beagles, Shelby and Lucy.
It’s our annual January pilgrimage to visit family, shop the ___ Antique show, and escape the biting cold that is January in Philadelphia. Up ahead of our car is a semi-truck, the container it’s towing is a deep blue-green with subtle streaks of rust. The truck cab is a red-brown that reminds me of the old redware I used to see in the antique shops when i was a kid shopping with my mom. I’ve just exclaimed to Adam what a beautiful color combination this is, and how it would be a great jumping off point for a room design. As he side-eyes me with a somewhat skeptical glance, I pull out my phone in hopes of snapping a picture, but before I have time, the truck speeds off.
There’s an old adage “inspiration is everywhere” and it truly is…whether it’s a semi-truck or a breathtaking vista on a hike, this world is full of wonderful surprises and beauty. Today I’m digging a little bit deeper into my dedication to design, where I find inspiration, and how we translate that inspiration and dedication into our design studio and the designs that we create.
An Understanding of Place
I’ve been really lucky to have grown up and lived in many different places. From the sweeping vistas of the central coast of California, to colonial towns in Connecticut, to the agrarian midwest, experiencing a variety of environments has exposed me different styles, histories, and ways of living. This exposure to different styles of architecture, lifestyles, and landscapes influences our desire to create designs that respect the history of the home itself while reflecting the lives of the people who call that space home.
The Natural World
If you’ve been following along with vestige HOME, it will come as no surprise that I have been an avid gardener since I was a kid. In fact, our entire team loves plants - we joke that it may be a pre-requisite for employment. Many of the spaces we design celebrate nature through a variety of materials. While we love a good piece of art, oftentimes the materials themselves serve as the art in the space.We take cues from the natural world surrounding us and aim to create moments of surprise and delight. We may find inspiration in a fallen tree with a beautiful swath of tree mushrooms growing along its trunk, or a seed head dusted with delicate frost. From color to texture, we want our rooms to encourage people to look a little further, creating environments that encourage contemplation and discovery.
A Sense of Time
We are always thinking about where we can pull in elements that give a sense of time, age, or patina. This can be through lighting that has an intriguing glaze, a textile that with a nod to historic reference, or even vintage furniture that might have an imperfect finish on it from years of use. Lending a sense of authenticity, these time-worn pieces also add character and depth to newer construction, creating a feeling of warmth. We want to create designs that encourage our clients to truly live in their home, after all, we aren’t designing museums (yet!). Life happens, and time-worn pieces with their lovely patina also mean less fuss for our families.
TENSION
I believe that good design is full of surprises and embraces some push and pull between the elements in a space. We love bringing in something that it completely opposite to the other. One of the best compliments that we can receive is for someone to say that they never expected that particular elements to go together, but they somehow do and they love it. One of our favorite ways to add tension to our designs is to select decidedly modern lighting in more traditional spaces. We look for pieces that act as sculpture, with interesting lines and form, a simple lamp can take a space from expected to intriguing.
A Dedication to Service
Beyond the aesthetics and technical side of interior design, our firm prides itself on customer service and teamwork. I come from a military family, and as a young adult, I served in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer before leaving the military to pursue work in the corporate world. A dedication to service is at the keystone of our brand. We are always working to ensure we are exceeding our client’s expectations - from thoughtful design solutions, to open and accessible communication, and personalized project management - our client’s know that they can depend on vestige HOME to see their projects through to completion.
After spending years in a military environment, I strive to cultivate a sense of camaraderie with our team and our partners. From trusted contractors to trade vendors, we have each other’s backs and it shows in the work that we create. Our team comes from diverse professional backgrounds and each person brings untold value to our processes and client relationships through their experiences. As in any project, there will inevitably be some problems along the way and this is where that camaraderie really pays off. When we call on our partners for solutions, we are leaning on years of established relationships that allow our team to get the job done so that our clients are never left holding the bag.
Creating beautiful, soulful spaces is the most rewarding work and we feel so grateful to be able to do this for our clients. I hope that sharing a bit more about our process and what inspires our work perhaps resonates with you. We’d love to work with you on your next design project. It’s easy to get started, simply fill our our Inquiry form and our team will be in touch about setting up an exploratory phone call to learn more about your project and your design goals. We can’t wait to exceed your expectations.
