Taylor Blue Design

One of the fabulous things about opening our storefront has been meeting incredible and generous people who stumble upon our shop.

One of those people is Lani who owns an interior design showroom called Taylor Blue Design.  We had a chance to interview Lani recently and wanted to share photos of her showroom along with the interview.

History

I started working in a furniture store as a designer in Honolulu Hawaii. I married and moved to San Francisco 30 years ago and got a job as a showroom manager for the Sherrill Furnture Showroom. After working as the manager for 10 years, I bought the business from Sherrill Furniture and it became The Sherrill Collection. We were located in The Galleria Design Center for 20 years, selling to the trade.

In October, we relocated to 2907 Claremont Avenue in Berkeley. I live in the Berkeley Hills and  wanted to be closer to home. In this location we are able to provide an elegant environment to view our collection of fabrics and catalogs. Our website www.taylorbluedesign is a comprehensive overview of the many lines that we represent. The style we like to create is casual elegance,from contemporary to traditional, with our emphasis on transitional furnishings for your home. Anyone is welcome. We will help you find a designer if we feel it is necessary.

Keeping Inspired 

I travel to High Point, NC, twice a year to set up the Sherrill National Showroom. I am involved with the latest trends of color and design. I also travel to Paris to the Maison Objet furniture show. This show is amazing and allows you to see what will be coming here within the next few years. I just got back from there and was delighted to see strong accent colors, pinky mauves, teal blues, lemon yellows, mixed with neutrals. The trend is always to combine classic with new.

Advice

The best advice that I can give to anyone is to stay aware and inspired. Absorb and constantly edit your environment. This process does not have to be complicated. A new colorful pillow or accessory can liven up a room. Sometimes taking away is as important as adding new.

Most importantly....keep a sense of humor in your design and life and do not take anything too seriously.

We love what Lani has to say about interior design -- mixing old with new and color with neutrals. 

Lani has been to visit us twice and is interested in our reuse ethos.  She recently generously offered us two huge bags of  fabric samples which were discontinued. 

Here's Wendy checking out the fabric sample room after a recent visit to Taylor Blue Design.  We've been hard at work figuring out how to reuse the fabric samples and have come up with a few ideas. 

We've made tons of pillows...

As well as these wall pockets, which are the perfect size for a pair of glasses or a cell phone... 

We're also working on a prototype for a larger wall pocket using the grommets that are part of the original sample for hanging.  Those are coming to Walrus soon.

The East Bay is sorely lacking in good places to find fabric, so we were thrilled to find Taylor Blue Design.  Lani is located at the top of Claremont Avenue in Berkeley right next the Claremont Hotel.  Honestly, Lani is really the nicest person and so welcoming and down-to-earth.  You won't be disappointed by your visit.