The Arrival of Spaces

Written by Sherry Moeller Photography by Eric Kieley

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It’s clear there is a method, an art to achieving a room’s “sense of arrival.” Carlyn Guarnieri, CEO and co-founder, and Holly Polgreen, president and co-founder, of Carlyn and Company have it down. With more than 35 years of design experience combined, Carlyn and Holly say they are “style soul mates,” who, as children, decorated and designed their own bedrooms and play areas.

Interview with Carlyn Guarnieri and Holly Polgreen of Carlyn and Company

Now as owners of Carlyn and Company, founded in 1993, Carlyn and Holly design all types of interiors and some exterior spaces for builders and developers, including model homes, sales centers, and lobbies and social rooms for condominiums and apartment buildings. Here are their thoughts, tips and approaches to completing designer spaces in places we admire.

What makes a space feel good?

Carlyn: I think it’s different for each person. A space has to really speak to you. It depends on your mood and taste, and your experience level. There are certain rules: focal points, proportion, balance. It doesn’t matter what style or mood the space has. If you ignore those rules, the space isn’t going to feel good.

Holly: You need to stick with the basics. There have to be principles of design – repetition, rhythm, balance, scale, proportion, and color that you pay attention to. The general public may not understand these basics, but they know when they see them if they’re correct. It’s like great architecture. If the bones, the proportions, the design principles are all there, then it feels good. It may not be someone’s exact taste – it may be too country, too modern, but it’s going to be a space that feels good.

Carlyn: Take the Getty Museum in LA. Everything is based on a three-foot square module and multiples of that size. Every single intersection lines up. All the angles throughout the whole building, on the exterior, on the facades, on the landscaping – even though there is a lot going on, there’s a sense of calm about it. All the rules have been approached. You walk through that space and have a sense of awe. It might not be your style, but it’s perfectly done. Nothing hits you and feels odd. That’s one of the things about a great space.

What makes a space feel good is its intention. When you’re creating a space, when we’re doing these spaces, we’re intending to create a master bedroom that has a relaxing feeling. With a sense of arrival, if you will, of having achieved a financial goal, a place in life and the room reflects that. There are intentions that guide us that we keep coming back to. We edit what we are choosing for those spaces.

How do you determine what feels odd about a space?

Carlyn: Most people don’t stand at the door and analyze everything. We literally do when we’re doing a model. We look at every site line, every single direction to see what jangles, what pops out at you, what feels bad, what pokes at you. You create this seamless feeling that envelops you, whether it’s cozy or bright and sunny or whatever the mood is.

What we find when we’re designing a space is that we are purposely creating a space to elicit a response. That is our goal in what we are designing.

We ask why would a consumer walk in and like this space? Even if it’s something contemporary, it might not be her style but she loves it. It feels good. Why do they like one over the other? I think it’s a fantasy; it’s so different than what they have and they can imagine being in it.

Holly: It’s also the completeness of it. That’s why people react to the model home environment because it’s so complete. In their daily lives, they have their house almost there, but not the layering that we do. It goes back to design principles. It’s done. It’s perfect – I can entertain now. I can rest now.

Carlyn: For 15 minutes, it’s the possibility of that’s how I could live. I could relax at some point; I could do yoga; I could have a martini party; I could sit in my backyard. It’s a mental fantasy that you could walk into. It’s like walking into this cool, hip place and think it’s like being in New York City. It’s cool in its little bubble.

What is the difference between what the designer might do and what the general public does when creating a space?

Holly: We have a very strong focus on what we are doing. We are constantly going back to that vision from the beginning all the way to final installation. That is the difference between what the designer may do and what the general public does. We keep that strong focus. We ask, what is the intention of the space? What is that emotion we want to create?

Carlyn: And that takes great discipline. We take pictures we are trying to use for inspiration shopping with us. Does this vase, piece of art look like it goes here? It’s essential.

Holly: And it’s somewhat intangible. It is the completeness, the layering of it. Any space that you see, a restaurant, a hotel, has a very intricate layering process. It’s not just great furniture, paint colors, lighting or flooring. It’s all of those layers together. You take one element away and it won’t feel as good. It’s that editing process we do best.

Carlyn: We imagine all these elements together and then cherry pick. Are we going to load it up with molding, make the walls clean or wallpaper them?

Do you think that’s why people go to designers?

Holly: That is a designer’s job to say wait a minute, what is the original vision. It’s their job to keep you in line. It’s easy to lose focus. There are a lot of tools that people can use to help them stay focused, like photographs, magazines, TV shows, and books. Have the design in mind; otherwise, you’re all over the place. If you can keep that vision, the process will go much more quickly and smoothly. I’ve had people who have said, “I’ve been working on my house for 20 years.” It’s because they don’t sit down and make a plan, and then stick to it.

Carlyn: It’s a method.

Holly: We approach it systematically. How much do you want to spend? Is it going to be done by Thanksgiving, Christmas, or for a party?

Carlyn: How do you want those rooms to feel? It’s like you have diet plan. I’m eating protein and I’m not eating carbs. I am going to shop for things that are green and tall and I don’t need red and short. You have to create parameters and stick to them.

Is there one trend you’re seeing in home interior design?

Holly: There really isn’t. Everyone wants it all. People are more sophisticated and exposed to it. Interior design is entertainment now. It’s one of the most popular things on TV. People realize they can do it themselves to a certain extent, but the problem with these new shows is they don’t show how designers come to their design decisions. They say here it is. Homeowners think it’s that easy, but there is a lot of pre-thought and a lot of work done ahead of time. It doesn’t happen overnight. To do it right, you have to come up with a plan.

Carlyn: What the shows do and why they are popular is that they show the transformational power of what a new space feels like. Again, it’s a transformation, the fantasy of walking into a completed fantasy bubble that transforms your day or your energy or your life.

Is designing a space intuitive?

Carlyn: It’s intuitive how it feels. We can tell what is wrong with a space and your eye gets trained to explain your intuitive assessment of a space.

Holly: Designers use basic tools and principals that homeowners should consider. It goes back to tools. Go back to the space’s intention and use pictures to help narrow choices.

Carlyn: It is an ability that is learnable. It may never be instinctive or intuitive, but clients can learn if a space doesn’t work for them and why.

Holly: People are more discerning. Designers have a tougher job now, because people know what they like, what they want, what the possibilities are.

Carlyn: We tell people all the time, go through magazines and rip out what you like. Do not censor it, get a stack, put them all on the floor. Eighty percent of them will look the same. They’ll have the same mood. If your visceral reaction is repeated, take those and use them as your guide. Don’t fight it. It’s what you instinctively like.

Holly: It’s easy to go into the shopping world and be overwhelmed. Stay the course.

Carlyn: It’s so hard to keep a vision in your head. It’s hard for junior designers; that’s why we know it’s hard for the consumer to do. You need something tangible, like “look” pictures to keep in your hand. It’s a system, a process, and it does work. Train yourself to trust all of your senses. We sit and analyze, why does this space work? If it’s done enough, instincts will develop, then the rational understanding will follow.

What’s your best advice for the general public to achieve a space’s sense of arrival?

Carlyn: Make a commitment and move forward. There are so many steps to coordinating things. These thoughts are just the intangibles of making it work and feel good.

Holly: I think people are getting a sense that it’s not easy to do. Before they had what they had and now people are saying I want more. Interior design is important to them; their home environment reflects who they are. People are now deciding they deserve it, but they need to tackle designing in an organized fashion with a plan and goals in mind.

Carlyn: They understand that it will make a difference in how their life feels to them, how their day feels to them.