Monday, August 9, 2010

More on Designer Jamie Drake... The King of Color

Living Room, Upper East Side, NYC (Photo: Drake Design Assoc.)

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Jamie Drake's high-end interior designs is his brilliant use of color.  Known as the "king of color," Drake's creations are world renowned for  their use of sophisticated color schemes and eclectic furnishings.  And as I mentioned in this post about Drake's New York Upper East Side Design, he achieves visual harmony and balance in a room by using at least three colors. 

 
Living room in an East Hampton home (Photo: Minh + Wass)
Recently, a San Francisco friend,  interior designer and blogger Claudia Juestel had the pleasure of sitting down with Jamie Drake to drink tea and chat about design. Their discussion is a wonderful peek into Drake's design philosophy. The full article is locate here at ResideSF

 
“Eden Rock” table lamp in Manhattan House apartment (Photo: Lucas Allen) 

In the interview Drake was asked about how he approaches using color. He said,
"I think there are two great parts. One is intuitive: I can walk into a room and sense what tonality it should be, whether it should be pale or intense, grayed out or vibrant. And then the equally important part is just what is right for the client. Very few clients will actually say I want purple and blue with a touch of aqua. But they will tell you a general range of what they like, such as pastels, or fresh colors, or jewel tones. They can usually tell you what they don’t like."

 
Dining Room, Upper East Side, NYC (Photo: Drake Design Assoc.)
The article also features some sweet and very sophisticated design drawings Drake created as a boy. It is fascinating to see how at such a young age, he knew what he wanted to do when he grew up.

 
Bedroom in a West Chelsea apartment in NCY (Photo: Wouter Vandertol) 

Drake also reveals in the interview that if he hadn't become an interior designer, he might have been a prosecuting attorney. Aren't we glad he didn't? Thank you Jamie for following your heart!

Again, be sure to drop by ResideSF to read the entire interview by Claudia Juestel.