How Travel Affects Design: some of my favorites, like Abigail Ahern, chime in.

Kristen Meckem Travel office: featuring Tom Dixon copper pendant light, European oak floors, vintage desk lamp, She's Happy pillows and Marco Zanuso Lady Chair.

"It’s not always as literal as lifting design elements from other countries..." -Abigail Ahern

I came to the travel industry with some experience in design. So while I do plan custom itineraries for clients, giving them the comfort to travel confidently, I also have a very deep love for, and an appreciation of, design and art. I thought it would be fun to ask some of my favorite artists and designers how travel has influenced their work. I love their responses! Who says it most like you would? Abigail Ahern, Heather Nashelle, Jamie Parker, Sheryl Patokoski Bryant or Stacey Nyman?

The photos are of my spaces, but the words are theirs.

My living room: featuring Eero Saarinen Womb Chair, Tord Boontje light, vintage velvet chairs, Marimekko, vintage scandinavian and Amy Butler fabrics, Flokati rug, She's Happy Design and Tuuli Design Co pillows, and antique English pulls.

"Travel plays a huge influence in inspiring my designs. It’s not always as literal as lifting design elements from other countries - I’d say it’s more of a subconscious process. It takes you out of your comfort zone, makes you think differently, opens you up to new opportunities and cultures and makes you look at things afresh. Different climates, colours, views, foods, shapes all get me buzzing with new ideas." -Abigail Ahern (The Extraordinarily Talented and Beautiful Abigail Ahern. Her dark, inky color palette and trendsetting ways have made her a favorite internationally.)

My open kitchen shelving: featuring Grandmama Kathleen O'Connor's teapot, Donna Hay cookbooks, vintage glassware, and Limoges tureen.

"Those who have traveled can layer looks and it's authentic because our eyes have filed away what we have seen. People get stuck in a formula of what they are told it should be. Be brave and play out what you have seen. I immediately can tell if someone is well-traveled by their home. It isn't necessarily that there is a Scandinavian or French influence. It's that they layer their experiences in their design." Jamie Parker, Feather & Nest, The Aloha Room, Kauai

My kitchen: featuring subway tile, onyx island, antique berry basket, vintage Italian pendant light, and Carrie Geraci art.

"One of my most favorite things to do in life, is travel. And I find that that is the time that I become most inspired. From the moment the plane takes off, my car hits the open road, or our boat is completely out on the open water, I come alive. The world starts to come into focus. The challenges I face, my dreams, my fears and my spirituality, my wonder all come into perspective and begin to align, and I feel free. Completely, 100% free. That energy, when I harness it, is powerful. It allows me to design with authenticity. It allows my innate passion to come alive through my fingers and give me the patience and freedom to allow the pieces to come alive in my hands." -Heather Nashelle of Nashelle

Dated alcove that I transformed to open shelving: featuring vintage books and pronghorn antlers.

"How travel has affected my design has a lot it do with filling up my senses. The sights, sounds, flavors, textures; I bring back those sensations and layer them in my home. Each experience or feeling that I create at home then reminds me of where I was and what it felt like to be there. I recall the architecture, the tastes, the art, the wine, the human connection, or the textiles." -Kristen Meckem

My family and dining room: featuring Cellula chandelier (German made with Swarovski crystals), Marimekko and Amy Butler fabrics, Joel Dewberry fabric, mid century credenza, antique mirrors and antique Irish candlesticks.

"If you don't get out of your locale, you are doing yourself and your clients a disservice. Travel reminds me that I'm full of creativity. That there's no end to the ideas. It gives me the courage to always be bold." -Stacey Nyman, Stacey Nyman Design

My bar featuring vintage ice buckets, open shelving, Marimekko pillows, Tuuli Designs, antique English pulls, antique oil painting, Waterford and vintage crystal, and radiometer.

"My travels to different tropical beaches have inspired me to create several pillows, pulling things in that remind me of the beach and the different blues and greens of the ocean. Travels to Europe and Finland have inspired my use of vintage fabric in my pillow designs. Also my love for Marimekko fabric comes from my connection with Finland."  -Sheryl Patokoski Bryant of Tuuli Design Co

 

Seize the day... travel the world.