ScavulloDesign Interiors has been one of the most celebrated residential interior design studios in San Francisco for nearly 30 years. We sat down with Principal and Chief Creative Director Marysia Rybock to get her take on bones, balance and big trends coming up.
So, what’s the ScavulloDesign approach?
Our main focus is giving each individual client their own personal experience; to create their sanctuary. We don’t have a particular aesthetic that we’re pushing onto them; instead we glean a lot from how they live, their tastes, and how they want their home to feel when people walk in. Getting to know the clients is one of the most rewarding aspects of this job.
What trends are you seeing emerging lately?
We are seeing that clients want their interiors warmer and more approachable. For example: mixing up kitchen materials by using a different stone on the island versus the perimeter countertops, It’s nice to see a lot more use of textures and materials, it creates interest in a space, I’m excited about that. People want to have more emotion tied into their interiors, and not just have them decorated. Gone are the all-white, sterile feeling spaces, especially in kitchens and bathrooms.
Also, more of our clients are not going full-blown contemporary any longer. It’s exciting that they are interested in mixing traditional elements with contemporary. Here in San Francisco, we have amazing houses that have these great architectural bones. In recent projects, we keep the façade of a Victorian but the inside gets a modernized renovation. A lot of our younger clients, who we would think would go more streamlined, are actually the ones wanting more of this softness and traditionalism, which is great to see. They are appreciating the classic architectural elements.
There has been a noticeable shift in how clients are using spaces. Flexibility for entertaining is one of the biggest ones. Clients don’t do formal dining or entertaining as much as before, they like these spaces to be more flexible. We’ve turned one dining room into a library with several reading tables. It’s now used more than ever and if needed, it’s a quick push of the tables together to create a dining space. It’s exciting to be able to provide ingenuity and imaginative designs for our clients.
It seems like wellness is a word that gets thrown around a lot lately. How does that work in the context of interior design?
Wellness is very important to us – it goes way beyond just green building and LEED certification. Many of our clients have concerns about how environments are affecting their families’ overall health and well-being. Are there chemicals in the fabrics their children are lying on? Are there strong EMF emissions in the house? Are they getting fresh air into their homes? Does the lighting create scenes that are based on their circadian rhythms? These are just a few elements we work on with clients. We are creating sanctuaries for our clients, environments where they can feel safe knowing that the entire environment supports their overall wellness – body and mind.
What three words do you think encompass the biggest future trends?
Whimsy. Wellness. Timeless.
Is there a question that you hear from a developer or architect that keeps coming up time and time again?
In Northern California we are so lucky to have the temperatures we do- indoor/outdoor living spaces are always requested to be incorporated into the design.
We’ve also been hearing that people are moving away from the open concept floor plans. The spaces might not have doors or walls but they give the feeling of being in one’s own place.
What’s your favorite, timeless trend?
Beautifully scaled, quality furniture. Respecting the architecture and really looking at the scale and how furniture fits in the space and marrying it with other pieces. That’s how you can make a room really feel both timeless and comfortable.
What trend do you wish would just go away?
Brushed brass. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but it’s had its time.
And finally, what’s your dream project?
A Parisian flat. A little jewel box. There’s such beautiful architecture in that city. I would keep the traditional bones, and go in and create a contemporary kitchen and furnishings, and make it a very playful space. The scale when you walk into those flats just feels good! There’s something about those places, that even though the sizes are smaller, it works. But I love all sorts of projects. I’d love to do a rustic cabin, or a hacienda-style, too. It doesn’t have to be grand, so long as every little detail has been thought of.
Learn more about ScavulloDesign at scavullodesign.com.
