Simplifying Fabulous

Earlier this week, I spent the morning with celebrity designer Chayse Dacoda over coffee and heard all about what she has been up to – projects, licensing deals and more! Most well known for her roles as the feisty designer on TLC’s While You Were Out and HGTV’s Get It Together, Chayse is referred to as an expert of merging styles that inspire people to live their dream every day. She can currently be seen as a guest designer on NBC’s Open House. Read our interview to get the full scoop and hear more about Chayse’s personal design style!

Robin Baron: What does fabulous mean to you?

Chayse Dacoda: Fabulous is something that brings an instant smile when words haven’t come yet, it is something that needs to be celebrated with exclamation points!! Fabulous usually involves something ordinary that has been tweaked, changed and celebrated from a different perspective.  Fabulous is a very visceral thing. The word usually rolls off my tongue unexpectedly when I can’t quite understand why I admire something or someone so much that they are – FABULOUS!!  It is something we should strive to have more of in our lives every day. Thanks for helping simplify it so that it abounds!

Chayse at one of the rug weaving villages outside of Jaipur

RB: You work in many different styles, what style hits home the most for you? No pun intended!

CD: I tend to lean towards modern and contemporary, but with touches of ethnic and splashes of color.  I also like to bring the culture of a land into an interior, with architecture wherever possible.  I am very intrigued by India lately and its vast celebration of color – in everything.

Chayse with Jason Moody, the Creative Director at Jaipur in front of a geometric design

RB: It was great talking to you about Tarkett’s iSelect flooring system and your new rug collection for Jaipur. What are your top three favorites from your Jaipur collection?

CD: As this line is still being made in India, most are not ready until the Market in Las Vegas this summer, so I may not have any favorites yet!  A few have been completed in the modern series called Geometry in Nature that are very simple designs. I think people want simple for many spaces, and these rugs combine wool and viscose (art silk in the business) to create a varied texture in the rug with colors.  Simple stripes in the Wide Grid rug are done in viscose as a fun pop of color in an otherwise neutral palette.

Some of Chayse's favorites from the Tarkett Fiberfloor collection

RB: What object in your home inspires you the most?

CD: First, I think the view of nature that I have outside every window at the moment. And second, the art I have collected from my travels in India and Greece, especially Santorini. In addition, to these is my wood-burning fireplace –  couldn’t live without it in the colder months!

RB: We both work with color all the time and color can influence so much of what we do. What is your current favorite color?

CD: At the moment it is a deep, bright, happy blue with hints of fuschia and navy blue thrown in for balance, wild and fun.  But I like all color – and all colors have a place somewhere.

RB: I’m always interested in how fellow designers are influenced by their travels, restaurants and daily life. From a design standpoint, where is your most favorite place and what is your favorite restaurant?

CD: Wow, I will have to say India.  Visiting that country has changed me forever in a wonderful way, specifically Rajasthan – either Jaipur or Udaipur. They are such gorgeous places with incredible textiles and people. Jaipur has great jewelry and The Jai Mahal Palace, which has a great restaurant. It has the most incredible flavors I have ever tasted – from breakfast to dinner under a full moon.  My second favorite restaurant is unfortunately closed now – Pil poul in Athens. It had the most magnificent roof top view of the Acropolis at night. And lastly, 1800 in Oia, Santorini – pure magic!

RB: I hear that you’ve started to do stand-up because your life is like a comedy. So is mine, maybe we should do improv together!

CD: Ha, I am not sure who decided that my life would be a walking sitcom.  If only there was a camera at all the appropriate moments to capture it. I did study improvisational comedy years ago, with The Groundlings in LA and a few other groups. I have done stand-up comedy as well, which I still dabble in at the moment!  I see humor in everything!

Joseph Ginsberg’s background and formal training in art, sculpture, color science and photography, along with two decades of technical experience and experimentation have allowed him to create with thoughtful ingenuity. Guided by color and light, he integrates the organic elements of nature with the texture of everyday life, producing unpretentious forms, at once functional, practical, and ravishing. A native-born New Yorker, Ginsberg has a multi-faceted background that transcends the boundaries of artistic disciplines, just as his canvases transcend the boundaries between art and nature. His diverse training has given him the tools for his unique creative approach. He earned degrees from FIT (textile design), the School of Visual Arts (graphic design), NYU (filmmaking), and Pratt Institute (where he studied and then taught the techniques of the many varieties of printmaking). Ginsberg has been involved with many shows both national and international, including Gallery Dauste (Hamburg), Laight Gallery and Barbara Walter Gallery (New York), Claudio Roucher (Paris), Santa Reparata Grafica d’Arte (Florence), Galleria Baldinotti (Sicily), and Fortman Studios (Florence). His work is in numerous private and corporate collections including those of Michael Jackson, Coca Cola, Christies East, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Estée Lauder, and MTV.

Robin Baron: Tell me about what you do

Joe Ginsberg: I am a fine artist, interior designer, fabricator, photographer, product designer and materials specialist.

RB: What do you love most about what you do?

JG: The freedom to explore new ideas and taking chances along the way in order to create something original.

RB: How would you describe your own home décor?

JG: Eclectic. It is a mixture of modern and traditional styles.

RB: What do you love most about your home and why?

JG: The garage. It’s peaceful, a haven for me to have quiet time when I shut the door.

RB: What is the one thing in your home that everyone comments on?

JG: The custom hand-made front door, which I designed and built myself.

RB: What do you put on your shelves? On your dresser?

JG: I use my shelves and dresser mostly to display drawings and ceramics.

RB: What does fabulous mean to you?

JG: Something that is original, intriguing, that jolts the senses in a dynamic way.

RB: Anything else really that you’d want to include about the company would be wonderful!

JG: We are a progressive, multimedia interior design firm bringing our unique approach to the projects we are involved in. As a full-service design company, we have been a source for the A&D community servicing residential, commercial and hospitality venues, as hired by the developer, architect, general contractor and home owner. Known for our specialization in custom material applications and architectural details, we have been trusted by our clients to bring originality to the projects they commissioned us for.

In 2011, we introduced Tempo Luxury Home, a unique lifestyle brand featuring hand-blown glass lighting, custom-made furniture, %100 silk rugs, art and accessories.