Table of Contents
The Interaction of Color and Texture Defines Spatial Temperament
Injecting Personal Elements Turns Space into a Statement of Identity
When we enter a space, the first thing that often touches our senses is the combination of colors. Just as Van Gogh uses bright yellow to convey passion, and Monet uses gray-purple to express tranquility, the colors in interiors similarly create emotional realms in silence. Once, while visiting a designer friend's studio, he specifically painted the walls of the discussion area in a low-saturation bean green, paired with wood-colored furniture, instantly relaxing everyone—this use of color is certainly more persuasive than merely citing research reports.
I remember when I helped a client renovate an old house last year, we spent a full two weeks on the fabric choice. Eventually, we decided on a linen blend for the curtains; this material not only has just the right translucency but also develops natural wrinkles with use, adding a sense of time to the aesthetic. Good fabric is like old tea; the more it's used, the more it reveals its unique character. One detail worth noting is that we deliberately used coarse-spun wool for the armchair, contrasting with the smooth marble coffee table creates a tactile distinction, which ironically makes the space more memorable.
At last year’s Milan exhibition, I saw a stunning transformer piece of furniture—a streamlined desk by day that unfolds into a double bed at night. This design subverts traditional understanding and validates that modern furniture is evolving from 'static display' to 'scene solutions'. When arranging a loft for a young client last year, we chose modular sofa arrangements; each step of the staircase serves as storage, this clever design gives the 32 square meter small apartment incredible practicality.
Last month I encountered an interesting case: the client insisted on placing a 2.8-meter-long corner sofa, which turned the entire living room into a sofa showroom. Later, we switched to a modular sofa combination that could be freely assembled, fulfilling the need while retaining space for movement. This lesson teaches us: furniture dimensions aren’t a mathematical problem, but a control of the rhythm of space.
In a restoration project of an old house in Suzhou, we discovered that redwood circle chairs from the Republic of China era remain solid after a century. Modern furniture may find it difficult to achieve this level, but when selecting, attention must be paid to details: whether the mortise and tenon structure of the solid wood frame is tight, whether the sofa spring system has triple reinforcements, and the smoothness of metal fittings. Once, when dismantling an Italian brand dining chair, I discovered that there were seven layers of different density foam inside the cushion—this is the secret behind the high price.
Recently, I designed an interesting height-adjustable desk for a programmer client: the table top has an embedded wireless charging module, the legs conceal a cable management system, and the side pull-out tray can hold a coffee cup. This invisible design thinking is changing the research and development direction of modern furniture. In another case, we used a growth-type desk in a children's room, which through a hydraulic adjustment mechanism can be used from age 3 to 18.
When designing a healing space for anxiety disorder patients, we creatively applied color transition therapy: the entryway is a refreshing mint green, the hallway gradually transitions to a soft egg yolk yellow, and the bedroom ultimately settles into a calming mist blue. This gradual color design, combined with variations in light, successfully alleviated the patients' tension.
In a villa project completed for an art collector last year, we boldly experimented with a collision between concrete walls and silk curtains. The rugged texture of the raw concrete accentuates the flowing sheen of the silk, this contrast highlights the artistic value of the collection. I remember when the owner first walked into the space, they exclaimed: This is the contemporary aesthetic impact I wanted!
One client insisted on hanging their grandfather's old boat paddle in the living room. We transformed it into a sconce, paired with a fishing net-patterned shade; now, this corner has become the family's most beloved nostalgic spot. True personalized design is turning memories into tactile spatial language.
In a recent high-end guesthouse project, we established a four-mode lighting system: Morning light - Noon sunshine - Dusk - Night song. Through an intelligent system connecting the window curtains' movement and the lighting color temperature, each moment has its own exclusive light and shadow narrative. Especially in night song mode, 2700K warm light at 30% brightness instantly transforms the space into a private theater.