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“Which product serves what purpose,” says Catherine Williamson, presenting her motto for great design.
To Catherine—founder of the lifestyle brand Beginning in the Middle—purpose is a combination of aesthetics and functionality. And it’s that combination that she focuses on when selecting every element in her rooms.
The best designers focus on purpose in order to create spaces that function effectively for their clients. For example, kitchens need to be organized to accommodate natural workflow and their surfaces need to be food safe and durable. But beyond these practical concerns, there’s an aesthetic purpose for each element in a kitchen. An island with a dark granite countertop creates a level of formality in a classic revival inspired kitchen. A brightly flecked terrazzo countertop adds verve to a kitchen designed to create a sense of unexpected optimism. Both serve the function of a countertop, but each presents a very different aesthetic purpose.
A great example of Catherine’s focus on purpose is the styling of Hotel Plaas’ coziest bedroom. She needed a window treatment solution that served her hotel guests’ primary needs—light control and privacy—but also elevated the Victorian home’s décor.
“We decided the drapery and the Roman shades as our blackout option,” says Catherine. “For the supplemental light filtering option, we did that as a solar shade so the light gives off softness throughout the day.”
It’s clear that in Catherine’s designs, function and aesthetics are not separate.
In that cozy hotel bedroom, the Graber Roman Shades do two jobs: they block the light and bring beautiful fabric into the room design. The solar shades in the room don’t just provide privacy and light protection, they also capture sunlight and create a soft white glow—an elegant touch provided by the specially woven solar shade fabric.
In the hotel’s Parisian-inspired room, Catherine contrasts the vertical lines of Graber Custom Drapery with the curves of a bean-shaped green sofa. And in the third-floor restorative retreat suite, the light-filtering drapery’s linear vertical pattern contrasts with the organic shapes of the rug and the small sculptural elements placed throughout the room. The sunlight coming through the drapery fabric is transformed into a soft glow.
“We did an inverted pinch pleat on the top,” says Catherine about the room’s drapery. “It brings the whole room together.”
Working directly with a Graber dealer allowed Catherine to find exactly the right window treatment to fit the purpose she envisioned for each window. Plus, the broad range of Graber fabric options and window-treatment designs made it easy to find the perfect solutions.
For an interior designer like Catherine, that means the only limit is her imagination.
Feeling inspired? Find a dealer here.
