Notice Hotel Details
Il Sereno on Lake Como, Italy has high-end design inspired by Patricia Urquiola - endless creativity
Il Sereno boasts wonderful lakeside seating vignettes, and that living wall is spectacular
Don’t laugh - public bathrooms in a high-end hotel can give you great ideas; love the green marble vanity
Irwin Viner - Whenever you travel, put a fine hotel on your list, either to stay at or drop in for a visit. I promise that you’ll come away from that trip with great ideas to make your home extra special. Hotels are packed with over-the-top details in decor and amazing attention to a guest’s comfort and convenience. Steal the good ideas and bring them home with you!
First of all, it’s always important to travel. It broadens taste, gets one out of a rut and comfort zone, and exposes the traveler to new ideas. It's vital for homeowners and interior designers to get first-hand exposure to fresh ideas and decorating inspiration. It’s far better than reading the pages of a shelter magazine or browsing photos online and scouring through Instagram pages. You have to walk up to and touch a detail like a finely carved door, a beautiful set of draperies, or astounding molding.
One of the splurges I make on trips is to stay at classic 5-star hotels. One example is the Hotel Principe Di Savoia in Milan. It's a grand hotel done in simple, yet ornate "Liberty" style architecture. The interior design reflects the Lombardy warmth of the 19th century. The rooms had been decorated recently and expensively, and they contained details that made my eyes go wide.
Milan’s Hotel Principe Di Savoia had generous window treatments that profoundly influenced me
The drapes had the most fabric and interlining I've ever seen. They gave me lots of ideas for my clients. Add some sound-and-light-absorbing batting between curtain layers to provide true blackout effectiveness in a bedroom, and use this thicker covering in place of the usual sheers or roller shades. (There's nothing worse than waking up to sunlight shining in your eyes.) Make the outer curtains as full as a petticoat and add glamorous tie-backs to swag and display the fabric to maximum puffy advantage. Have the drapes just dance above the floor or slightly puddle. Extend the length up the wall as high as you can for dramatic vertical effect, adding molding above and below the window to heighten the casing, if needed.
Glamorous window treatments inspired us at Villa D’Este on Lake Como, Italy
Beautiful drapery pooling effect at J.K. Place in Rome - attention to the little details really matters
When visiting a grand hotel, notice the woodwork and molding, the marquetry in the furniture, and other details in your hotel room. Take photos and videos, make sketches. And someday you just might use some of these great hotel details in your own house. So travel broadly, stay in beautiful hotels, and notice what details draw you in; try to replicate them in your home to bring back lovely memories. I’ve added some of our hotel photos to this post so you can see what really captures my eye!
Beautiful lighted marble niches by both tub and shower for shampoo and toiletries at Claridge’s in London
Also look for home landscaping tips at hotels like Claridge’s - impressive multi-tiered planters