Interview With Designer Meredith Kleinman
Since establishing her own interior design and event styling studio in 2005, Meredith Kleinman has certainly made her mark in the Los Angeles design community. Her award-winning residential projects have been featured on Design Sponge and Apartment Therapy while attracting celebrity and other high-profile clients who are drawn to her creative and affordable work.
Kleinman took some time out of her schedule to talk about what inspires her – both in L.A and out:
Take Sunset: Where do you look for inspiration when you take on a new project?
Meredith Kleinman: I let the space tell me what it needs — when was it built, how it is situated in the land, if the circulation makes sense, and so I have ideas that stem from this. Then I let the client tell what they need (if they can) and who they are as people. Everything starts happening pretty fast after this.
TS: What are you biggest design and artistic influences?
MK: R.M. Schindler, Le Corbusier, anything Japanese, Tony Duquette, Giotto, Wary Meyers, William Morris, the sets on Pedro Almodovar’s films, and a thousand others.
TS: What are some easy ways to make a boring space look fun and interesting?
MK: Paint the floor, walls and ceiling all the same color – it always works!
TS: What was the most memo able project you’ve worked on?
MK: I did a job in Portland in a high rise condo where the client wanted it to have a woodsy feel. The bathrooms had no windows, so I decided to make one wall a photo mural of a forest like the kind that was popular in the 70s. So later, when we demoed the bathroom and the drywall came off, underneath on that same wall was a real photo mural of a forest — originally from the 70s when the building was built!
TS: Where do you like to hang out in LA?
MK: Neighborhoods — I like small town streets like Honolulu Ave in Montrose or Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock that haven’t crossed over yet. Restaurants — I never seem to get tired of eating all the Japanese food on Sawtelle Blvd. I’m also into old fashioned places like the H&S Bounty, Dear John’s, or Columbo’s. They’re cozy and make me feel like I’m traveling, but I’m still in L.A. I often find myself in Farmer’s Markets even when I don’t need anything. I’m obsessed with food, but that’s another post. Parks — my favorite new park is called the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Stores — I’m very fond of Lost & Found which is a cluster of little shops on Yucca.
TS: Anything fun and exciting coming up?
MK: I’m almost finished with a studio apartment in NYC, so I’m really excited to get photos of that. And I’m moving — haven’t found a house yet, but I can’t wait to find something to fix!
To see more of Meredith’s work, check out her web site.
Comments RSS You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Response to “Interview With Designer Meredith Kleinman”
Leave a Reply
Subscribe
Copyright 2009-2012 Take Sunset. Designed by Curt Ziegler.
Hi, these are excellent photos. I liked the use of contrast using the difference in materials. For example in the fuirst phiotoa bove the interior designer has created a contrast using dark painted walls and bright stone work. Also the ceiling has been kept bright for easy penetration of diffused light. To balance the bright colored ceiling a white area rug has been used. very nice work. Thanks for sharing this.