Hello lovely Home-Owners,
Welcome to the next edition of DECOR DIALOGUES - Presenting, rendezvous with interesting, creative and immensely talented individuals from the world of Decor - Architects, Interior Designers, Decor Stylists, Textile Designers, Artists, Product Designers and all those wonderful people associated with everything Home-N-Interiors!
Here you'll get to know more about creative professionals, their trademark designs and projects, their peeves if you will 😜, their modus operandi and also great tips on emerging and in-trend design bytes.
Our guest today has an astute sense of aesthetics and is an ardent lover of all things vintage. She leads and manages a huge community of decor lovers, is an avid blogger and all this, while being a successful interior designer and decor stylist!
It gives me great pleasure to host on DECOR DIALOGUES,
the lovely Sharon Colaco DSouza - Interior Designer and Decor Stylist.
Interior Designer & Décor Stylist
Sharon DSouza
Sharon DSouza
Sharon Dsouza in her own words is a self-taught Interior Designer and Décor Stylist with the background of a post graduate degree in marketing.
A love for all things decor and an eye for the "little things" inspired her to take up her passion. She designs and styles home interiors, leads and manages her beautiful Decor blog - TheKeybunch and a large decor community called Decor Drama with an impressive following of decor lovers on both Instagram and Facebook.
A firm believer of connecting with and understanding her clients, Sharon takes pleasure in delivering their dreams through her custom designs, clean styling and precise execution.
A love for all things decor and an eye for the "little things" inspired her to take up her passion. She designs and styles home interiors, leads and manages her beautiful Decor blog - TheKeybunch and a large decor community called Decor Drama with an impressive following of decor lovers on both Instagram and Facebook.
A firm believer of connecting with and understanding her clients, Sharon takes pleasure in delivering their dreams through her custom designs, clean styling and precise execution.
Here is a glimpse of some beautiful spaces created by her...
Clean lines, cheerful colors and a wall of memories - Lovely!
Eclectic collage of tiles on a sunny door, niche details picked out in royal blue - Simply wow!
The gorgeous stenciled pattern behind the headboard steals the show - Really chic!
Some beautiful eye-catching vignettes styled by Sharon...
You can know more about Sharon DSouza and her work,
Website: www.thekeybunch.com
Twitter:@decorblogger
Email: thekeybunch@gmail.com
1) Tell us a little about yourself beyond your resume, maybe something about your personal background, family, hobbies, passion, quirks...
Sharon Says: I grew up in Mangalore where there were traditional Indo-western and colonial homes at the turn of every corner, old school buildings and chapels, and antiques in every house I visited. My love for old architecture, design and décor is because of these years. My grandparents and parents both played a huge role in helping me form deep opinions about good and bad design. My hobbies have always been reading and writing, and somehow it has all come together beautifully now as I write for and collaborate with décor brands for their social media as well as web content, and do a lot of styling shoots for their Pinterest pages.
People may not know that I have been formally trained in western music, and I sometimes play my own background music for my home decorating videos.
2) Name one or more projects that you are proud of or that is close to your heart and why.
Sharon Says: I have styled many homes, but I have only done one turnkey project, for a senior citizen couple based in Chennai. It was close to my heart because of the warmth and love I received from them, and also because it was wonderful to see so many ideas and plans come alive both architecturally and aesthetically!
3) What would you say is your signature style – any particular design element/material?
Sharon Says: Yes Рvintage in a modern setting is my style Рand I find that almost every styled picture I have has vintage elements in them! I also like living d̩cor, and this year I am focusing on minimal but stunning aesthetics, in mostly neutrals because this is exciting me a great deal.
4) How important do you consider it to be – an Architect/ Designer - Client relationship? Also tell us what would be your vision of an ideal client?
Sharon Says: An ideal client should approach me on the basis of my past body of work, or my styling pics on my Instagram page, because just going through them will help them realize if I am the right person for their home or not. Secondly, I love it when clients bring out their old stuff, pieces from their early childhood, or things inherited and ask me to weave my styling around them. This is really my forte and such projects are usually my best projects – with both the client and me giddily happy at the end of it.
Yes – the client-designer relationship is a tricky one, but it helps if you can be honest with each other and call a spade a spade when you communicate. A lot of give and take is also required as designers can’t expect everything to go just the way they envisioned!
5) Do you consider designing small spaces a challenge? Pl share some tips on the same.
Sharon Says: I think small places are easier because you know there is only so much that will fit in. Also, many people go vertical with small spaces, trying to maximize wall space. I think that's a huge mistake, because you are making the room look even smaller. Built in storage under couches, beds, and tables, or if there is a wardrobe, then floor to ceiling on one wall only, work well! I advocate the use of mirrors, light and breezy fabrics, whites or creams, a pop of lemon or peach because these colours have a translucent affect and we tend to believe a space is bigger.
6) Do share some goof-ups, candid moments or anecdotes you may have encountered while you were doing a project.
Sharon Says: Goof up – which will haunt me forever is when I had outsourced a tiling project to a local contractor. He had done the bathroom tiles perfectly, but when it came to the kitchen, he brought in his own tiling guy, and the tiling work was slipshod! We were all left wondering how the guy who had done such a good job, had messed up so badly, and it all came to light a few days later. The client was livid, but after much discussion, they decided to leave the tiling as it is. It still gives me the creeps because whenever I think of their kitchen, I imagine them having to live with those awfully laid tiles day after day!
I learnt so much from
that incident, and happily now, such goof ups never happen!
7) Please share some insights on some latest design trends in the home décor scene.
Sharon Says: I am seeing a lot of handmade, and printed tiles coming back, and I am so excited because it automatically elevates the home to a new level. I think its minimal in most other areas – wall textures, upholstery and furniture styles. Organic or sustainable materials are definitely in. The kitchen is being used more, and there is a great deal of interest in keeping it organized and functional, yet stunning! Gardens and landscapes are gaining importance, and its lovely when people want greenery to be worked into the plans right from the beginning.
And now it's time for some...
🔥 Rapid Fire 🔥
1) Favorite color: Currently Blue
2) Favorite designer/architect: Benny Kuriakose
3) Favorite artist/musician: U2
4) Favorite book: The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
5) Favorite Instagram handle: @storybookstyle a series of flatlays done around books
6) Favorite food: Anything Middle-Eastern
7) Favorite holiday destination: Goa - as it has architecture for me and the beach for my beach bumming family!
I am sure you folks enjoyed this tête-a-tête with Sharon, learning about her creative nuances and also gaining helpful and rather interesting tips on home decor.
I am extremely delighted to have hosted Sharon DSouza on DECOR DIALOGUES!
While she has quite a few feathers in her cap, here's wishing her many more!
Till later,
Beautiful homes, Happy Homes!
Note: All image credits in this post - The Keybunch Blog
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#DecorDialogues Series:
1) Relax-N-Rave presents #DecorDialogues
2) #DecorDialogues with Architect Siddharth Shirur
3) #DecorDialogues with Interior Designer & Decor Stylist Sharon DSouza
Architects, Interior Designers and folks from the Decor industry may connect with me for collaborations: relaxnrave@gmail.com
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