Every interior designer needs inspiration for their design work. Each interior designer has certain “go to” places where they find inspiration and creativity. This week on the Tangible Interiors blog as well as our sister website, Euroluxe Interiors, we are starting a new series on inspiration. We have reached out to several Chicago interior designers asking them how they find inspiration for their work. This week we reached out to Paul Schulman. Paul’s work has been featured in Chicago Magazine, Best of Houzz, and Oprah Magazine, just to name a few. His work is modern, stylish, and unique. You can view his work at paulschuman.com. We asked Paul to share how he finds his inspiration.

I find inspiration for my work in a number of places. Typically, clients send me Houzz ideabooks or Pinterest pages and we often use that, as well as the existing architecture in their homes, as anchor points. Because I am always working with clients who start with their own thinking, I am rarely working without a starting point. Outside of that, I get inspiration from every place I can. Clearly magazines, restaurants, and designer showrooms are places where I see what other designers are thinking and producing. In addition to that, I love to study design when I am traveling. We are in Boston and New York fairly often and I love the integrity and commitment of their design thinking. 

I’m lucky. I find everything inspiring. I am inspired by food and by legos and by brick patterns and by fashion. It’s not common that I have too much trouble working through a vision for a given project.

Paul’s mention of client ideas is key. Without a starting point, our designs will become something that does not represent our clients. By having a starting point, we are better able to create designs which delight our clients. Paul’s inspiration come from a variety of sources; from restaurants, to magazines, to showrooms, he is constantly mentally cataloguing good design ideas. We can do the same. As we visit art museums, view architecture, or go to a new restaurant, we can keep our eyes open for new ideas and inspiration.

Paul also hits on finding inspiration in everyday situations. His examples were food, legos, brick patterns, and fashion. By visiting our favorite store or going to a new restaurant, we can find many things that will inspire us. For designers in the Chicago market, we have many sources of inspiration. From new restaurants, to fashionable stores, to architecture, we can find inspiration in a variety of places in the city. By keeping our eyes open, we can be ready to capture inspiration when it comes to us. Whether it’s a walk on in the park, a shopping trip down Michigan Avenue, a day at the beach, or visit to a new art exhibit, we can find inspiration every where we look. We do not have to go far to find excellent inspiration and great design ideas.