Interior Design
Using Kenn Shui in interior design will take your experience to the next level. So whether you’re designing for a home or office, restaurant or hotel, retirement home or hospital, law firm or daycare center, using psychology when making your selections enhances the desired experience.
From Traditional To Modern, Contemporary To Rustic, And Everything In Between
Carefully selected colors, textures, shapes, and scales can relax or stimulate, provoke hunger or thirst, and even influence someone to extend their stay or shorten their original plans.
Making proper psychological choices can increase business, enhance sleep, reduce depression, help one heal faster, and even increase the feeling of security.
As time goes on, I will continue to discuss the tried-and-true lessons I’ve learned after more than 35 years in business.
The Kenn Shui Difference
Discipline in design is essential to the overall feeling of a space. Choosing colors you like only sometimes equates to creating an area you enjoy. Using the Kenn Shui principles, based on proven psychological studies, will help enhance your surroundings and assist you in fulfilling your desired outcome.
There’s a time and a place for dramatic textures in most situations. However, one must avoid adding excitement or drama in an area dedicated to relaxation or sleep.
When a desirable exterior space is evident from an interior area, one should take advantage of that connection to maximize the relationship between the two.
Whenever possible, exterior walls visible from interior spaces should match. Sometimes this means having the walls of a covered patio or back of a building different than the other sides of the building. This is only occasionally possible but, when allowed, can make a dramatic difference in the final outcome.
“When it comes to interior design, there are no problems — only challenges needing to be resolved. One of the best lessons I’ve learned is to work with the existing situation. Consider giving attention to something undesirable versus ignoring it.”
Proud Projects
This site is in no way an insult to any other design practices - including Feng Shui. However, there are some fundamental differences between Feng Shui and Kenn Shui. I admire and agree with many of their principles and that's why the title of my site is a play on words.
FAQs
Here are some of the questions I’m most often asked about my approach to interior design.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Design has always been a very spiritual experience for me. Sometimes I get a strong feeling of what the homeowner is comfortable with, and I run with it. Other times my inspiration comes from the scenery around the project, the materials in the building, the type of business taking place in the structure, or something as simple as a pillow or rug I discovered while shopping. The project speaks to me and has an energy I use as inspiration.
Does your design ability come naturally to you, or has it been through schooling?
My college education played an important role, but it came naturally to me at a very early age. I enjoyed making things more beautiful for others as well as myself. I knew my path as early as 13 years old and never veered far from that direction. College taught me a lot, but my experiences and instinct taught me more.
Do you think education is enough to make a good designer?
No, I do not. It has to be what a person lives and breathes. It has to be what makes that person get up every morning excited about the day. It has to be in their soul. I can’t count the number of “designers” I’ve met who make a living copying what they see in magazines or what they think is good design. However, many of these people are just in it for the money. Any career one enters because of money is not a career in which a person should be involved. I find it frustrating how many kitchens are poorly designed by “designers” who are not cooks. They claim to know how to make a kitchen function, but in the long run, they are just going for something more editorial.
What is the most significant mistake people make when designing a space? And can you give some examples?
Taking a theme too far, putting the wrong theme in the wrong environment, and following the latest trends.
For example: Doing a beach themed home in the middle of a desert environment.
Using very cool colors in an always cold climate or very warm colors in an always warm environment.
Doing a baby's room or young child's room too specific to the current age knowing they will outgrow the look quickly.
What do I do with furniture or shelving I'm replacing with something better? I feel like I spent a lot of money and I don't want to throw it away.
There are many options from re-purposing it in another less important area of the house or closet to donating it, selling it, or giving it to someone in need. Remember this...if you've owned something for a long time, you've gotten your money's worth. By letting it go, you open your life up to receive. This will also help you avoid accumulating useless items that only clog up your life as well as the healthy energy in a home.
Do you feel the energy in a space as soon as you enter?
YES! And sometimes I feel it from the outside before entering. I never know how to explain this because it is a gift I’ve always had. I know when a room has good energy and flow by being in the space for a short time. Sometimes I do not immediately know what is wrong with a space so I move to another area and return later from a different entry point or space.
Are you uncomfortable if a home or building has terrible energy?
Absolutely. And sometimes, it is difficult for me to focus on a conversation or event. I’ve been known to move furniture around in my friends’ and neighbors’ houses to help them feel more comfortable in their homes. They will be more comfortable if I’m more comfortable.
Can the gift of “feeling the energy” be taught?
Well, if it can, I would love to know how! That would make me happy because I know people would be able to create healthier environments for themselves. Also, designers would be able to design at a higher level. More of that would lead to a healthier world.
Contact Kenn
Let me steer you in the right direction.