Asia, Europe still fascinate interior designers

Maria Endah Hulupi The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Asia has long been known for its exotic ornaments while Europe has been famous for its glamor. Both continents have inspired American designer Thomas B. Elliot and noted Indonesian designer Jaya Ibrahim in their respective creations for the Elite Grahacipta interior design showroom.

Their creations were recently displayed for the showroom's 25th anniversary commemoration at Elite's newly renovated head office on Jl. Kyai Maja No. 6, South Jakarta.

Elliot's modern Asian design is entitled "The Richness of Monotones". For the theme, the designer chose different hues in brown.

"The concept is to work in various brown colors. We explored that as much as we can with a little accent," he said.

Elliot wanted to invite the public to witness the beautiful range of tones in brown and the richness of wood and its different grain patterns and finishing colors. All were blended to provide visual support for the theme.

He used wooden furniture with beautiful woodgrain finishing as a contrast and blended them with mostly soft-toned upholstery fabrics.

He also used a lot of dark carpets so they would stand out and their edges would give a little definition and more richness to the room.

Although he chose to use American beds and Spanish tables for the furniture, the Asian nuances were still obvious with the use of lithographs from Thailand and a little Chinese kimono, all were framed and hung as wall decorations. There were also several traditional honey-colored woven baskets for dim sum, placed at several corners as light ornaments.

Natural silks were also hung on the ceiling to separate each section on the same floor but Elliot said that such a technique can also be adopted in real houses as an interesting divider.

"I also do the same for my own house," said the designer who also did the interior architecture of Elite's head office.

Jaya created "A Journey from Earthly Asia to Exotic Europe" which emphasized on the aesthetic blend between Asian and European elements. The creation emanated grand and glamorous ambience.

"Like many Europeans fascinated by Asian items, European furniture is also exotic for locals," he said, explaining the reason for choosing the theme.

Jaya accentuated on colors to support the theme and used mainly dark red, white and gold to accompany a beautiful collection of antique jade and several 14th century celadon dishes from Sukhothai, Thailand. Both collections were hung as wall ornaments.

"For the Chinese, Jade represents eternity," he said.

He also embellished a wall with an Arabian carved wooden panel that, when looked at closely, also possesses traces of Chinese influence.

"It impresses me to know there is an object found in a region but later turned out to have originated from another region," Jaya said.

His dining room creation was embellished with a Persian carpet and a Baccarat hanging crystal light. This particular room was a transition between the dominant dark red bedroom in one section to the mostly white and gold section in the other.

Local items used in his design include huge terracotta pots from Banten and several urn-like objects (used for storing sirih) from Aceh. The latter were arranged in line and each were decorated with several pineapples on top of it.

For the ornamental fabrics, Jaya chose mostly neutral colors, like white silk from India and a yellow silk from Thailand because his design in general was already "colorful".

Both Elliot and Jaya beautified their design with elegant cloths, created by noted cloth maker and designer Baron Manangsang.

"I asked Baron how could he create a piece of cloth that matches perfectly my design. Then I took this one," Jaya laughed, pointing his finger at an elegant soft-toned cloth, thrown over a chaise lounge.

Lighting for both designers were created by lighting consultant Hadi Komara, whose magical touch managed to create a cozy atmosphere and highlight aesthetic elements in both interior designs.

However, to radiate a little festivity for the occasion, Jaya also lighted candles in every room.

"I like to have two kinds of lighting; ordinary lights as they radiate constant beams of light and candles because they give a luminescent glow," he said.