By: STEPHANIE DAVIS SMITH
Kelly Wearstler’s sixth book is a must-have volume of coastal va-va voom.
Kelly Wearstler may be known for her Zen California vibes, but she’s got a fierce coastal style that can’t help but to resonate with South Floridians. That’s why Miami’s chic set is clamoring to get their hands on her new book with Rizzoli, Synchronicity, out this September.
It’s Wearstler’s sixth book; a chockablock with her latest residential and hospitality interiors available on preorder on her website. This new tome won’t disappoint, with never-before-photographed interiors and seven recent projects spanning hospitality and residential realms. The idea behind the title Synchronicity is to “explore each nuanced detail and how they work together to create something monumental, a cohesive work born from synchronicity,” according to her team.
Among many bold looks in this book, in an incredibly valiant move the designer introduces wood paneling back into the trend-sphere. However, Wearstler has done it with panache. Her modernization of the once drab 1970s wood paneling is quite an achievement in many of the projects in this book. Somehow, she manages to make it all sexy and sophisticated once again.
Firing a client’s senses is at the center of Wearstler’s design approach. Nothing is traditional. Nothing is expected, dull, or even status quo. Vintage feels modern. Historical references take on new elan.
The reader is left feeling inspired to break norms, try something new, and place furniture in unexpected places while still making them symmetrical. Wearstler is almost daring us to step into a new design era. There’s always a talking piece or a statement maker in every Wearstler decor stamp. This means your eye is at once utterly calm in her poetic spaces but also excited by one or two special somethings. Take a low-to-the-ground cocktail table shaped like a little tush in the Santa Monica Proper Hotel lobby. In Synchronicity, she reveals insider glimpses into that dynamic new property and its sister hotels in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.
In the downtown Los Angeles Proper hotel project, she crafted an adobe-esque, modern Mexican aura. Her signature pattern play here takes on a bohemian affection evident in furnishings and textures. Again, she places seating that looks like pieces of art and plant choices that are sculptural and unexpected. Wearstler brings in the hues of Spain, Portugal, and Mexico and vibrant walls with colorful plants and animals seemingly jumping off the walls. Oversized, Seuss-like cactuses paired with vaulted ceilings greet guests upon arrival. Undoubtedly, any of these styles would feel right at home in Florida.
But the range of images in Synchronicity reveals Wearstler can do sleek and monochromatic as quickly as bold and colorful. She shows that off in several beach house projects featured. Unusually shaped pieces sometimes look like they are melting into the floor. The breadth of projects proves this talented designer can move from fervent color to neutral heavy with aplomb. But are we even surprised? After nearly 30 years in the industry, Wearstler continues modernizing, reinventing, and pushing the envelope. Her latest book is another example of her skillset.
