Samantha Mayo became interested in interior design in her junior year at Sayville High School on Long Island. “I grew up going to antique shops in Pennsylvania and throughout New England. I had an interest and feel for furniture and accessories from different time periods,” says Mayo, now a first-semester Interior Design student.
“I used to wonder how the furnishings and pieces affected their previous owners’ lives. I thought about how to recreate the same feeling or perhaps a completely different one for another person’s life,” says Mayo.
“Now I think about the environment that furnishings belong in — how the colors will affect the perception and mood of the space,” she says about what she’s learned in Interior Design Studio I class with Prof. Phyllis Harbinger.
Her second project for this class was to explore moods and setting. “We were each assigned a different hue; mine was orange. I created a triadic color scheme for a therapy center. This is a hue that exudes a hopeful, happy and relaxing environment,” says Mayo.
“What students learn,” says Prof. Harbinger “is not only the principals and theory of color harmony, but the practical application of appropriate materials. It’s not just about the right hue or color, but making sure your texture and patterns are all aligning with the overall scheme and provide function for that particular space.”
The commercial board (above) is a triadic color harmony. That means three colors equidistant on the color wheel. The hues in an orange triadic scheme include purple and green. “We went to the Decoration and Design Building, which has interior design showrooms, to find samples of materials that would be in our respective spaces. It was fun but challenging to find the right ones for a commercial space,” says Mayo.
The project’s second board is of a residential space. “This is a master bedroom. I created a client profile of a young woman in Arizona who longed for cooler weather. Her bedroom retreat included the elements of her surroundings–the warm tones of orange, but also the cool tones of blue. Think cool ocean breezes!” says Mayo.
“Her boards were very professionally executed,” says Prof. Harbinger. “She’s coming away from this project with a better understanding of how an interior designer would work through the process of creating a color harmony.”
There’s more to come. “The interior design curriculum will help Samantha build a skill set that will enable her to understand, evaluate how to incorporate elements from various historical periods into a design that will fit the way we live today,” says Prof. Harbinger.
Mayo agrees. “Learning about color harmony and schemes will help me incorporate elements of different time periods into spaces that I’ll be designing.”