When Andy was 19 years old, one of his aunts hired an interior designer and an art consultant. Privy to every aspect of this project, the experience left Andy forever impressed by the power of design to create rich and gratifying environments, spaces which reflect the occupant's personalities and satisfy their everyday needs.
His basic approach to design is rooted in tradition but tempered by a strong infusion of modern elements. Whichever style he chooses for a given project, his fondness for warm colors and furniture with clean lines prevails. And he firmly believes that all objects need not produce the same visual impact. "One doesn't need to love everything in a room," he muses. "If everything is so individual your eye doesn't know where to focus because pieces compete for the viewer's attention and unique and intersting objects become lost."
In short, he tends to juxtapose strong graphic elements with more passive elements, providing settings within which objects stand out sharply. For example, he might center a strongly-contoured black coffee table atop a pale rug. Or, a curvilinear French armchair might be silhouetted against a table covered in an unadorned woven cloth.
What especially excites Andy is finding the perfect balance between his clients' practical needs and their stylistic preferences. How do they spend their days? Do they entertain frequently? Do they require plenty of seating because they invite lots of friends over to watch TV? Do they serve meals buffet-style or at sit-down dinners? Do their quarters need freshening up? More punch? A bit of sexiness? Taking these considerations into account, Andy integrates them into a sound design framework which determines the choice and arrangement of furniture and object, color scheme, lighting plan, etc., each playing its characteristic role.
Andy strives to achieve balance in a space by bringing areas of greater and lesser weight into a state of equilibrium. For instance, he might include big pieces of art which provide visual weight but do not occupy valuable floor space. He also realizes that the rich heritage of antiques adds weight, thus increasing the stature of a room and altering its tone.
Andy's color palettes exude warmth and body as they interact with light to produce various expressive effects. He pays close attention to how color adjusts to ambient light as it changes throughout the day, culminating in the drama of nighttime lighting. Orchestrated pinpoint halogen recessed lighting systems on multiple circuits combine with lamps to provide both shafts and pools of interweaving light from many levels.
Window treatments amplify the qualities of light and color. For a client who entertains with afternoon teas for fund-raising events, Andy contrived to assure that the room was at its best at four in the afternoon. He used sheer wool (one of his favorite window textiles) to fashion soft Roman shades. The fabric, in concert with the late afternoon sun, provides a beautiful golden glow to the room. At night the shades create a scrim which eliminates the forbidding look of black window glass, infusing the space with warmth - both visually and psychologically.
Successfully rearranging the possessions his clients already have and wish to continue to use reveals one of Andy's greatest talents. He views the process as a mathematical equation--these are the unchangeable "givens"--the challenge becomes finding a solution that will incorporate the old with the new. For example, in one four-bedroom house, with living room, dining room, family room, and study, Andy added only four pieces of furniture--a coffee table and lounge chair in the family room, a dining room table and an antique Chinese altar table which unified the previously isolated end walls of the living room. Along with the judicious rearrangement of furniture and objects, reframing and re-hanging of picture, fresh color in fabric and paint and new lighting, the whole impression of the house was completely transformed, surprising and delighting its owners, whose reactions to their home had always been lukewarm. It is, as a matter of fact, the response of Andy Staszak's clients which gives him the greatest pleasure from his work. He is content when, after the completion of a house, his clients beam with enthusiasm, happily telling him how much they love entertaining and just living in their home.
His basic approach to design is rooted in tradition but tempered by a strong infusion of modern elements. Whichever style he chooses for a given project, his fondness for warm colors and furniture with clean lines prevails. And he firmly believes that all objects need not produce the same visual impact. "One doesn't need to love everything in a room," he muses. "If everything is so individual your eye doesn't know where to focus because pieces compete for the viewer's attention and unique and intersting objects become lost."
In short, he tends to juxtapose strong graphic elements with more passive elements, providing settings within which objects stand out sharply. For example, he might center a strongly-contoured black coffee table atop a pale rug. Or, a curvilinear French armchair might be silhouetted against a table covered in an unadorned woven cloth.
What especially excites Andy is finding the perfect balance between his clients' practical needs and their stylistic preferences. How do they spend their days? Do they entertain frequently? Do they require plenty of seating because they invite lots of friends over to watch TV? Do they serve meals buffet-style or at sit-down dinners? Do their quarters need freshening up? More punch? A bit of sexiness? Taking these considerations into account, Andy integrates them into a sound design framework which determines the choice and arrangement of furniture and object, color scheme, lighting plan, etc., each playing its characteristic role.
Andy strives to achieve balance in a space by bringing areas of greater and lesser weight into a state of equilibrium. For instance, he might include big pieces of art which provide visual weight but do not occupy valuable floor space. He also realizes that the rich heritage of antiques adds weight, thus increasing the stature of a room and altering its tone.
Andy's color palettes exude warmth and body as they interact with light to produce various expressive effects. He pays close attention to how color adjusts to ambient light as it changes throughout the day, culminating in the drama of nighttime lighting. Orchestrated pinpoint halogen recessed lighting systems on multiple circuits combine with lamps to provide both shafts and pools of interweaving light from many levels.
Window treatments amplify the qualities of light and color. For a client who entertains with afternoon teas for fund-raising events, Andy contrived to assure that the room was at its best at four in the afternoon. He used sheer wool (one of his favorite window textiles) to fashion soft Roman shades. The fabric, in concert with the late afternoon sun, provides a beautiful golden glow to the room. At night the shades create a scrim which eliminates the forbidding look of black window glass, infusing the space with warmth - both visually and psychologically.
Successfully rearranging the possessions his clients already have and wish to continue to use reveals one of Andy's greatest talents. He views the process as a mathematical equation--these are the unchangeable "givens"--the challenge becomes finding a solution that will incorporate the old with the new. For example, in one four-bedroom house, with living room, dining room, family room, and study, Andy added only four pieces of furniture--a coffee table and lounge chair in the family room, a dining room table and an antique Chinese altar table which unified the previously isolated end walls of the living room. Along with the judicious rearrangement of furniture and objects, reframing and re-hanging of picture, fresh color in fabric and paint and new lighting, the whole impression of the house was completely transformed, surprising and delighting its owners, whose reactions to their home had always been lukewarm. It is, as a matter of fact, the response of Andy Staszak's clients which gives him the greatest pleasure from his work. He is content when, after the completion of a house, his clients beam with enthusiasm, happily telling him how much they love entertaining and just living in their home.
