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At Home with Jenny Kakoudakis

Award winning blogger Jenny Kakoudakis speaks to us about colour, art, interior design and why green is the colour to covet this year.

By Rise Art | 19 Jun 2017

It's safe to say that Jenny Kakoudakis knows a thing or two about colour. This interior stylist and award winning blogger spends her days writing about the latest interior design trends, and offering her readers plenty of tips and tricks on how best to light up their home (and their lives) with a splash of colour. She has a bit of a thing for art (no wonder we like her so much...) and we were pretty excited when she let us pick her brain about all things art and interiors. We invited her to curate her own collection on Rise Art, so read on for her top tips, and to find out why green is the colour to covet right now.

 

Photography by Anna Batchelor

 

Tell us about you & what you do

I am Jenny Kakoudakis and I am an interiors stylist managing the award winning blog Seasons in Colour.  Although my background is in legal - I trained as a lawyer and currently work full time in the financial services industry - I stumbled into the world of interiors during the purchase and decoration of our first home. Architecture, interior design and even styling are all very creative, and as a creative person myself, researching and subsequently starting to share my views around this subject made real sense to me. Somehow, people liked to read my posts and the blog gained in popularity which has been fantastic.

 

What inspires you in your work and life?

I get a lot of inspiration from my travels, nature and also advertisements! Branding, logos and tongue in cheek ads all play a role in how I style my home. While some people are drawn to the moody, monochromatic palette of the Scandinavians, I feel more comfortable around saturated colours and I think TV and movies have played a role in that.

 

Photography by Anna Batchelor

 

Is art & design important to you and why?

My academic training is very classical, as I studied History of Art back in the day. I also love free hand drawing, and would often draw ancient greek temples during my school days. Having visited various archeological sites around Greece - where I originate from - and studied the intricacies of Greek design over the centuries, I feel it is part of my heritage. Art is a great talking point and I often use it to break the ice when I meet new people.

 

How integral do you think art is to interior design?

Art definitely influences interiors. One of the most recent examples this year was the David Hockney exhibition at Tate Britain. Immediately before and after the exhibition, all interiors magazines had features on how to use Hockney's colour schemes and bring colour blocking into a space. I also had a feature on this on my blog and it was one of my most creative posts. It was only whilst researching for this post that I realised just how interconnected art and interior design are.

 

Dawn by Gosia Poraj

 

Do you collect art or anything else? If so what do you collect, and when and how did you start?

I started collecting street art around 2007. Banksy was out of reach for me at the time, so I invested in Dolk, Zeus and similar artists that used their art to send messages. I like that street art can be tongue in cheek or humorous even. Some of the pieces I have bought have increased in price, so the investment was worth it.

 

Artwork: Morpho by Louise McNaught, £80

Photography by Anna Batchelor

 

Have online art galleries changed the way you discover and buy art?

Absolutely. I do visit art fairs annually to get inspiration and meet some of the artists themselves, but when it comes to choosing, I like taking my time and even playing around with superimposing art over photos of my home to see how it would fit in situ. Of course, the concept of renting art has also come along, which is great if you want to live with a picture for a while before making the significant investment of buying it.

 

Where's your favourite place to travel to?

I am originally from Greece and I genuinely enjoy going back home, especially during the summer months. I love the contrast that Greece has to offer: blue and green, sea and mountain, sometimes all in the same place. It is all very familiar, and it is home.

 

Photography by Anna Batchelor

 

What do you surround yourself with at work or at home?

My work environment is very sterile, impersonal. My home office on the other hand is full of personality, from bold accent walls and murals, to the art that I have collected over time. It is a creative place that keep me motivated and inspired. Blogging is all about staying creative, and because it is such a lone hobby, sometimes it is easy to lose your motivation or get 'writer's block'. Having a tidy desk and magazines close by always helps with my inspiration!

 

Favourite inpirational quote?

"Do one thing every day that scares you" - Eleanor Roosevelt. It reminds me to step out of my comfort zone every now and then and try something new.

 

Photography by Anna Batchelor

 

Do you Instagram or Pinterest? Who do you follow?

Both are really integral to my blog but are incredibly time consuming so I have to be really smart about how I work with them. I like to mix up who I follow - not just interiors bloggers and companies but also sources of inspiration for photography, flat lays, and quotes.

On Instagram specifically I enjoy those who show dedication and consistency in their feed with a certain style of photography, like My Paradissi, who work with minimalistic interiors and black and white colour schemes. To stay on top of interiors trends I follow designer feeds like Sophie Ashby, Em Henderson, and Studio McGee to name a few.

 

 

Are there any interior design trends you've spotted emerging in 2017?

There are so many trends coming out that it's sometimes hard to follow them all. With summer approaching, everyone is feeling more relaxed and in tune with nature so the botanical and neo-bohemian trends are currently picking up. In terms of colours, Green is a strong colour to have and worth investing in. It is also the colour on which my curated Rise Art collection is based, and this has to do with my own home colours and background. Green is relaxing to have around but it also has an element of surprise to it. Combined with dark walls it really pops out, working well with geometric patterns.

 

Jenny Kakoudakis' Top 5 Rise Art Picks

1 Brit Pond, Stella Kapezanou

£2,300

It's obviously a summer scene and always makes me wonder - what is this woman looking at? Has she just arrived and is looking for her friends? Has she packed up and is ready to go home and looking for her kids to come back from play (possibly losing her patience with them)? I love the vivid colours in it.

 

2 My Personal Space, Lucie Jirku

£250

I have recently developed a crush on pink and red, and this composition is right up my street with its bold colours and colour blocking.

 

3 One World, One Dream, Cai Yuan

Hurray, I can see Greece (in purple, top left). Not only is this picture a rainbow of colours, it also one that will invite a long stare as you try to identify countries.

 

4 Still LifeDaniela Schweineberg

£620

Abstract Art is great if your interiors are on the contemporary side, and this particular piece is spot on trend. If you're styling with abstract art, go for something large in size or consider hanging three similarly sized pictures as a triptych on the same wall.

 

5 The Wait, Tommy Clarke

Clarke's aerial photos are whimsical. Capturing pictures from that high up makes you see everything from a completely different perspective. The colours in this one are relaxing; another great summer scene!

 

Seasons in Colour | Guest Curator Collection

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