For the second year in a row, I am honored to be selected- along with four amazing design colleagues from New York, Atlanta, Sacramento and Austin- as one of Silestone’s “Trendspotters”. The whole gang was blessed with the opportunity to be whisked off to Spain for an adventurous week. Nothing like being immersed in a vibrant new culture to get the creative juices flowing.
It was a week full of inspiration and some powerful trend statements- melding both past and present.
First stop was beautiful Barcelona where we spent 2 days exploring the town and taking in the sights. As is every single time that I visit this gorgeous city, I was blown away by the architecture and it’s timeless and seamless entry into the modern world. I found classic, modern- day inspiration around every corner…
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Greek Key staircases within The Hotel Catedral in Almeria, the architectural splendor of ceiling details of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, Spanish tile mania spied within an historic building-now a cafe near the beach in Barcelona (Love the colorful mix!) and simply the breathtaking views of the city.
Architecture even came to life in the sand! Spotted this elaborate replica of La Sagrada Familia as a sand castle on the beach in Barcelona.
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Between the trend and style spotting my fabulous cohorts and I had a lot of fun and giggles. We managed to take a fair amount of selflies and group shots along the way. This is one of my favorite group snapshots from the trip as the backdrop of the amazing historic architecture was simply stunning.
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The pic was caught at precisely the right moment with the natural illumination of a gorgeous sunset on the rooftop of this Moorish castle alive with Art Nouveau influences and touches within.
Sitting halfway up a mountain overlooking Barcelona, it is now the home of El Asador de Aranda- a fabled restaurant known for its Castilian cooking. The building has a “modernist” feel throughout the interior that enhances my intrigue, obviously, with the melding of the old and the new.
(Side note–I especially love this picture because the handsome guy standing behind me is my son, Alex, who met us with a quick flight from his hometown of Berlin. This made the trip for me all that much more special. Huge thanks to everyone for welcoming him with open arms!)
After bidding adios to Barcelona, we spent two days at the Cosentino global headquarter’s in Macael for exploration and inspiration into our designs for the “Designer Series” of color. We were able to view the first prototypes of our new Silestone Color Series which the product development team based off of our initial creative meetings in New York City a couple of months ago. It was exciting and rewarding to see our colorful designs coming to life. The final reveal will be in January 2015 at The Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (#KBIS) in Las Vegas. Exciting stuff!
Easy to “spot” us, yes? #orangevestsderigueur
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At the end of our trip while back in Barcelona, I was filmed sharing my latest thoughts on color and design trends amidst the color and excitement of one of my fave markets in the world…La Boqueria.
I was so energized by the buzz of all of my surroundings!
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There was inspiration in all of our travels… included one of my favorites here. Spotted this amazing sphere of light in a Spanish courtyard in Almeria.
Love Modern Art in unexpected historic locales!
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Oh… the memories of Spain collaborating with my fellow Silestone trendspotters… Miss all y’all Kim, Courtney, Kerrie, Patty and Mark! And Nicole and Lorenzo too!
See you soon!
xx, Julia
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