DESIGNERS TO KNOW: BRIGETTE ROMANEK
Romanek Design Studio, named for founder Brigette Romanek, is a full service design firm. Originally from Chicago, she moved west to LA to pursue her design career. Her business grew organically, beginning with friends calling on her to help with their homes, drawn to Romanek’s innate taste. As a self trained designer, she draws on instinct and a variety of inspirations and sources of learning. This has led to her to receive accolades such as Architectural Digest’s 2019 “AD 100” and the 2020 Elle Decor "A-List."
Romanek creates beautifully layered spaces. The longer you look, the more you see the elegant and rich details she has chosen: a perfectly streamlined light fixture, a quietly textured area rug, a paint color that is the perfect green. Each room looks absolutely inviting and absolutely comfortable however luxurious they may seem. These are art pieces made for living.
Romanek is a master of high low design, mixing inexpensive finds with rare treasures. The installation like arrangement of blue and white vessels on the image to right is made up of vases that cost between $5 and $20, according to the designer. It is not the price, but the intention that creates the quality. Together, these vases create a dazzling display on her living room coffee table.
Romanek’s designs are a true blend of disparites: new and old, hard and soft, witty and serious. She is deliberate about her integration of pieces from the past with newer pieces, avoiding major trends: trendy work sours quickly. While she is not afraid of contrast, almost all her spaces are made up of light surfaces: oak floors and cabinetry, carrara countertops, white ceramic tiles, ivory painted walls. True of all of her work is an emphasis on light and air. The contrast comes in through the finishes of furniture pieces and the interaction between different finishes.
Romanek’s sense of humor is echoed by her constant playing with the design of her own home: the large image above and the image to the left are images of the same room in her house. While she has traded out pieces, exchanging ornate crystal chandeliers for contemporary deconstructed globes, and fur rugs for flat, lightly patterned weaves, she maintains the lightness and intention. Each piece in every room could stand alone as a sculptural work. Most pieces have exaggerated proportions and lines that turn function into art.
