Introducing this week’s Designer Friday, Paige Gray, of Parker & Harlow. Gray prides herself on capturing moments through the feel of her designs, bringing warmth and homeliness to any area she touches, whether she is working in her dining room at home or thinking of new ideas while floating in the pacific! Get to know the designer below.
Andrew Joseph: Describe your design style as if you were explaining it to someone who cannot see.
Paige Gray: Take a deep breath and imagine yourself on a warm beach, toes on the edge of a soft surf with the sun on your face. The air around you and the peace within you is how good design should make you feel, and it’s the art of capturing moments like that into lasting spaces that makes my style unique.
AJ: What is the last book you read?
PG: “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle.
AJ: If you weren’t a designer, you’d be a ….?
PG: I’d love to launch an initiative that focuses on helping students looking to enter into creative, arts, and design-centered universities. It would be a space to build and curate portfolios for their submission process. The bridge of support for youth between high school and university studies is sparse for these industries, and with a little help and guided projects to showcase their own unique skills and passions, more kids would understand how to articulate their portfolios to best reflect their own creative voice.
AJ: What are three words to describe where you live?
PG: Wild, fiercely unapologetic, cathartic.
AJ: What are you most proud of?
PG: Embracing my failures as guideposts to a better self, having the courage to be vulnerable while building relationships, and using those pillars to influence more intentional choices.
AJ: What are three things you can’t live without?
PG: Family – Always near in all ways, my family grounds me in my story and sense of belonging. Yes, this includes my dogs!
Large expanses of water and trees – it gives me a much-needed sense of calm.
Home – a place to dwell, find solace, laugh, gather, and rest.
AJ: Favorite app?
PG: I’m an old soul, so admittedly don’t utilize many apps. I do however enjoy Audible. Listening to intriguing stories of how others view and interpret the world is a fantastic way to explore how I fit into it also. I have Ryan Holiday on repeat in the car these days, and always seem to learn something new that directly applies to the moment I’m in.
AJ: What’s inspiring you in life (in the industry) right now?
PG: Having things shaken up has been a liberating if not challenging process. As a whole, it has given us a new sense of community and empathy, as well as new meaning to the ways we communicate. This applies to design in the sense that the very fundamental idea of “home” has taken on new meaning. We have felt an immense shift in the ways our clients work with us by welcoming us into that space, which has been such a privilege and a joy in this new season. It is a working relationship that has influenced every step of our processes, changing the way we organize projects and integrate with our clients so that they become the center to the work we do. Design has really become so much less about us as designers and so much more about the way life has urged us all to move forward – in lifestyle, and in our homes.
AJ: What would you like to be remembered for?
PG: Radiating a contagious kind of joy that makes others see it within themselves.
AJ: What about your design style has shifted since COVID?
PG: Style is subjective, but the way I conduct business, the time I allocate and am available for my clients, the balance of life/work has all shifted for the better. As such, my workflow has shifted tremendously. Opening ourselves up more as a business, giving more time in the right ways, challenging some old patterns with fresh perspectives, and really putting our clients’ needs first has been a breath of fresh air for our productivity and mental health. The balance we’ve achieved over the past two years has become an invaluable asset to our overall company and the projects we curate.
AJ: Which room in the house do you find yourself working from the most? Why? How does this inform your thoughts about architecture?
PG: I work a lot from my home and my car. At home, my dining room is the place I nestle when I need to be productive. The energy of our large oak dining table where our family gatherings are held gives the perfect energy to be myself in the work I do. When I’m on the road, I love when I’m on a ferry and able to work while overlooking the ocean as the boat sails along to the job site. To me, architecture isn’t a “what”, it’s a “how” – how you fit into space, how it makes you feel, how connected you feel to yourself and to others. It’s no surprise to me then, that I can feel as “at home” in my own dining room as I do floating in the Pacific. Both ground me. If you’re interested in a book that dives deeper into the philosophy of architecture, “The Architecture of Happiness” is a personal favorite.
About The Designer | Paige brings her experience and education from multiple industries to Parker & Harlow Interiors. With six years of university in Industrial Design from Emily Carr University and Architecture at UBC, she continually shifts between creative platforms to offer an innovative interdisciplinary-centered approach to their bespoke interior design practice, which leads with her mother, Deb Vanderkemp. Together, their team provides an intuitive reflection of their clients’ lifestyle and vision. With a passion for transforming the holistic qualities of the coast into refined spaces that live beautifully and inspire ease, Parker & Harlow has been working in the design industry all along the coast of British Columbia for 28 years.
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