Anda Roman creates homes with character, putting perfectly together interesting furniture, tastes, ideas, belongings and personality. She seems to have found the perfect balance between career and family life. Her compelling thoughts are a balance of elegance and positivism giving her the ability to make you feel in awe of her. Thank you Anda for taking time off your busy schedule to share your inspiring story with us.
1. I was brought up in a family where books, theatre shows and culture in general, was the main talk at the table. I remember my parents talking about art movies, about books , about theatre productions and sometimes about all the intrigues behind the scenes… We used to live in a typical communist apartment, crammed with lots of furniture, books and paintings . It was a mix of inherited antiques , remains of a lost world , with other random pieces, amongst which an ugly, green sofa.
We ( me and my sister ) learned in a german school, because my grandfather was half Austrian and it was his wish for his granddaughters to speak German. So we grew up speaking the Honterus Deutsch at home, which was a hybrid between Romanian and German…:))
My mom was pretty strict, I always was the first one to leave the parties, so eventually I got into my rebel years.
2. I discovered my love for interior design very early on, but I was not aware of it. :)) so, I went through Law school , and then another year of graduate school at University of Washington and when I returned home after a few years, film school. I had to make this loop to find myself. It is not always easy to find yourself. Sometimes the projections other make on you are stronger and you get confused…Anyway, at some point, I felt the urge to do it. I cannot explain it otherwise. I had this need of artistic expression . And this had to be expressed in interiors…
3. I love the freedom that comes with it. And the process… It consumes me day and night ..( sometimes I think about solutions in my sleep ) and it also excites me. It gives me butterflies in my stomach. It is very difficult to describe the whole process…it feeds me and it consumes me at the same time.
4. Philosophy on design ? Design has to serve a function AND it has to move you inside, to make you think, to touch you on some emotional and unconscious level.
My philosophy in life is very simple and very hard… Analyse yourself, know yourself, grow as a soul, wake up, raise your awareness, live simply (not easy at all in this world ) , be kind, be honest, be generous, love truth, love love, love art, love nature, love dogs, love gin tonic, love the sea, love dance, love time with myself, love creating things with my hands,…Something like that. 🙂 In a nutshell: what you put out , that’s what you get.
5. The design process starts every time with getting to know the client. And his needs. And expectations. So it always starts with a initial interview or discussion about his needs, his ideal home. We need to know how many people will live in that home, what their life routine is, what they expect from us, in what stage their house is. Is it ready for furniture, or is it in the making? In this case before the interior design phase , we go through another phase of reconfiguring the space, if needed ( for a good flow ) , through a lot of other technical details… It really depends on the project, but we always begin with an assessment of the current situation of the space, and with establishing together with the customer a few important things like the estimated budget, terms , desired style or atmosphere.
6. Every space is challenging my imagination. When I enter a new space that I have to work on, I experience something like stage fever…Lots of butterflies in my stomach. I have no idea why it gives me sooo much joy to see an interior flourish before my eyes…I had times in my life where I would have done it just for free.
The biggest challenge for me is the permanent switch I have to go through : from the creative vibe to the structured organiser and manager who has to encompass so many varied details of this complex business from contracts, to selecting new pieces for the store, to placing orders, to manage the workshop and the production of my own signature collection, ( and custom made pieces ), to the ongoing interior design projects with all their details , to the paperwork and legal work, to photography and styling for all this products and communicating it all in the voice of the brand’s identity. I get tired only writing about it. . The lucky part is, that I can do this things from everywhere, My last vacation I worked very well, since I had no distractions except some birds…And then, I have my team who are always there and are the best.
7. A few words about my Atelier? Anda Roman design store is a unique place with a lot of character, where I sell a very carefully curated selection of furniture, lighting, textiles ( old and new), objects of curiosity , stationary, decorations, jewellery, clothing, tableware, etc…pretty much everything that you can find in a home. But most of all I like to think about it as an agent of change. I stand for intuitive design, for out of the box combinations, for interiors that are subtle, refined , funny, unexpected , authentic, with a bizarre twist. I love the dialogue between old pieces and contemporary design. In my store you can find everything that you can imagine I would love: from exquisite gold jewellery , to 100 years old antiques, to design signed in the 70′, or in the 50’…or just last year. They all have in common this universality characteristic to really good art work. It never dies and always feels contemporary , right ?
8. Three qualities:
1. Creativity / knowledge
2. Good organiser/ project manager
3. Good taste ( !!!!! )
( I cheated, I listed 4 …:))
9. Advice:
Make a plan, research the subject well…so you are prepared for all the challenges that are to come your way. ( I did not do that…in my first years I was not aware of many, many things. I designed my own logo, my bags and all the visuals intuitively, starting from what I wanted my customers to feel when they got in touch with it . I was not even aware that this is a job that a graphic designer should do, that there IS such a thing called communication and identity of a brand, and oh, so many other aspects I did not know…) .
Try to find your own voice and please , do not open another Scandinavian vibe store. Everybody “is Scandinavian ” this days in Romania. Try to be different. Just be yourself. 🙂
10. My favourite Sunday would be sunny and no plan would be the plan…So the day would be naturally unravel… It should involve an antique fair , a coffee in the old town, maybe a gallery , or just laying in a sunny spot drawing something and listening to some jazz with the windows open, maybe wash my car myself, maybe a stroll to the flower market …or just reading in the same sunny spot. Or writing. Or just daydreaming. Or just ” dolce far niente”….
by Dana Chels
Great post!