Sculptor-turned-designer of housewares and interiors Laura Kirar fuses elegant comfort with the timelessness of fine art, vintage furniture and great architecture.
Kirar is the founder of the New York City design firm TRU Design and product licensing company LKDL Miami, which has produced pieces for the likes of Kohler, Kallista, McGuire Furniture and Boyd Lighting. She recently visited Denver to talk about her Baker Furniture collection. The Denver Post caught up with the trend-setter after her trip to glean a few ideas about how her classic aesthetic works with Colorado’s easygoing lifestyle.
Talk about your early relationship with design? Was there an event or experience that convinced you this was your calling?
I would say it was a gradual influence for me. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago, and my focus was really on sculpture. During that time I got very interested in architectural design and decided to take some drafting classes. Simultaneously I was working in metal structure, and a lot of my pieces became illuminated. These started to turn into floor lamps. So it was sort of a gradual transition from fine art to more functional art.
Describe your approach to your work.
The client is really key. The common threads in every single project I do are luxurious materials and details. I see every element in the room as something the client is going to physically interact with, so it’s really about how the client feels in that space.
Every project is a little different based on what the client’s needs are. Some homes are really about entertaining. Other homes are really about family.
Here’s a good example: I worked on this rather large family estate in New Jersey. The house itself was traditional, but the client was not. She was a city girl who moved out to the country with her two young boys and a third on the way. She got this house and thought the whole area was so traditional and horsy and it wasn’t her at all. (Her house needed) to reflect some sort of cosmopolitan point of view.
One of my favorite rooms that we did for her is this screened sun porch. The walls are a really beautiful sage green, then we placed a 1930s faux bamboo lounge and settee in there. It has little hand-painted medallions, and it really is fabulous.
Let’s talk trends. Where are we coming from, and where are we going?
It’s no surprise that we’re having a big color trend right now. Lots of over-the-top color.
I really think interior design is very much like fashion in the sense that there’s always a reaction to an action. And since we’ve just come off 10 years of white spaces and primitive modern stuff, now the reaction to that, and what people are looking for, are things that are more flamboyant and juicy.
Share some of your impressions of Colorado design.
I’m somewhat familiar with Colorado because my husband grew up there, and his mother is still there. His name is Richard Frazier, and he has been in the furniture and antiques business for 30 years. He’s working with me now as director of new business development for my company. But actually one of his first business partners was (the Denver antiques dealer) Eron Johnson.
Traditionally when people think of Denver they think of rustic furniture and antlers. But what they’re doing at design showrooms like Baker and Town is much more clean and eclectic and modern. It would feel fresh and new anywhere but particularly in Denver. (That look) really creates a beautiful canvas for people to bring in the occasional antique or antler.
Visit Laura Kirar’s Baker Furniture collection at the Baker and Town showrooms at the Denver Design District, or surf over to to see a full range of her products and interiors.
