Frith Barbat
green, gorgeous interiors

Barbat Design

Websites:

• http://www.barbatdesign.com

If you're living a low-impact life, eating organically, limiting driving and such, it's easy to extend your eco-consciousness to your home. I am an interior designer with a passion for earth-friendly, budget-conscious interiors. I'm thrilled when I hear from someone that they've just realized their entire house can be an avenue for low-impact living! Whatever your walk of life, whatever your budget, I'm happy to work with you to create a green and gorgeous remodel or redesign.

I share information about renewable and low-toxic materials and finishes so that you can make kinder, more informed choices. I will not dictate style to you. Rather, I help you uncover and define your likes and dislikes, so you know the language to use when searching on-line or talking to retailers. I share my sources so that you don't need to pay me to go shopping on your behalf (although I LOVE to do this!).

I'm adept at editing and culling and designing on the fly. If you visit my website you'll see how I can take an orange ceiling and turn it into an asset! This speedy, make-do approach can be very rewarding if you're looking for maximum effect with a minimum budget. Working with me is fun because I'm down-to-earth, approachable, and love interacting with people.

If you are looking for ways to make your home, however large or small, more beautiful and more functional, I'd love to hear from you. If you aspire to do this without placing an undue burden on other people or the ecosystem, you are one of the people who inspire my work!

My real talent is finding the magic element that pulls colors, objects, furnishings, and textures together to form a cohesive space. Often this magic element is the perfect fabric; sometimes it's an unexpected wall color, piece of artwork or area rug.

My clients enjoy working with me because I'm easy-going and great at working around limitations - limited budgets, space, time, or wanting to hang on to things that really seem unworkable. I can make just about any interior work!

I encourage clients to keep and reuse the things they love - these may not be items I'd chose, but I enjoy the challenge of integrating the old and the new, to create a space that really resonates with the occupants.

More clients and readers of my blog: http://hana-moyou.blogspot.com/ Leave comments - I'd love to hear from you.

Dip. Arts (Interior Design), Bellevue Community College, 2002

Sophia University (Jochi, Tokyo, Japan) - exchange student 1986

BA (Japanese & Liguistics), Queensland Universtiy, Australia 1985

I came to interior design circuitously, working in Australia, Japan (I speak, read and write Japanese) and all over the USA, in fields ranging from holistic health, hospitality and entertainment, to antiques, writing and teaching. Every place I have lived has presented unique opportunities to explore the ways in which people nest, and this lead to my great interest in architecture, and my eventual choice of interior design as a career.

I love being self-employed, as this gives me the flexibility to care for my own family as well as my clients', and working from home is as low-impact as it gets! My husband, Rob Harrison (www.harrisonarchitects.com) is a long-time green architect, and I work with him occasionally as well. His is a firm that recognizes the combined power of architecture and interior design in how we experience a space. I believe that this is best way to create vibrant spaces that nurture and reflect our best selves.