David Bromstad talks color and on-trend design style

HGTV Design Star winner David Bromstad talks color and design with MyFixitUpLife’s Mark and Theresa

 

Mark: See a different side of us here inside the Wellborn Cabinet booth at Design Construction week 2014.

Theresa: Yeah!

Mark: We’re here with the best in the game.

Theresa: We are.

Mark: Everybody is here.

Theresa: We’re with color master, color master.

David: Color master.

Theresa: David Bromstad, how are you darling?

David: I’m doing fantastic, how are you guys?

Theresa: I’m doing great.

Mark: We’re doing really, really well.

David: You look fantastic, both of you.

Mark: Thank you very much.

Theresa: Twenty dollars.

David: Sometimes that’s all that matters.

Theresa: You know what?  It doesn’t matter how you feel on the inside, it’s how you look on the outside that matters.

David: Duh, hello!

Theresa: Isn’t that what our parents taught us?

Mark: I’m actually hallow, so …

Theresa: He really is.  There’s nothing on, no.

Mark: There’s nothing inside, there’s no emotion, nothing.

Theresa: We just put an oil can in him every day, he’s like the Tin Man, exactly.

Mark: Now, my wife’s a designer, you’re a designer.  I’m a carpenter, I’m a contractor.

Theresa: We still love him anyway.

Mark: I know about color.  I know about knocking pieces of wood together, that kind of thing.  But I’ve spent so much time with my wife, talking about design, that I now see your wrist wear is picking up her neckwear and then you’ve got to move.

David: We’re like wonder woman.

Mark: And there’s a whole thing.  And I might …

Theresa: And you’ve got the whole

David: You’ve got something going on here too, what are you talking about?

Mark: I’ve got bling going on.

Theresa: You’re mixing you know, the little bling with the, you know, more subtle.  It’s how you do it, right?

Mark: So, when you got the memo earlier, what she was wearing, you picked up on it, because what is this on your Facebook page, and I’m glad I looked at it.  The first word is, “artist”.

David: Yes.

Mark: It’s not designer, it’s not TV guy.  It’s not super in shape guy, which I’ll talk about jealousy later.

Theresa: Yes.

David: Really look at you.  You’re in better shape than I am.

Mark: Someone gets twenty dollars sliding this way.

Theresa: All right.

David: So I am an artist, I went to art school.  You know, I knew nothing about interior design until I entered Design Star and did interior design for the first time on national television.  I had no idea what I was doing.

Mark: You went from zero to David Bromstad in

David: Apparently.

Theresa: That’s incredible.

David: I know.  I was up against all these crazy people with masters in interior design and architecture from Yale and Harvard.  I’m like, “No, what am I doing?” But I still kicked their butts.

Theresa: So, as an artist-designer, do you … When I walk into a space and I just feel what it should be, like feel what I think it should be and it is hard to describe in words at first, but you just feel it inside.  Do you feel it inside, like your soul?

David: Oh yeah.

Theresa: Do you see the textures and the colors

David: Absolutely and you know when I first started doing color splash.  Because, you know, I’m not a TV person.  I really never wanted. Not that I didn’t want to be on TV, but it wasn’t part of my plan.  So our first episode, you know we are painting the walls grey or some other color.  They are like, “Why does it look?  Why is this color good?” I’m like, “Because it’s pretty.” They were like, “No, no, no. You need to …”

Mark: Because that’s not a real answer.

David: Well because I just did it instinctively.

Theresa: Yes.

David: But being on television, now I have to start really educating myself on why the colors look great together, why this texture works with this texture.  I had to really start thinking about it.  It’s been a great education. Now I can actually talk about what I love to do and sound somewhat smart.

Mark: Did you have to go backwards inside yourself to articulate your own emotion? Emotional impact to a room?

David: I didn’t have to go backwards, I just had to move forwards.  I really had to do research.  I knew color theory from art school, but not color emotion.  Why blues make you feel calming and relaxing.  What are the holistic properties of all of this?  Why do people, why are people drawn to blues and greens more than they are any of the other colors?

So, it’s something I love being educated on and I still continue learn more about it.  The learn more about color the more I know.  It’s a huge impact.  I mean, it really is.  People, I mean every one.  Look, you wore red for a reason, power color.  You wore black for a reason.

Mark: She told me to.

David: Color is such a huge, huge thing in our lives.

Theresa: Okay, so people ask you the lame question, what is your favorite color.

David: It’s like asking you who your favorite child is.

Theresa: Okay.

David: It’s unfair.

Theresa: Yeah, it is unfair.

David: Unfair and I will not answer it.  I’m not going to answer it.

Theresa: Then the other question I imaging is a lame question, what colors should I paint my house?  Do people ask you that just walking up to you because they know you know so much about color?

David: That’s a great question.  What does your house look like?  What part of the country are you in?  What do the rest of your neighbors houses look like?  Do you have a code you have to stick to?  I am like, “Okay, now the questions.”

Theresa: But you get that question though, don’t you?

David: Always.

Theresa: So, yeah.  Blue.

David: Especially when I’m doing a presentation.  “I have brown walls and a brown couch with brown wood floors.  Why is it so brown?” Why do you think it’s too brown?

Theresa: Let’s back up a minute, okay.  You just said brown four times.

David: Exactly, exactly.

Mark: That question is so ridiculous that I might have to take a nap and then come back to the interview, this is exhausting.  Why is it brown?

Theresa: Okay, as far as like color goes too, there’s a lot of like pastels with those more navy’s and those kinds of colors.  It’s a trend, it’s on the run ways, people are talking about them in furnishings.  Is that something that you are embracing?

David: Oh I pay attention to what’s happening in fashion completely.

Theresa: Okay.

David: Because what happens in fashion trickles down into home design 100%, 100%.  I stay very cognizant of colors, patterns, textures, everything that’s happening in Paris and Milan and New York.  I try to bring that into my designs earlier, just so I’m trendy.

Mark: So can you say you have a particular clothing designer that you an affinity towards?  I’m not doing to say favorite.

David: You know I don’t look at just one. I look at them all because they are all so differ

ent and you have to take little bits and pieces because they have their own point of view. I don’t want to look at just their point of view, I want to look at the entire point of view of what is really happening.  I mean, everyone is wearing animal right now.  You know this right?

Theresa: Yes.

David: You know that’s going to be home fashion in two seconds?  I mean leopard is back.

Theresa: It is back.

David: Zebra.

Theresa: Zebra is like, look here.

David: I’ve seen so many people and they are just completely doused in animal prints.

Theresa: Which is kind of …

David: I love it!

Theresa: It’s something that we haven’t seen in such a long time

David: Since the eighties.

Theresa: Yes!

David: Eighties and the nineties.

Theresa: Yes, holler out to the eighties.

David: It’s back and I love it.

Mark: I’m going to say this twice and somebody get Don Johnson on the phone.

Theresa: Oh my god, you’re sporting it right there.

David: I’m always sporting it.

Mark: See, you’re trending.  Hashtag, David Bromstad.

Theresa: You’re absurd and ridiculous darling.  I have to say.

Mark: That’s a high compliment.

David: I love it.

Mark: So art school David Bromstad, painter, sculptor.  When you’re home alone and you’ve got some time to create, what do you create?  Is it, what is it?

David: Well …

Mark: Or you’re ever home along because you’re like …

David: I’m never home alone.

Mark: The busiest guy in show business.

David: Thank you, but no.  When I’m home, there’s so many other projects I’m working on.  I’m trying to get as much paintings out there of my collection.  We’re also doing a top to bottom furniture collection that’s coming out this summer.  It’s really exciting.

Theresa: Oh, from where?

David: From Granite Road.

Theresa: Really?

David: Yeah, it’s going to be super fabulous.

Theresa: So good!

David: Then doing all the great partnerships like I have with DuPont.  I’m their color consultant for their Corian and Zodiaq solid surfaces.  They have come up with so many really cool colors and really cool concepts and we’re going to take that and we’re going to bring it to the next level.

Theresa: Really?

David: Oh yeah!

Theresa: I love that.

Mark: Wow!

Theresa: Is there going to be any like zebra print on that?

David: I’m not going to say it, but I’m going to say it.

Theresa: I’m just thinking.

Mark: I’m not saying anything but …

Theresa: I’m thinking maybe.  Maybe just a little tribal action there.

Mark: That is fantastic.  So, when you do have down time, what do you do?

David: Sleep, watch TV.

Mark: Sleep, watch TV.

David: Get drunk.

Theresa: In that order?

David: Yeah.

Theresa: Okay.  I want to ask you though, you talk to people all over the place.  You travel around, TV shows, the whole thing.  Where is the weirdest place you’ve ever got inspired for a design concept?  Is there like a …?

David: Yes, I have a specific one.  Do you remember Summer Showdown?  It was like a short series that we did on HGTV where two designers go up against each other …

Theresa: It’s familiar.

David: … and redesign a room.

Theresa: It was a few years ago?

David: Yeah it was a few years ago. Anyway, I was trying to get inspiration for what I was going to do for this room and I lived in San Francisco.  Well San Francisco is very gray. You know, it was a very gray, very gray day.  This is when gray was starting to make the comeback.  I noticed that they yellow lines looked really great with all the different shades of gray.

So I used that concept for that show and I ended up winning.  That was kind of a weird little moment.  I was looking at something that usually people would think would be ugly and I found the beauty of the color combination in it.

Theresa: I think that makes you really a true artist.

David: I am an artist.

Theresa: To be able to find the beauty in anything.  Like walking around the show floor, in the minute that we have left.  Is there anything that you’re like, “That is killer, I need to use that in my next project.”

David: I just see so much gold.

Theresa: Yeah.

David: I just have to have gold everywhere.  Metallic.  Love it.  I mean it works.

Theresa: It goes good with zebra.  I mean seriously.

David: Zebra and leopard, gold.  Give me a break.

Theresa: It’s crazy.

David: Stop it.

Mark: There are like three things, I don’t know what happened.  There’s three layers of phraseyology I have to catch up.  I didn’t know where that was going.

Theresa: Mark is taking notes.

Mark: The look on your face said about eighty different things.  I thought you were upset, then you smiled.  Then it was affection.  You know what, I’m leaving the show.  Forget it, we’re taking a break.

Theresa: We are.

Mark: David Bromstad, you have got to check this guy out.

Theresa: Yes awesome!

Mark: Beyond the real deal, great guy.

Theresa: Follow him on Twitter.

Mark: HGTV Color Splash.  Follow us into a break and follow us out of it.  We’ll be back with more of the Wellborn Cabinets booth and MyFixitUpLife.