Studio tour: Nancy Liu Chin

nancy liu chin designs 1

Name: Nancy Liu Chin
Location: San Francisco
Company: Nancy Liu Chin Designs

What is your aesthetic?

Great questions.  Modern. American. Classic.  And Pretty.  I am to be the Ralph Lauren of Weddings!

How does your studio style convey your professional aesthetic?

It’s a 2 story commercial workspace with a bottom workroom that has high ceiling.  My office is on the top floor.

Our studio is very simply designed using all light blonde wood.  Everything is very clean, tailored, and simple.  Colors of cream, tan, brown are the dominant.  Every year I change the accent color.  It’s been a light/sky blue for a while now.  Magazine boxes in happy green.  Kolo boxes in dark chocolate.  Pillows in suede mocha brown.  We show off our portfolio using a slideshow presentation on our Sony 42 inch color tv screen.  Everything is clean.  On one wall we have some shelves and 3 large oversized floral images framed in thick White wooden frames.  That’s my studio.

If you are wondering, our space in Potrero Hill, our logo, station products reflect my casual, fun. unpretentious personality.

Favorite part of your studio?

My desk!  I combined two simple rectangular desks together so they are back to back.  It creates a really nice work space.  Also, when my assistant is working, we love chatting face to face. Love it.

Where do you go for inspiration?

I love to shop and window shop.  I often get inspiration from walking around Hayes valley with their ecletic, urban mix of shops and eateries.
Going to restaurants and hotels is a huge source of inspiration as I often design for large spaces.  I love the decor at hotels like St. Regis, Clift, and Solage in Calistoga.   There are so many wonderful restaurants in the world.  A few in SF that sparkle my imagination include Michael Minna’s restaurant in the Westin St. Francis. The beautiful new Out the Door in Fillmore is lovely and urban.  There’s a Supperclub in SF and the decor is very provocative.  That’s appealing to my senses.

Believe it or not, movies and pop culture gives me inspiration.  The Twilight mania is just one example of how pop culture/movies inspires.  Though I haven’t done a “vamp/goth” wedding, it does inspire me.

This sounds so crazy but I love food, candy, pastries.  Going into Miette’s candy shop is eye candy for the senses.  I love how food is displayed like at Bi Rite.  And when you see a plate of food from Cyrus, it’s art.  How can I not be inspired by these things.

What tool do you use in your business that you can’t live without?

IPHONE – so that I can twitter, fb, and read emails while I wait for my ice tea.

EXCEL – to help me with large buys

Crowning Glory – for flowers

Manila Folders – they keep me organized
Fandeck – it is a deck of cards that shows almost all the flowers from a to z.  It’s my secret tool when brides can’t figure out what flowers they like.

Is there anything you’d upgrade to?

We are getting new computers next year…at least I hope.  We are currently trying to phase out of pc’s.

Anything else we should know?

I think that’s a whole lot!

nancy liu chin designs 2

nancy liu chin designs 3

nancy liu chin designs 4

nancy liu chin designs 5

nancy liu chin designs 6

nancy liu chin designs 7

[images from Nancy Liu Chin Designs]