An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Incorporate wellness and spa features into your bathroom.
Your bathroom space should be more than just a place for grooming and hygiene, and you can bring more joy to your space by making it a room to rest and recharge. Enhance your home by designing your bathroom to be your very own in-house spa and create a space for relaxation, meditation, and even exercise.
As part of my series on the “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Daniele Busca. Daniele is Creative Director and Brand Ambassador of Scavolini USA.
Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’m a fashion designer by trade. I attended the Academy of Costume and Fashion in Rome, and then worked for a luxury fashion brand, but have always had a passion for interior design. 15 years ago, I decided to take a break from the stressful pace of Italy’s fashion industry and spend a few months in Miami to recharge (I love the sea, swimming and warm weather, so I thought it was the perfect place.)
While on my trip, I reconnected with the owners of a successful company carrying Italian furniture design brands — which included Scavolini — who I had met a few months before back in Italy. They invited me out for dinner and offered me a job as marketing director to promote their business because, as they told me, “You are Italian and a designer and you know all of this.” (Thanks Javier, Mark and Rey!)
The rest is history. Using my fashion industry knowledge and my eye for interior design, I was able to help clients create spaces that were at the intersection of high fashion and functionality. I eventually became the creative director and brand ambassador for Scavolini USA, helping bring collections for the incredible and innovative brand to American homes.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
Interestingly, the most unique aspect of this career has been my move to the U.S — and starting a new life on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It has been a sequence of interesting stories that have collectively built my experience and reputation. I moved here in 2005, when I was 41.
Everything is different here: My first grocery trip lasted three hours and I left with a headache. I could not find anything familiar to me besides Barilla pasta, and half of the groceries ended up in the garbage.
At work in the U.S., I was able to interact with Cosmopolitan personalities, and learn from well-traveled, top industry professionals with a true passion for Italian design. I learned a lot from them, and noticed how highly the American interior design industry regarded Italian-made design. It was looking at it from a different angle, not as an insider like me, and I felt more responsibility on my end to deliver the top-quality design, which is what these discerning clients expect from an Italian product.
Moving in the USA has been the most important experience in my life, like a master’s degree after college.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
In Italy we say, “Only doers make mistakes.” And when you make mistakes, you always learn a lesson. One instance in particular I can’t forget, and I still laugh about it today.
I was organizing the opening event of the company’s third store in Coral Gables, Florida. I was able to find a Soprano singer, get a beautiful Steinway baby grand piano, rosewood one-piece piano and other fabulous elements that would ensure the event was a memorable one.
I’m a creative guy, so excel and spreadsheets are for sure not my thing. While compiling the mailing list, with almost 1,000 names and addresses, I noticed that the list was not in alphabetical order. I decided to make it right so I clicked the sort button and voila: all the names were now in order. The problem — I’d inadvertently mismatched all of the addresses.
Luckily, the store’s owner caught it when he noticed the address of a contact he knew was incorrect, and then quickly realized that all the addresses were wrong. While no invitations went to the incorrect addresses, it took two days to fix all of the labels.
I learned a few things from this small blunder. First and foremost — never assume you know what you are doing (for me this is especially true with technology). Also, the importance of helping your colleagues succeed. Luckily for me, a colleague was able to catch my mistake before it became an even larger issue. While this is just one small example, I’ve learned throughout my career that when one member of your team succeeds, you all succeed, so it is important to always support and offer assistance to your coworkers and employees.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I’m getting ready to moderate an interesting panel discussion that will be held virtually during Design Chicago in partnership with Scavolini and ELLE Décor. It’s called Boss Ladies 3.0. The panelists are four amazing women who are successful entrepreneurs and well respected in the U.S. and abroad.
We will be focusing the conversation on the effects of COVID-19 on the design business, related issues, and how to overcome these unprecedented times. We will send a positive message to women (and men) that work in the industry and are looking for some good guidance and advice. Creativity is always a resource when the issues are unknown, and the solutions for our current situation require thinking out of the box.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There are several quotes I’ve been told that have proven beneficial in my life, however one in particular is very dear to me — “Learn a trade and save it for a rainy day.” Growing up, my aunt told me this over and over again.
She owned a store, and knew how to run a business smoothly and successfully. She showed me and taught me how to interact with clients and your employees, and that you must always be passionate about your work, true to your words, and care about your clients and the finished product.
35 years later, I opened Scavolini USA’s flagship company owned showroom in Soho, New York. At the time, it was the largest store in Manhattan for European kitchen cabinets. After all these years I can tell that no matter what you do for a living, to be successful, your job must be your true passion. It is passion, together with preparation, skills, perseverance and resilience, that makes you succeed and shine.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’ll never understand the soloists that say “me, me, me.” I appreciate team players that say “us, us, us.”
I believe that in our career we are like musicians in an orchestra, we start as a violinist and at one point, after a lot of rehearsals, concerts and hard work we eventually become the director. But why be a director if there is no orchestra? We always need an orchestra.
From my first internship in Rome as fashion designer in a Haute Couture Atelier, to my position today as Scavolini USA’s Creative director and Brand Ambassador, there are many people that helped me to be where I am now. But one person in particular, Scavolini USA’s CEO, Francesco Farina, has played a pivotal role in my professional life.
We met briefly in Miami in 2008 at a business lunch, right after he was appointed CEO of the newly founded Scavolini USA Inc. — the first Scavolini branch outside of Italy. At that lunch, and after a brief conversation, he saw qualities in me that were relevant to him and the future of the company.
I was working for another global company as marketing director for the anglophone markets at the time. Several months later, he called me out of the blue offering me the position of creative director in New York City for Scavolini USA.
My answer was, “Thanks so much Francesco but I can’t accept. It is far too cold in NYC.” I received many phone calls after that one, and the rest is history. I’ve spent the last 10 years in New York as Scavolini USA’s Creative Director, helping clients make their dream interior spaces a reality. I do still miss Miami from November to April though.
Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. Incorporate wellness and spa features into your bathroom.
Your bathroom space should be more than just a place for grooming and hygiene, and you can bring more joy to your space by making it a room to rest and recharge. Enhance your home by designing your bathroom to be your very own in-house spa and create a space for relaxation, meditation, and even exercise.
Wellness is a trend that is becoming paramount in bathroom design, as we increasingly incorporate taking care of our body and mind into every aspect of our daily lives. Trends and innovations will continue to focus on spa and wellness features, incorporating inspiration from top luxury hotels to make bathrooms sanctuaries where design and beauty vibes with our body and energies.
Looking back to ancient Rome, baths were monumental buildings or “cathedrals of wellness,” and the use of steam rooms and hot and cold water became a science. This “Mens sana in corpore sano,” or “a healthy mind in a healthy body” will permeate future bathroom trends, with designated areas for fitness that incorporate pilates, cardio or gymnastic equipment.
Scavolini’s Gym Space project is a great example of this. The collection combines bathroom furnishings with fitness equipment, eliminating “the commute” from your exercise to your post-workout shower. Customizable for spaces of any size, the Gym Space project blends style, functionality and endless configuration possibilities.
2. Open up your space.
We are living, despite a plethora of ways to connect with people, a more isolated life. That is why the living room is now kitchen-centric, because of the ritual related to the cooking which is at the end an act of love, to the people we care about most. The upside of a kitchen-centered living space is certainly the fact we entertain and have a true connection with people.
For this reason, adding an open concept kitchen, or “social kitchen” layout can elevate your space. The kitchen has truly become the new living room, a place where we gather to eat, socialize and even work. This design works in spaces of any size, and is generally composed by a perimetral back wall and an island which is in the heart of the living room.
Making the kitchen an extension of the living room enhances both the aesthetics and functionality of the space. Use warm color palettes like “greige” in lacquer or matt glass door panels that complements the room’s furniture, and texture finishes like woods in light or very dark hues.
To enhance your kitchen space, avoid handles on cabinets and appliances, and use fully integrated appliances that can mount custom doors and use pantries that hide ovens or small appliances.
3. Make it multifunctional.
Form and function are paramount for homeowners, and a great kitchen design should have both. Today’s kitchens should have multiple purposes for our busy lives. It’s an in-home office space, a place for entertaining and the center of your meals and cooking.
While many are temporarily working from home as a result of COVID-19, working from home was a growing trend beforehand, and will continue to increase in years to come as technology makes remote working more common. This means multifunctional kitchen spaces will remain a necessity.
Not having a designated space to work can impede productivity, and — especially in smaller spaces — finding an area of your home to dedicate to working can be tricky. Scavolini’s BoxLife by Rainlight can house an entire kitchen, living room, sleeping area, or any combination to keep small spaces stylish and tidy. This design is ideal for transforming your bedroom or kitchen area into your work space, and keeping your work space out of sight when you want to relax.
4. Design your space to be long lasting.
Interior renovations are an investment, and one of the best ways to create a space that sparks joy is to design one that you’ll love — and more importantly will remain intact — for a long time.
Use materials that are built to last. Technology is playing a major role in the performance of materials, and the following materials will have the longest lasting lifespan.
Glass: Glass is recyclable, resistant and basically eternal. It is tempered for safety reasons and painted offering an infinite gamut of colors in matte or glossy finishes, and it is very easy to clean.
Lacquer: Matte or glossy water-based finishes are the most sustainable, as they are now VOCs free and, thanks to technology advancements in the way the finishes are applied, have become very hard to damage. When buffered the gloss finish will return to its original shine.
Fenix: Fenix is the latest version of laminate made using nanotechnology. This strong, sustainable material is used for countertops, or to build integrated sinks for kitchen and bathroom vanities as well so you can match doors to the countertops. It comes in interesting colors from black to white and hot colors like Jaipur red. While not incredibly popular yet, Fenix is quickly gaining ground for its durability and longevity.
Sustainability plays a large role in creating a space that’s built to last. Scavolini’s designs and materials are built to last, expanding the lifespan of clients’ new spaces, and limiting environmental impact. For the structure of all kitchens and many other elements, Scavolini uses Idroleb Ecological Panels. These panels are 100% post-consumer recycled wood with the lowest formaldehyde emission, and offer excellent performance levels in terms of durability and stability. Additionally, almost all the materials used by Scavolini can be recycled to produce new materials or generate energy.
5. Refresh your space with what you already have.
There’s not always a need for a total renovation. You can easily breathe new life into your interior spaces with things you already have, or on a very limited budget. Here are some ways you can give your space a fresh perspective.
- Declutter. A less cluttered, more simplistic space will help you feel better and be more productive. Getting rid of unused or overused objects is the easiest way to refresh your space and help you feel more organized. Unless it represents a great memory, don’t think twice and don’t look back. The room will look and feel immediately fresher.
- Improve lighting. Replace old drapes and blinds with light fabrics, or, if you have an interesting or modern window frame, remove the window treatment all together. Natural light will immediately bring an energizing vibe into the room. If your space is lacking in natural light, table lamps of different shapes and sizes placed in different locations throughout the room is a cool way to bring in more light. For example, placing lamps on shelves between books can make a space look stylish and feel brighter.
- Display cool objects on shelves in your kitchen and living spaces. This creates a high-end look, and can easily be your grandma’s wedding dishes, or other objects you already own.
- For a pop of color, add a cart with a bright finish, or reupholster chairs or stools.
- For a lower-cost bathroom that looks high-end, use tiles or wallpaper to create beautiful, elegant designs and add a cool rug to make a statement.
- If the ceilings are high, a low-cost large pendant fixture can elevate the bathroom’s look.
- Enhance your closet with LED light strips and a cool rug combined with an oversized mirror and cool frame to create a “dramatic” look. Displaying outfits and accessories in an organized and neat way also enhances a closet’s look.
- For elevated art, use one large-scale artwork instead of several smaller ones. If you don’t have the budget to invest in art, and you are afflicted by “timor vacui,” buy empty frames in different styles from thrift stores and place them in a cluster.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Since I was a kid I always dreamed to be an active figure in helping others succeed, especially kids without family or resources, or those living in a difficult environment.
Kids are our future and we, as adults, have the obligation to take care of them, even if we are not their parents, and give them the opportunity to grow sane, safe and learn and pursue their dreams and aspirations. I hope to do that both in the USA and maybe in another country. I hope to be an inspiration and mentor to kids, and aspiring interior designers, to help them have all of the opportunities I have had to become successful.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂
Like many people, Michelle Obama has been an inspirational figure to me. She brought needed global attention to racial, social and gender inequality issues. Additionally, her intelligence, education, style and kindness inspire people like me. Plus — lunch or breakfast with her is guaranteed to be healthy, too.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: @ScavoliniUSA
Facebook: Scavolini USA
Twitter: @ScavoliniUSA
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!
Daniele Busca of Scavolini USA: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.