Perera Kishani - Vintage Remix : The Interiors of Kishani Perera

CONTENTS

Foreword

As a client and friend of Kishani, I am both honored and excited to introduce Vintage Remix. It might be surprising to some, as my passion for design is a little-known fact.

Over thirty years, I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest designers in film. I am constantly astonished at these gifted artists who can convey big themes and ideas and reflect a characters personality, class, or social standing using the simplest, subtlest of things. A chair, lets say. A fabric choice. A lamp. Cutlery. A painting. However, such talents are useless if those who possess them cannot understand and work with light. Light is energy. Visible energy. Its vibrant. Emotional. Its life.

When my wife and I decided to redecorate our home, we searched for an interior designer who could first and foremost work with light. We have a luminous 1940s California ranch-style house. The light is constant, special, from dawn to dusk. Kishani got us, and the space, immediately. It influenced and guided her every move. She wanted to go white, bright, clean, modern, and European in feel. A few colorful, bold accents and fabrics here and there, with no fuss or clutter. In Kishanis words, quiet, understated luxury. Her vision came together quickly and effortlessly, and we never in any way felt pushed into choices or that we were being designed. She mixed high-end with lowa specialty of hersand made some fearless decisions with furnishings, fabrics, whites, grays, and blacks.

Kishani was, and continues to be, a delight to work with, charming, chic, professional, and refreshingly real.

Welcome to Vintage Remix.

GARY OLDMAN
Sunny California, 2011

My shop, Rummage, is like my second home. Every item in the store expresses my sensibility, from the custom furniture of my own design to the reimagined vintage finds and ethnic pieces. And the displays, which feature a vintage dress form turned floor lamp, life-size faux trees, and colorful butterflies, show my whimsical side.

Preface

Its amazing to me that after spending more than ten years in the design field, I still get to have firsts. Last year I opened my very first boutique, Rummage, in LAs design district. Running it brings me back to my roots. As a kid growing up in Cerritos, California, I haunted flea markets and thrift shops and yard sales, always looking for interesting things to bring home. Although my parents didnt appreciate my junking, my flair for design started to gain recognition by the time I was a teen. My eclectic bedroom even landed on the cover of a section of the local paper about cool teen rooms.

It took quite a few years for me to realize that I could make a living doing what came so naturally to me. But in my work today, I use those same strategies, seeking out diamonds in the rough for my clients: a sofa with great bones or a unique lamp that simply needs a new shade. I like to think my greatest talent lies in seeing the potential in art, furnitureeven people. And now with Rummage, I get to bring all my favorite things together in one place and showcase my own custom pieces. Youll find the mix of high and low thats the epitome of my design sensibility.

Which brings me here, to my very first book. Looking through photos of past projects, I was able to break down the ideas and processes that make up my aesthetic. Each chapter focuses on a different element thats essential to good design. To me, there are no hard-and-fast rules. It all boils down to knowing who you are and what you like and trusting your instincts. But a little guidance cant hurt, and thats where this book comes in. My hope is that it will help you create a home that makes you happy every time you walk in the door. Enjoy.

KISHANI PERERA
Los Angeles, 2011

Introduction
by Molly Sims

Im an actress, so I know I can be dramatic. But I truly believe that to design is to experience life and all of lifes emotions. Its creative and controlled, messy and precise, passionate and analytical, daunting and rewarding, obscure and revelatory. And I love it. I had just moved from New York to Los Angeles for work. I was on set five days a week and working seven. And I had made my very first design mistake. Knowing I couldnt do it all myself, I hired a designer with fantastic ideas but, as I came to learn, zero follow-through. Months after our agreed-upon deadline, little had been done, and I had no time to finishI was a wreck.

Enter Kishani, bless her soul. Hollywood Hills, we have liftoff! Under her watchful eye, the kitchen cabinets were stripped and repainted, marble countertops imagined and installed, tile floors swiftly refinished, pillows tossed, paintings hung, vintage pieces restored, and lighting electrified. Kishani not only had a great eye, but she also had the ability to get the job done and work within my budget.

I was living in LA but continued to work from time to time in Manhattan, and I realized I needed a base there. I found a contemporary one-bedroom on the edge of Soho; it had great bones, was very open, did not need any structural changes, but did need a character and a story. New York is so much fun, but it can be tough. I wanted a space that would be a refuge from the busy metropolis. I asked Kishani if she was up for the challenge. A day after the place was legally mine, Kishani and I walked through the empty apartment, and I told her my idea: a Paris-inspired pied--terre. When I first started modeling, I lived in Europe: Germany, London, and Paris. I fell in love with the French capital and always wanted to own an apartment there. It wasnt realistic, so if I couldnt have an apartment in Paris, Id bring Paris to my apartment.

A week later, Kishani and I started our second project together: we flew to the city on the Seine. Why not go straight to the source? The timing was perfect. I had to go to Paris for a day of work, so we decided to stay an additional four and shop the markets for furniture that would fit our theme. Believe it or not, Kishani and I finished the apartment in those four days; it had to be some kind of world record. I know it sounds fun and romantic, but Im not going to lie: it wasnt. The weather was dismal. It was bitterly cold and depressingly gray, and it rained the entire time. We were soaked head to toe every day. As a matter of fact, one night Kishani and I dressed up to go to a party and none of the hotel staff even recognized us. But dont get me wrong; I still love Paris.

We worked from dawn until dusk, starting the morning off with cappuccinos and croissants and ending the day with hot tea and a warm bath. We concentrated our efforts in two areas: the stalls in Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, and a fantastic trade warehouse just outside the area. Like prospectors, we scoured the flea market stalls (which are an assortment of vintage boutiques, secondhand shops, antiques vendors, independent artists, and informal galleries) for diamonds in the rough. We might not have won any beauty contests while we were there, but our shopping excursions were prosperous and productive. We had several eureka moments, and when you encounter that special piece, its an adrenaline rush. I know, its just furniture shopping, but it can be truly satisfying.