Ok, so it’s casual Friday. You have been clockwatching for the last four hours. And you would give up two sick days just to be able to open one of those hermetically sealed windows to get a minute’s worth of fresh air. When you can’t take one second more of the low buzz of florescent lighting…Where do you go — be it reality or fantasy — for a vacation? Where do you go for inspiration?

These two photos are by one of my favorite photographers, Steve Wood. They hang above our bed—the grassy landscape on my side and the vast stretch of ocean on my partner Jon’s side. Where they hang is appropriate because they represent our favorite places. Jon grew up spending summers at the beach in Northern Florida and I grew up in the high plains of Amarillo, TX. The photos are exaggerated (rather greatly exaggerated) symbols of the two places. Jon loves the water – ocean, lake or swimming pool — and I get inspiration from the land be it desert, plains or canyon. In my design work, I am drawn to simple, clean lines and low horizontals – very much like the place I grew up. It even extends to the art I prefer – I love pen and ink, abstracts and stark photography. It seems strange to attribute my love of the modern to a place like Amarillo, which is as middle American and traditional as you could get but that’s my experience with the land itself (I’ll be writing more about the modern movement and the strange ties it had to Amarillo in the 60’s and 70’s on my blog in the next few weeks).

Sometimes the best way to see your house with a fresh eye is to leave it for a while and come back. Here are my suggestions of ways to do that. And if you can get a vacation and some design inspiration in at the same time — all the better. I know now may not be the time for any of us to take an extravagant exotic holiday but I think we all could benefit from some version of a vacation — no matter how short or close to home.

I love a road trip. I think it is the quintessential American vacation. These days the idea of leaving when you decide, not having to stand in security lines at the airport and packing whatever you want – that’s luxury. The last road trip we went on we took our dog, a pile of books and our own coffee maker. Try doing that on an airplane. The photos below are from our favorite drive – from Los Angeles up to the Napa Valley and over to the coast side of Sonoma. We are very lucky in California to have the Coast highway and it has provided countless ideas for my design work. It can be something as basic as seeing new spaces and design ideas in a hotel – we stayed at the Carneros Inn in Napa where they have an ingenious indoor/outdoor shower that is connected by a frosted glass door. I can’t wait to use that in a design. We then moved on to the Timber Cove Lodge on the Sonoma coast (probably one of the most amazingly located hotel I have ever been to) where I could have spent weeks exploring all the color and textural combinations in the landscape along the coastline. We ended in Inverness, Ca where we took the below photo of cows grassing on a ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There is so much to glean from the slowed-down experience of driving. I would love to hear where you go when you get in the car and just drive.

1. Carneros Inn – Napa 2. Timber Cove – Sonoma Coast 3. Inverness, Ca

How ‘bout a weekend away at home? If you can’t take the time or don’t have the resources to head out for a week or even a long weekend, a good alternative is to find a vacation closer to home. When you just can’t take another weekend in your own environment it can be surprisingly relaxing to check into a local hotel. We’ve done it. In fact Jon and I checked into a hotel that I think was in the same zip code as our house. We arrived on a Friday evening straight from work (the drive took ten minutes), ordered room service, swam in the pool, ate at the trendy restaurant and after a late check-out Sunday were home and “unpacked” without one baggage claim ticket or surly cab driver. All the while taking inspiration from the hotel design, lighting in the restaurant, and people watching (lots to learn from that). Now that I think of it I should have written it off as a business expense.

If all else fails get book and head to the Park.

If finances or time schedules act as road blocks keeping you from your inspiration vacation, at least try to get yourself to a park — stopping on the way at the book store or library of your choice to pick up a book on whatever topic you desire – exotic locals, design style or time period, an interesting art movement – just get something you are interested in. If you can’t get to a park, even a comfortable sofa or chair will do. Just pack a picnic, bar the door and crack open the “vacation of your choice”.

Here are a few options to get you started

Bon Voyage.

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