Juan Montoya Named Design Icon

Interior design superstar Juan Montoya will add another accolade to his legendary career this week when he's recognized as a "Design Icon" at the Las Vegas Market.

Colombian-born Juan Montoya, who leans toward Modernist and Scandinavian designs, is getting a big award this week. In addition to being on Architectural Digest's list of the top 100 designers in the world, Montoya is also being recognized as a "Design Icon." "The fact that we're honoring such an eclectic and world-inspired artist speaks volumes about design today," Robert Maricich, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Market, said in a press release. "Juan Montoya's career draws from different countries and different cultures to create his own unique aesthetic."

ShelterPop caught up with Montoya to see what drives him in the creative process and also to get some design tips.

What are some of your favorite rooms that you have worked on?
Well, every project I do is my favorite! I'll tell you why: The process is the most exciting part of it--not the finish, not the beginning, but in the middle when you are working on the details, when you are working on a solution for a specific problem. So the process sometimes becomes more interesting than the finished product. Once you've finished, you're finished, right? Nothing left to do. So while you're doing it is the most exciting part of it.

I know that you have your design your own line of furniture. Are there plans to do more products for the home?
Yes. I'm planning to do much more. Right now I'm launching a new collection of fabric for the summer. I'm working on a new collection of carpet for Stark. I am constantly asked to do a collection for different companies in terms of furnishing, accessories, lighting and everything that entails making the project complete. I'm also extending into hardware, such as handles, hinges.

Do you have some interior design tips that you can share?
I tell them not to rush to buy furniture. I prefer people to wait a little bit: live the space and then think what they need. Whether they buy a place or rent a place they usually need to have a sofa a chair a dining table to fill in the space, as opposed to analyze what they need and what they think the space is calling them to do. In other words a home, apartment, usually tells you, talks to you, speaks to you and sometimes you don't listen!

It's better to have less than more. My advice is to have the essentials and build from there.

It's very important because you think "I've bought all this stuff and what am I going to do?" so you live with it and then you regret it because usually you haven't thought about it except that you have to fill in the space.

What do you say to couples that have different tastes?
If you have a different taste, you have to question why. Why do you feel these things are important to you? Then discuss it, not say, "I want this because I want it," but more like a collaboration of two minds, of man and wife who want to live together. A difference in opinion can be a good and positive thing sometimes because it creates a new look. If they were so compatible, there would not be a challenge.

There's a sense of being able to communicate, two parties, to be able to arrive to the right answer, as opposed to being antagonistic and go one way while the other person goes the other way.

I think the dialogue is very, very important.

An apartment in Paris receives Juan Montoya's treatment. Photo: Eric Laignel.





The Miromar Lakes Resort in Naples, Fla. Eric Laignel