Brigette Romanek featuring the Nero table

My house is a historical house, it has had people like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix recording here and living here [with the previous owner]. It's a big Spanish with a lot of personality, a lot of vibe, a lot of heart and soul. That's what I love most about it.

As a breed of people, I think designers are inspired by keeping our eyes open. Because there's something everywhere….just by looking outside your door you're seeing something you haven't seen before, you're inspired by something, you grow with something. It is really all of it.

What I love about being in Europe, the minute you walk out of the plane or out of your door you trip over culture. And these are the things that really fuel me. The architecture. The level of detail that used to be practiced. You can walk into a foyer and it is marble from head to toe, things people don't really do anymore. And it would be the entrance to an apartment building. The brass details. There are all of these beautiful moments in Europe -- almost any city or part you go in, all these villages that keep revealing really great architectural and aesthetically pleasing moments.

I think Joseph Dirand is a genius. To do something simply, or to make it look simple and stunning, is not easy. If one thinks of favorite songs that you remember the most, the song writer has written a simple hook but what it took to write that simple hook was mounds and mounds and mounds of work. These pieces are elegant and sophisticated and on the understated side, but when you get further in, they are meticulously made, the details are there, the finishes, the angles are just right, he didn't miss a beat. And bringing in something that feels old but new, that's not easy.It is so great when you feel that someone is really contributing in a unique and beautiful way. That is cool. He incorporates new and old, brings it all together and it's beautifully executed. The interiors are smart, they're stunning to look at, they function well. All these things one would want in your space. And they're timeless.

I live with some of my grandmothers very small little things. My grandmother loved jewelry, and it's not that she had tons of money to buy huge diamonds or anything like that. There's little tiny things that meant something to her in her journey in life. And she was really one of the most incredible and strong people I have ever known, so to have a piece from her, even if it were a sock, makes me feel like I am channeling her.

Parenthood. Definitely my work. My friendships. Any furniture pieces I work on. Anything worth doing is something that is going to take time.

First of all, if it is done by hand that is someone's personal touch on your piece and it is going to have a little bit of variation in a cool way. It's the appreciation of someone's work. And it is rare now, so it is a gift and it will lend itself to having a bit more personality, it will lend itself to just feeling more soulful.

From the moment I was introduced to Orior, I loved that piece. The Nero table really spoke to me because it is clearly great craftsmanship, a lot of great detail, it's a mixture of materials, it's contemporary yet it has a vintage feel to it. So they took something that can be or that is really sort of simple and gave it a lot of character and visual interest and all the things that matter to me. And on top of it the craftsmanship was there 100%.

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The runner up was the Easca coffee table -- I just showed it to a client and they will be purchasing it. It's a stunning piece of work, and just the thought process behind that was so interesting, too. And I love the organic shape and again, the use of materials. They are really beautiful pieces and they are well thought out and executed with great detail.

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The strength. Because it is not some humungous honking crazy piece, it's a really beautiful, simple but crafted incredibly piece so it's got this quiet strength.