First of all it's been a few weeks since i have posted this column,,,, Thankfully people have not deserted me and I have a few now in stock so I hope to get back to being more regular.
I am so excited to post this essay today. I have not known Robert long or well, but when you meet him, you want to learn more. Being the fan that I am of the road less traveled, I appreciate the jump from Law to interior design. The ability to listen to ones self in the light of past experience is a constant battle. Also I am intrigued by people who can master the mindset of both Law and Interior Design (it's sort of like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time)!
Anyway I hope that you enjoy what he has to say and take a few moments to visit his website the work is spectacular!
WHY I AM AN INTERIOR DESIGNER
or, in my case,
HOW I WENT FROM BEING A CORPORATE
LAWYER TO AN INTERIOR DESIGNER
I like to tell people that becoming a truly passionate
interior designer involves five critical elements:
1
An interest in architecture and design
beginning at a very young age;
2
A focus on certain specific academic
disciplines during one’s formal education – primarily the sciences,
mathematics, economics and public policy – with just enough art and
architecture classes to keep things “interesting”;
3
Total immersion in a “Paper Chase” law
school experience – provided that all studying for classes and exams takes
place in the library of the adjacent design school rather than in the law school library itself
(and might as well audit an architecture class while you’re at it, since you’re
already spending so much time at the design school);
4
A career as a corporate attorney at a big
New York firm with great colleagues, challenging clients and an exciting,
fast-paced practice; and
5
An interest in architecture and design
beginning at a very young age.
(Parenthetical
note in the interest of full disclosure:
not everyone goes through stages 2, 3 and 4.)
1
I was fortunate to have been exposed to some of the best in
modern design and furniture as a child.
At the time, I didn’t appreciate how meaningful it would be in the
development of my aesthetic sensibility to grow up in a house with Eames,
Noguchi, Saarinen and George Nelson furniture – all icons of modern design with
connections to the area of Michigan where I grew up. I remember paying close attention to the
furniture I would encounter at friends’ homes as well as the architecture of
buildings I would see as we drove around metropolitan Detroit. My childhood doodling involved designing
buildings on napkins and in the margins
of school notebooks.
2
I was blessed – or cursed – to have many interests during my
formative years. My second passion came
to me during high school – politics and public policy. I joined the Debate Team in high school (law
school here I come?) and yes, I was also a math and science geek who wore a
calculator on my belt. I found a great
way to combine these interests when I studied economics in high school, so in
college I pursued a degree in economics and public policy (law school here I
come!).
3
We can travel quickly through the law school years – stage 3
of 5– which candidly was my least favorite of the five stages. What I remember well from law school was
studying – lots and lots of studying. I
did my studying at the design school library rather than the law school library
because I found the surroundings to be more comfortable and uplifting. I appreciated how important one’s physical
surroundings can be to one’s comfort and emotional state.
4
I had a very challenging and stimulating career in corporate
law, eventually becoming a partner at one of the major New York law firms. As a corporate attorney my focus was on working
closely with clients to create the legal structures for them to pursue their
objectives. (Another
parenthetical: “clients”, creating
“structures”, pursuing client “objectives” – maybe a little foreshadowing.)
People often assume I was unhappy as a corporate
lawyer. The truth? Sometimes the lifestyle was pretty rough, but
I thoroughly enjoyed the analytical challenges I encountered as a lawyer, and
the close relationships I developed with colleagues and clients. Being a lawyer allowed me to use the left and
right sides of my brain in interesting ways.
I would not trade those experiences for anything, and who I am is very
much a product of these years.
5
But: who said you
have to have one profession over the course of an entire life? When I was working on the creation of a new overseas
investment fund, one of my close friends pointed out that I seemed as excited
about the design and layout of the prospectus cover page as I was about the
substance of the transaction. I later made
the decision, after a good run as a corporate lawyer, that I would begin
another chapter in my life.
I left my law firm and decided to spend some time travelling
and reconnecting with myself. When I
found I finally had time to focus on furnishing the apartment I had purchased a
year before, I began to design a furniture piece for my living room and started
shopping for other furniture. I remember
a light bulb going off in my head, as I walked through a furniture showroom in
San Francisco and, for the first time in my life, I seriously thought about becoming
an interior designer.
After four years of college, three years of law school and
the bar exam, I never imagined I would set foot in another classroom or take
another exam. One degree later – thank
you New York School of Interior Design for some of the most amazing and
challenging academic experiences of my life – and after a terrific experience
at Steven Harris Architects, I launched Robert Kaner Interior Design.
I hope you will take a look at what I’ve been up to at
Robert Kaner Interior Design! www.kanerid.com.
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