Freshening Up Your Summer Space with Dual Concept Design

Dual Concept Design, co-founded by Andrea Fripp and Paulina Cervantes, is a Chicago-based residential interior design firm. With a combined invaluable experience of over 15 years, Andrea and Paulina create powerful, elegantly styled spaces that reflect their clients’ unique lifestyles. We heard from them about their start in the industry, summer trends, and more!

How did you get your start in interior design?

Andrea Fripp: My passions have always been psychology and art.  After graduating high school, I obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences – Psychology and then realized I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming an interior designer.  Therefore, I enrolled in the Fine Arts program at The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, and obtained a second Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design. I got my foot in the industry by completing an internship at a high-end residential interior design firm in the city. After that, I worked for a couple of other high-end residential interior design firms, always knowing at the end I wanted to have my own firm.  It was not until I met Paulina that we learned we both had the same career goals, and decided to combine our talents and create DCD!

Paulina Cervantes: I’ve had passion for interior design since a little kid. After chiming in with an opinion on a furniture layout, or color scheme of family and friends (welcomed, or not!!), I realized that this is what I would eventually love to do as a career. After graduating high school, I attended Chicago’s Harrington College for Design, from where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Right after graduation, I interned for a high-end interior design firm, here in Chicago. That experience opened another door for me, and I started my first interior design job as a design assistant for another Chicago based residential firm. After being in the field for about 10 years and learning through experiences – I always knew one day I wanted to be able to do this on my own. As some time passed, and new opportunities presented themselves, I was lucky enough to find a wonderful friend turned business partner, and we started DCD and we absolutely love what we do each day.

As the weather warms up, what are some ways that homeowners can update their interior or outdoor living space?

The best way to update a space, interior and/or exterior, so it correlates with the different seasons, is through accessories.  As we transition to warmer days, simple modifications, such as changing your sofa pillows to ones that are more colorful, adding a pretty vase with seasonal flowers to your dining table centerpiece, or incorporating some color to your bed spread, are simple and cost-effective ways to freshen up a space.

Do you have any predictions for design trends that’ll become more popular this summer?

With all the heavy things going on in the world right now, and with everyone spending so much more time at home than before, we feel like people will want to surround themselves with bright colors and patterns to compensate for the difficult times we’re all going through, and bring some happiness to our immediate surroundings.  We also feel like indoor plants will be a big thing this summer – since we are being limited of spending time outside, we’re going to want to bring the outdoors in.

What color palette would you recommend for someone looking to lighten up their space?

Bright colors against a neutral background will always do the trick!  The most effective way to lighten up a space is by keeping dark colors to a minimum, maintain walls a lighter color, and bring pops of colors with accessories such as pillows, vases, artwork, window treatments, etc. Right now we’re big fans of jewel tones – so as far as a color palette, you can never go wrong with bringing soft greys and incorporating pops of teal, purples, and green!

Is there a recent project you worked on or an upcoming project that you’re really excited about?

We completed a home in Chicago where our client was definitely not afraid of color!  She made it very clear since the beginning that she wanted a space that puts a smile on her face when she comes in.  We added bright pops of color throughout, while keeping walls neutral.

As far as upcoming projects, we are in the process of designing a beautiful pied-a-terre in the Ravenswood neighborhood, that has an amazing and spacious outdoor terrace.  Our client loves color and vintage touches, so this will definitely be a very fun project.