Inspiration in Motion: What Travel Gives Back to Design
At Yates Desygn, we believe inspiration is not something you sit down and search for. It’s something you notice. It shows up when you step outside of routine, when you move through unfamiliar places, when your pace slows just enough to allow details to surface.
Over the holiday break, our team traveled separately but returned connected by a shared experience: seeing design with fresh eyes. Across three very different destinations, London, Washington, DC, and Santa Fe, common threads emerged. Craft. Material honesty. Architecture that carries meaning. Woodwork that tells a story. Tile used as both art and structure.
These moments felt like research and more like reminders.
London: Where Craft Lives in the Details
In London, Georgina moved through spaces shaped by centuries of architectural intention. The city reveals itself slowly, not through spectacle, but through detail. Woodwork appears everywhere, stair rails worn smooth by time, paneled walls that feel structural rather than decorative, doors that carry the weight of history in their grain.
What makes London so compelling is not that it preserves the past, but that it allows old and new to coexist. Historic millwork sits comfortably beside contemporary interventions. Tile appears unexpectedly, used to define thresholds, hearths, and quiet moments of pause.
The architecture holds itself with confidence. Proportions feel deliberate. Materials feel chosen, not styled. There is a reverence for craftsmanship that doesn’t announce itself, but rewards those who notice.
It’s a lesson we return to often: when materials are respected, they don’t need explanation. They simply work.
Washington, DC: Architecture with Intention
Andrew’s time in Washington, DC offered a different perspective, one rooted in structure, clarity, and architectural presence. DC is a city where buildings speak. They are not passive backdrops; they carry purpose.
Here, architecture is bold yet restrained. Woodwork appears sparingly, but when it does, it grounds the space. Tile is often used in a disciplined way graphic, geometric, and tied to the logic of the building rather than decoration alone. Nothing feels accidental.
Walking the city, Andrew was struck by how architecture shapes movement and emotion. The way light enters a space. The rhythm of columns. The balance between mass and openness. These are buildings designed to endure, to hold civic life, to make you feel something without overwhelming you.
There is beauty in that restraint. A reminder that good design doesn’t compete for attention, it commands it quietly.
Santa Fe: Material, Texture, and Soul
In Santa Fe, Mariana encountered design that feels inseparable from place. The architecture responds to the landscape, the light, the climate. Nothing feels imposed. Everything feels earned.
Tile is everywhere, but never repetitive. Handcrafted, imperfect, expressive. Used as accent and as anchor. Floors, walls, steps, each surface carrying subtle variation that reminds you a human hand was involved. Woodwork here feels elemental rather than ornamental, shown in beams, doors, and details that emphasize structure and warmth.
What stands out most is how architecture, tile, and woodwork together to create spaces that feel alive. There is no separation between art and function. Texture becomes the design language. Color is drawn from the earth. Buildings feel grounded, honest, and deeply personal.
Santa Fe offers a powerful lesson: when materials are allowed to be themselves, spaces gain soul.
A Shared Thread
Though these destinations could not be more different, the inspiration they offered was remarkably aligned. Across continents and landscapes, our team was drawn to the same ideas: craftsmanship over trend, material integrity over excess, architecture that feels intentional rather than performative.
Woodwork that ages beautifully. Tile that tells a story. Architecture that shapes experience.
At Yates Desygn, this is where our work begins—not with a style, but with a feeling. We design spaces meant to be lived in, noticed slowly, and appreciated over time. Travel reminds us why that matters.
We bring these experiences back not as literal references, but as sensibilities. An appreciation for detail. A respect for materials. A belief that great design is layered, thoughtful, and deeply human.
Designing One-of-a-Kind Experiences
Inspiration is not something we collect, it’s something we translate. Every project is an opportunity to distill what we’ve seen and felt into a space that is uniquely our client’s.
Whether it’s a custom wood detail, an unexpected use of tile, or an architectural decision that changes how a room is experienced, our goal is always the same: to create environments that feel intentional, elevated, and personal.
Because inspiration can be found anywhere.
And when it’s brought back with care, it becomes something lasting.
This is how we travel.
This is how we design.