Mrs. Romance

Pro-Mak are details, dry and silk flowers, the scent of lavender and delicate vases. When did the idea arise that you would devote yourself completely to interior decoration?

Flowers and decoration have always been my love. I come from a farm, I spent my childhood in nature, and that is where my attitude towards everything beautiful comes from. Nineteen years ago, my husband and I decided to open a store in Sežana. One year later, we came to Ljubljana and opened a dry flower boutique in Tromostovje. We chose dried flowers because twenty years ago there was a period of pastel colors and Biedermeier decoration and dried flowers fit perfectly into them. And there was no such offer in Slovenia yet, and we were something completely new.

How do you go about decorating a room today? Do you decide based on the style in the interior, based on the personality of the owner or maybe based on your current mood?

The first impression is very important. If I don't get it and if I go home and think about what to do, this product will be nothing special. Bars where I know immediately what is missing turn out to be the best. The decoration is always done on the ambience. Our decor will look perfect in one room and can look completely off and on in another.

Are there any rules when it comes to decorating?

It is always necessary to observe nature and start from it and its forms. This is beautiful and pleasing to the eyes. If we try to align the falling rosehip in straight lines, it will be contrived, in my opinion. A natural shape must be sought in each bouquet, and this is the key to success. In addition, the color rule and color harmony are important in decorating. If we have e.g. black and white Christmas tree, then we have to add a lot of glitter, where we find all the nuances, from black to white, to connect the colors and create a story. Color harmony also comes from nature.

You have been dealing with decoration all your life. How has it changed over the years?

Twenty years ago, the decoration was Biedermeier, and all patterns were in ocher yellow or burgundy red. Then, minimalism, which required pure colors, slowly began to appear, and that's when dried flowers completely declined. We started working with silk flowers, which we could incorporate into any minimalist ambience. In minimalism, we emphasized the lines of the rectangle with decoration. We put four green apples in a row, and made a square from water bottles. The flowers were flat, like cutting out one piece of a cornfield. Now that we've been looking at these minimalist lines for a few years, they've gotten boring and a change is needed. We have to revive the cleared bars.

And what are the trends today?

For some time we can see that the square has replaced the circle and the cuboid has replaced the sphere, which softens the straight lines. Baroque decoration is created on straight lines in patterns of lace, flowers, and twisted patterns. The old wallpaper patterns are back. If earlier there were straight bars in front of each bar, now there are round boxes. It also comes in a cone shape filled with fruit and flowers. The trend is chalices, which are still simple and modernistic for the time being, but are coming highly decorated and baroque. There are no major color contrasts, the granulation of the material is more important so that the pattern on an element stands out. Among the colors, purple is currently reigning, with shades of malanca, lavender...

From which part of the world do such guidelines come, and where abroad would you refer us if we wanted to see excess in decoration?

All guidelines and trends in decoration come from the world of fashion. If I want to predict how I will decorate next year, I just look at what is walking on the catwalks. Fashion designers are the most advanced and dictate the decoration as well as the interior. Where to get excess in decoration? I saw beautiful things in Paris and Italy at interior design and decoration fairs. You can really see everything there, even in a negative sense. I couldn't believe it when I saw an exhibition space at an expensive Paris fair, which presented the same material as, for example, our Shower.

Can you give us some tips that are good to follow when decorating your home?

Let's make one central arrangement and not fill all the shelves with decorations. the bouquet can also be completed with empty vases. Warmth is obtained through the harmony of colors, the colors should be connected to each other. We will enliven the home if they bring some nature into it. Autumn colors come into consideration in autumn, in summer we use something fresh, blue, cool. Something to look forward to in the spring, e.g. white-green combination. In winter, let's conjure up warmth with cinnamon. Square vases should be softened with something round. And we never use decoration to cover up certain flaws.

Where in the city can we see your artwork?

In many storefronts and restaurants. Our things are in Maximarket and Nama, Kaval and Angelo, Cubo restaurant, we will work in Casino Lev. All summer we decorated two domes of Terme Čatež with silk flowers. You can also see our decorations in Bohinj Water Park. A large part of the top floor in City Park is also in the style of lavender and sunflowers.

And which is just your corner, where the ambience amazes you again and again and where they prepare the best coffee for you?

I always go to our customers. I am interested in how the ambiance works and how customers feel in it. I like to go to the Chocolate Studio Dobnik under the Maximarket for some fine chocolate or cake. For dinner or lunch, go to Kaval, Angel, Cubo...

In your free time, we'd expect you to like flipping through magazines, making bouquets, and walking in parks. Are the assumptions correct or maybe you spend your free time completely differently?

The little free time I have left, I prefer to spend on the land and working it. To me, the most beautiful smell is plowed earth. In the summer I go to the farm to turn hay and this is a great sauna. I feel very good in the sun and in nature, that's where I get the most energy.