I transferred to Xiao Huang on the Taichung High Speed ??Rail and drove all the way into an old alley in Taichung. The originally noisy traffic was only filled with the chirping of birds. The process of going from noisy to quiet was like walking into my soul. ceremony, this afternoon, I put down my manuscript and keyboard and visited the two directors of Gray Door Design, Xie Jialing and Lin Yicheng. Why is it named Gray Gate?

Design Director Xie Jialing (hereinafter referred to as "Xie"): The Chinese and English names and LOGO were thought of together.

The reason why it is called "grey" is because among all the colors, gray can best match all colors. Not only black, gray and white, but also fluorescent colors are versatile. The same is true for space. Space should not be the protagonist. A space is only complete when people come in to live in it. Therefore, the spaces we design are not strong, but rather comfortable, personal, and full of a sense of life.

"Gate" - actually has the concept of leading people in. We hope that the owners can understand and agree with this concept, and then let us lead them in a certain direction of life.

How did the design company start?

Xie: Gray Door was established in 2015. At the beginning, it was just a simple personal studio with an unstable caseload of 2 million. The most impressive thing is that the owner of the case received only RMB 500,000, which is equivalent to charging a design fee. Other budgets must be sacrificed, but the spatial layout and cabinets of the home cannot be sacrificed! We settled the case due to expediency, and asked the homeowner to write an article about unpacking the new house as a friendly favor. Unexpectedly, the article about unpacking the new house quickly became popular on the Internet, triggering discussions among villagers, and my case was concluded. Just keep coming in. In addition, the executive director Lin Yicheng is a friend of mine in the Taichung design group. He is good at all kinds of decoration details, and he always provides various experience exchanges without secrets. After several cooperations, we have a tacit understanding. I have projects and he has expertise. Therefore, they jointly created the Gray Door Team.

How to convey your ideas through design?

Xie: Gray Gate wrote on the official Facebook:

Every building will stand on the earth for at least 40 years.

Every inch of decoration material will be a huge waste.

Therefore, we must use the most economical and The most durable decoration,

brings beautiful vision and healthy space to this land.

This is the concept we want to emphasize. Design is not about doing more, but if possible, less is better. The fewer lines, the better. The better, one more thread means one more work, one more work means one more procedure, and one more material is actually a burden for the future.

We also apply this subtraction concept in design and decoration. For example, wallpaper is a material with strong effects but very affordable price. However, since I learned that strong chemicals must be used to remove it, which will hurt the cleaning workers’ hands, skin, breathing, and substances remaining in the space, I decided I feel that there must be more environmentally friendly materials that can be used. Choosing building materials carefully and adhering to environmental protection, health and safety are all important values ??to us.

What difficulties and challenges have you encountered since starting business?

Xie: It is not easy to achieve "less". How to achieve the effect with less depends on our ideas and helping the homeowners create the timelessness and extra dimension of the space.

In addition to the space profession, we have another challenge that is both difficult and endless, and that is to play the role of family mouthpiece, peacemaker, and secretary.

You have to know that the owner that a design company has to deal with is usually not just one person, but a family, ranging from a couple to two or three generations of a family. Although we are in a modern era where information is transmitted far and wide, , although we are family members who live every day, what we do most is to help each family member convey their opinions, spread the word, and summarize common sense ideas with the greatest common denominator. Such challenges can be regarded as our daily practice (laughs) ).

? What do you think of the design environment in Taiwan?

Xie: I am very lucky to start a business in this era. This is the right time Taiwan has just begun to have design awareness and creative energy is booming. In the past, interior space design and architecture were all given the name of masters. "Design" is based on a certain height. But now a hundred schools of thought are contending and everyone can do it. For their own projects, homeowners are becoming more and more receptive to designers’ suggestions and ideas, and we are better able to convey ideas through design.

What do you do when you are not working?

Xie: There seems to be no time when I am not working (laughing) ~ I am often in a state of thinking about design at all times. In a department store, I will look at the counters to see the material. When a group of designers go to a restaurant to eat, we will be used to touching it under the table to see how it is finished. If necessary, we will get under the table to take pictures. We will also learn about special coatings when we see them. How hard it feels to the touch, so it's a bit crazy. Do you feel happy in this line of work? What do you want to say to the younger generations?

Xie: I often tell my assistant and even when teaching my children, life is about You must find something that makes you happy. If you work 8 hours a day and sleep 8 hours a day, can you be happy only if you don’t have to work or sleep for 8 hours? Of course you have to be happy even at work! As I often say: enjoy work , feel life, if you just want to make money, then the salary of selling pork rice and selling chicken steaks is better than that of current design novices, but if you can achieve beautiful things in this industry, get a sense of accomplishment here, and be happy and engaged all the time, That is your career. This industry is not easy, but it can give you a higher perspective and allow you to see good things. This is also the value of our profession. Postscript of my interview

Every time I call the designers, the designers (no matter which company) are either at the construction site or on the road, and the required picture files are always there. I didn't reply until late at night. In my heart, "interior design" is basically equated with "sweatshop"! But while interviewing Director Xie Jialing, I saw her eyes shining brightly during the interview, her insistence on design and materials, and her great love for the earth and the environment. I really became a fan of her, and also I saw the hard-working but happy working attitude of the craftsmen!