Personalities Color Interiors

Fort Collins design firm uses test to match decor, character for unique fit

Source: Denver Post      1/23/2005
Author: Chryss Cada

While most interior designers are focused on how a space will look, designers at Concept 360 are just as concerned with how it will feel.

"I'm interested in who people are, not what stuff they have," said Polly Zeleny, owner of the Fort Collins-based interior design firm. "We start with their personality and create an environment that is personalized to them."

Zeleny's interest in interiors and personalities began when she studied theater and design at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since graduating, she has worked for Walt Disney MGM Studios in Orlando and studied feng shui under master Joseph Yu.

As a designer, Zeleny said, her goal is to "help people realize their dreams and create spaces that support them where they live and work."

Five years ago, she decided a new, more collaborative approach was needed.

"Rather than just do something and hope they liked it, I needed a tool that would tell me what people wanted by finding out who they were."

Zeleny researched personality tests but couldn't find one that pinpointed environmental factors. The Myers-Briggs test - based on the theories of psychiatrist Karl Jung and widely used as a personality-typing instrument - came closest.

Using the same theories, Zeleny created the LifeSpaces quiz, which separates people into four categories based on their dominant personality types.

She recruited an engineer to help create a 20-question quiz, which reads like a combination career aptitude test and dating service form.

You've just inherited a large sum of money. How will you spend it?

A) Study with a renowned master
B) Sail around the world
C) Take a lovely respite where there is a gourmet chef
D) Plan and build a planetarium

After a really bad day you need:
A) Time online
B) Time with friends
C) Time alone
D) Time with the earth (the outdoors)

Based on their answers, participants are categorized as explorers, directors, purists or naturalists. Concept 360 employees use the results to determine what kinds of environments will make the respondents feel most comfortable.

"I had some knowledge of the preferences of the different types," Zeleny said, "but this quiz helps us match persons to their environments almost instantly."

For example, explorers are risk takers who prefer less control and more change. Zeleny's response is to give them bolder, more dynamic colors.

Brad Ward, owner of Fort Collins' Front Range Internet, tested out to be an explorer. Zeleny did his office in a muted stripe pattern.

An employee had suggested that Ward use Concept 360 to design the interior of his company's new building, he said.

"Their approach intrigued me because it is so different. It struck a chord to make the design so personal."

Each of the company's 48 employees took the test and came away with a customized environment.

"I think people were happy with the outcome because the process revolved around them," Ward said. "Instead of having a uniform look imposed on them, they had something they were very much a part of."

Concept 360 designed an overall palette for the company's public areas that has "aspects of all four types to be balanced and cohesive," Zeleny said. Then it customized each department for the people who work in it. As it turned out, people who worked together in each of the four departments scored similarly on the test. People in the sales department, for example, were primarily "directors," a type known for processing information by feeling.

Ward said the resulting designs seem to work, although they aren't things he would have come up with on his own.

"It's difficult to explain, except to say that it's really cool," he said. "All I knew is that white is really boring. Now, we have a building that doesn't only look good, it feels good."

On a smaller scale, the LifeSpace process can help families feel more comfortable in their homes and also learn about each other.

"The process was a bit like going through marriage counseling," said Michelle Schaefbauer, who used the firm while decorating her family's home. "It's not that we had that big of a problem, but our different styles were causing stress."

Michelle and her husband, Ken, took the test to pinpoint their differences as well as their common ground. She tested out to be a director; he scored as a naturalist.

"Clutter drives me nuts, and it's not even on Ken's radar," she said. "It created stress because, to feel comfortable, I need things to be put away."

Ken and the couple's 16-year-old son, Chris, now have space of their own in the newly finished basement, and their "clutter" is gone from communal living spaces on the main floor.

Residential customers such as the Schaefbauers take the test and then pay Concept 360 a consulting fee of $125 an hour to interpret the results.

Zeleny is also translating her LifeSpaces process to larger audiences. Developers of the new Cortina Lofts in downtown Fort Collins, for example, give homeowners the quiz and let them choose from color palettes specifically for their type.

In addition, she has written a book called "Creating Your LifeSpace" (Zeleny Group, $24.95).

Purists are deliberate, ambitious, analytical and witty. The purist personality stems from the tendency to process information by sensation. Purists have the innate ability to embrace what lies at hand. No clutter or knickknacks from a rummage sale here. A purist's style is a clean, uncluttered, fresh look that satisfies his or her quest for balance and serenity. Purists have an innate sense of elegance and space.

Explorers are fun-loving, spontaneous, creative and dynamic. The explorer personality has a tendency to process information by thinking. Explorers have a keen ability to think their way through situations that appear daunting to others. An explorer's style can be described as "whatever comes along." They use objects that spark the imagination and continue to provide them with wonder.

Directors are private, intense, spontaneous and precise. The director personality arises from the tendency to process information by feeling. Directors are innately able to take a situation and provide logical, systematic observations by processing the facts and the emotions they contain. The director's style is an exquisite mix and match of their world, arranged to perfection and presented with order and symmetry.

Naturalists are casual, chic, creative and warm. The naturalist personality is based on the tendency to process information by intuition. Naturalists can process emotion, logic and spiritual elements with fluidity. A naturalist's style is a fluid, colorful scene that carries emotion and memory with each piece. A mix of today, yesterday and tomorrow melts together.
Source: "Creating Your LifeSpace"