The Eye Has to Travel

“The Eye Has to Travel” 

This quote by Diana Vreeland has always been the inspiration for Decor Tours. Our first Decor Tour was launched nearly a decade ago, bringing a group of U.S. designers to Maison&Objet. In the meantime, we’ve branched out into other cities and other design adventures, always focused on introducing our guests to the wonderful resources, behind-the-scenes insight and in-depth knowledge that make these journeys engaging and exciting, but also a worthwhile investment in a design business.  

One thing we’ve have learned about travel is to allow yourself to experience every moment as the memories will stay with you forever. There have been so many moments on our tours. We’ve learned the art of marbleizing book end papers from a master while looking out onto a Venice canal. Tasted a vintage white wine aged at the bottom of the sea. We’ve been transported into Van Gogh’s Irises canvas in an underground quarry turned immersive art space in the south of France; Razored a velvet pile on a centuries old jacquard loom. Blown glass in Murano. Created a signature home fragrance.  Painted azulejos in Lisbon entered the magical world of Woad dyeing.  

Travel has a way of getting us to look at things with a fresh eye—a wonderful benefit for any design professional. Creative inspiration has you looking for the unique, the curious, and the wonderful.  It’s that amazing. Good designers know how to "borrow" an idea from one place and transform it into something quite fresh and new. I have archived a myriad of color and pattern schemes, finely crafted processes, fresh techniques and unique designs for future projects, developing a couture-level portfolio.  

Our purpose, with all our trips, is to share exceptional resources, but also to “fill-in-the-gaps” in terms of design information and education. This works for us too; we learn something new on every single trip. Think of our tours as your own personal study abroad program. (We offer CEU credits for selected destinations).  

Explore the cities you’ve always wanted to visit, with a small group of others who are just as passionate about design as you are and rediscover your thirst for design. This year we’re returning to London, with a focus on modern craftsmanship and design studios. And we’re heading back to Portugal, because it was amazing, and we didn’t see nearly enough of the outstanding design that country has to offer. (And wine lovers? Let us introduce you to the “Portugal Pour”!) As always, Provence is on our agenda, our first and always love. Provence is a must for anyone interested in textiles, where we’ll rediscover those under-the-radar design destinations.   

Never underestimate the power of travel; it can have a fascinating influence on your design business. Our Everyday Extraordinary trips are created, as designers, for other designers. Come with us on our next design adventure!  We’ll have discussions, presentations, private dinners, creative collaborations, demos and more… your options will be endless. Explore the possibilities, make future collaborations and be a part of one of our exclusive decor tours to the world’s best design venues. 

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