The art of stylish furnishing – a visit to interior designer Viola Fretz
Interview with interior designer Viola Fretz
October 2023
The art of stylish interior design. This is the credo of the experienced interior designer Viola Fretz. Their company now has a 113-year history and has not only a great name in Germany but also masters the profession of stylish furnishings internationally. Viola Fretz leads the family business in the 4th generation. Her team has been called in for many large interior design projects. At her large exhibition in Konstanz, I was able to conduct a personal interview with Ms. Fretz and ask some exciting questions.
LA ESPLORA:
What are the particular strengths of the Fretz company?
Viola Fretz
: As a family-owned company, our corporate culture allows us to respond to customers’ wishes on a very individual basis, from planning to delivery. An owner-managed family business can respond quite differently to customer needs with their values. The most important thing is to exemplify values, such as how we treat suppliers and customers.
We carry a very wide range of products with almost all well-known brands and designers. Thus, we can freely design and creatively bring out the best for the customer. The comprehensive portfolio allows us to make everything possible for customers and, with good planning, almost anything is possible.
LA ESPLORA:
What values are important to you in the company?
Viola Fretz
: Authenticity – we are authentic. We plan for our customers as we would plan for ourselves. We are looking for the optimal from the design as well as from the price-performance ratio. We discuss many projects as a team – this is also how many creative ideas are born. Traditional values – we see ourselves as a service provider and live this very strongly, we don’t just talk about it. We are always on the lookout for the new trends, not only for home furnishings but also in the lifestyle sector. In our work, a large part of psychological skills is also very important.
LA ESPLORA: What competencies does your team offer? What makes a good interior designer?
Viola Fretz
: In our team work interior architects and interior designers. All employees have specialized training and are thus available to our customers with in-depth knowledge. We have to be creative, you have to bring taste. You can’t learn that. You also need a psychological intuition. Taste – the eye for beauty – must already be anchored in the personality of individual employees.
LA ESPLORA: Do you also furnish complete buildings and houses? For example, a converted farmhouse, a cube?
Viola Fretz
: In principle, yes. We also have new projects or assist in renovations of private homes and business facilities. In some cases, we are already consulted by the architects during the planning phase and provide support with the floor plan. We also do renovation work. With regard to the fact that we also give material suggestions, we go into the planning phase with. Here we have a wide network of partners, architects or other craftsmen, on which we can then fall back. What also makes us special is that we can also offer this service internationally.
LA ESPLORA
:
Exciting, so you could also create the complete interior design for a vacation villa in Italy or for a house in Portugal and realize such project abroad?
Viola Fretz
: Exactly, we are planning. The coordination of craftsmen must be done on site abroad. Our fitters then also fly abroad for assembly. We have already implemented projects in the USA, Dubai and Taiwan.
LA ESPLORA: These are already major challenges. Are you yourself on site for such special projects? Tell us about your most exciting projects. Which project do you still remember as a particular challenge?
Viola Freatz
: Yes, I am often on site myself. The last exciting project was a mansion in Beverly Hills, California – a large star architect mansion. This was a special challenge – the transports to the USA alone are a challenge. The U.S. has special requirements, e.g., for the fabrics, how they must be equipped.
Another exciting project: a customer who had his house in Taiwan furnished by us. For this project, the goods were in containers for four months.
But also here in the region – we also have very many beautiful projects on Lake Zurich in Switzerland.
LA ESPLORA: How do you go about decorating a room, a house? What steps do you take first?
Viola Fretz
: The first steps are certainly to look at the dimensions of the room. What does the customer want? What should go into the room? We then check the conditions of the room. I always say you can furnish any room with the right proportions of furniture. The proportions of furniture are enormously important. Even a room, which in itself is very small, can be beautifully furnished with well-chosen furniture. Then – or already in parallel – the development of a color concept is on the agenda. What is the customer’s color type?
But the most important step is actually the proportion development of a room. Our wide range of products helps here. When you have access to many products in the portfolio, you can get the most out of any space.
LA ESPLORA:
With which materials do you create which room atmosphere?
Viola Fretz
: Fabrics are certainly one of the main elements to design a room. With the use of textiles you make rooms warmer. For example, if a customer wants a supercooled room – you certainly go to leather. But also the wall design – curtains yes or no? Or you can use mirrors, for example, to have a great effect on the design of a room. You can design the space with many design elements, and thus pick up the needs of the customer. What type is the customer? In which room does he feel comfortable? This is what we, as interior designers, have to find out and work out. Derived from this, we need to develop the materialization of the concept.
LA ESPLORA:
Which materials or colors do you personally particularly like to work with?
Viola Fretz
: I like to have contrasts – for example, a concrete wall combined with a warm, beautiful fabric as a sofa. Perhaps also a combination with wood, because wood grounds. I am also happy to bring silver or gold into the room. The room must never be too uniform. Because if there is no tension, there is no atmosphere.
Light is also a very important element for a room. The light is like the frame in a picture. With a well-placed light source, I end up directing the entire room. I personally find the use of mirrors great, because with mirrors you also always create a tension in the room. Mirrors enlarge spaces – it brings width into the room. These are my preferences, never the monotonous – I like it lively.
LA ESPLORA:
Do you design only houses and apartments or also gardens and outdoor areas?
Viola Fretz
: We also do the garden design in that we do the planning for the outdoor furniture and lights. However, we do not plan and design the plants. Here we still work with partners who can then assist in the customer’s garden design. Or even if the customer wants a pool, for example, we also work with partners. We step in when it comes to the materialization and furnishing of the outdoor areas. As a rule, it is always an individual arrangement, including with the garden architects and the customer.
LA ESPLORA: We talked earlier about special projects, such as furnishing a mansion in Beverly Hills. What were projects where you also reached your limits? Which project is still present in your mind ?
Viola Fretz
A project in Switzerland – here an old building was converted into 50 apartments. The owner came to us in March 2020 in Corona time and asked us to completely furnish these 50 apartments by July 2020. He didn’t have a concept yet – he just gave the budget, nothing else. We had to create a complete concept in one week. We then worked day and night as a team, and actually finished the concept in a week. Then there was the fact that in March 2020 the borders were closed due to the Corona situation. We didn’t know who could even deliver from the scheduled suppliers now; some of the suppliers came from Asia. We did it, but it’s still a mystery to me today how we did it. The apartments were completely finished in July 2020 – from the sofa to the cutlery in the kitchen. We didn’t have 50 of the same apartments, but the apartments were also furnished differently.
LA ESPLORA:
When there are such challenging projects, how does Viola Fretz get inspiration and strength for new projects?
Viola Fretz
: It also often goes hand in hand for me. I like to choose the beautiful spots in the world. Water is important to me. II always need water – I can relax with water.
They have to be places where I can also find inspiration. My profession is really passion. Dubai, for example, I find sensational every time from the inspiration with all the trends. Other places like Sardinia are also sources of inspiration for me. But the profession is a joy. Even today, I would say there is no more beautiful profession than interior designer. Every new project is always so exciting. And when you see the result at the end, it’s so much fun.
LA ESPLORA: What home trends do you see in the coming years? Where is the journey going?
Viola Fretz
: The journey will be that people want something homey, warm at home. People are looking for an antipole to the outside but very restless, disharmonious time. People want to feel harmony at home. The materials will be more harmonious, calm and warm. But the facilities will also become lighter overall in the future. This is also due to the fact that living spaces are becoming smaller and smaller. You then need lighter furniture, so you feel a lightness, a harmony at home. So that you can recharge your batteries there.
The topic of sustainability is also becoming increasingly important. That people no longer always just consume, but think more consciously, for example, no longer every 2-3 years to buy a new sofa, but to take more money in hand and then also have times 20 years of pleasure in a sofa.
LA ESPLORA:
Which travel destination has remained in your fondest memory?
Viola Fretz
: One of the most beautiful travel destinations I found was the Amalfi Coast. For me, Italy is the most beautiful country of all anyway. If you have seen the beautiful beaches in Sardinia, for example, there is nothing comparable so quickly. And the beautiful gives the strength to create beautiful things again.
LA ESPLORA: Dear Ms. Fretz, thank you very much for this personal interview.
About the interior designer Viola Fretz
Viola Fretz holds a degree in economics, is a passionate interior designer and has been managing the owner-operated and family-run furniture store Leopold Fretz GmbH & Co KG in the fourth generation since 2000.
Over 113 years of tradition. For more than 113 years, the Fretz furniture store has been known far beyond the city limits of Constance. It is now one of the top 10 in the industry.
The name Fretz became more and more a quality brand. Viola Fretz-Wältermann’s father Werner was the creative consultant especially for many companies. Even today, traces of his office concepts and interior design can be discovered around the lake. His mother Paula played a major role in the growth of the furniture store. Under her leadership, the current main building on Fürstenbergstrasse in Constance was remodeled and expanded in the 1960s and 1970s. Where once was the cradle of the company, moved in the meantime the kitchen house and the children’s furniture department.
Today, she is assisted by a team of 40 experienced interior architects and interior designers.
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