DESIGN INSPIRATION: Successful designers appear to be a little more enlightened than the rest of us when it comes to creativity, producing a seemingly endless stream of ideas that beautify and enhance our lifestyles. While these hot and humid last days of summer fill many of our minds with a lazy, hazy fog, we asked our design panel where they turn for inspiration when the well runs dry.

Regina Andrew Design

As designers and artists, we love to collect things, an important process for inspiration. The journey or the hunt is the most exciting component in the sequence of design, especially when we find something unexpected.

Some of our most inspired ideas have come to us when we were not out officially looking. For example, a couple of years ago we had been toying with the idea of seaside-related products. Fate stepped in when we arrived in China and of all things there was a small seashell shop. This little shop in the middle of China has led to one of our most successful collections, Coastal Getaways.

We also love to incorporate a little bit of nostalgia into our designs, keeping an eye out for things that bring back memories. Sometimes a weekend at our family's country estate in Canada is perfect for this. Being free from the Internet and the cell phone is a great way to clear the mind and open it up to new ideas.

Everywhere! I really find inspiration from so many different places: fashion, architecture, nature, rap music! For our furniture collections the place I turn to consistently is old movies. The newest designs are inspired by great flicks like Butterfield 8 and The Shining. The rustic modern style of the Torrance collection, made of rich oiled walnut, brushed brass and terrazzo, was inspired by the ultra-hip sets of The Shining. If you haven't seen it lately you should watch it again, though it's still plenty scary, and check out the grooviness of the sets.

Nature, specifically flowers. They have it all — great color combinations, a variety of textures, interesting layers with different points of interest, their own surprising rhythms if you look closely enough, and elegant silhouettes and proportions. There is such a range among them that each one seems to offer its own world of inspiration.

I constantly go to flea markets, and of course look at any magazine I can get my hands and eyes on, and then I "adjust." Sometimes in magazines or television, it's the negative space that inspires me.

My Midwest roots are a huge inspiration to me. From the rustic elements of my family farm to classic Americana pieces in the house, the elements found in this simplistic lifestyle constantly spur ideas and are ideal in helping me create spaces where people can converse, converge and share stories about their day.

If I had to pick one item that has inspired me, it would be the farm kitchen table that my parents had when I was growing up — it actually served as a muse for the occasional furniture line that I'm designing.

New York City! Where else can you find all cultures of the world represented in one place? A daily walk down the street is filled with so much information that it can make your head spin. On the way to work, I walk through the flower market where the green plants and blooming fresh-cut florals always make me think. Now and then I'll walk by Kremer Pigments on 29th Street where I enjoy the simple window display with colorful pigments ready to be mixed. The store itself is shabby chic without trying; all the vibrant pigments in glass containers lined up on the shelves of old wooden bookcases. What a visual!

Theater and music abound in NYC and even the latest concert by Madonna, which I attended last night, made me think of social/political issues that create commentary through music, and we all know that "music makes the people come together." I find great inspiration in music.

I get my inspiration from everything that is around me wherever I am. I will see something walking down Le Marche aux Puces in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, or Japan where I recently went and found some wonderful antique textiles. My eyes are always open wherever I go.

To be a good and relevant designer one must also be an armchair analyst. The best places to find inspiration are to study how people's lives are changing and then figure out the impact that will have on their homes.

There is inspiration everywhere. It's important to be observant all the time whether you are at the movies, the grocery store, a museum, having dinner with friends or cleaning out your garage. One of my favorite designs came to me when I visited a factory and saw a stack of boxes thrown in the corner. The shape of those boxes became a sculpture, and later a bookcase.

The biggest outside influence in design is technology. Every line that could be drawn has been drawn. New technology allows us to add new twists on all tried and true ideas.