With the Charming Route by Nini Andrade Silva, ARTEH® presents the exclusive interview with the decorator.

Get to know Nina's motivations, the tendencies and styles and how she lives her projects.

1. What are your sources of inspiration for interior decoration projects, namely the Aquapura Douro Valley, the Hotel Teatro and the The Vine Hotel, internationally recognized cases of success?

Most of the times, my major sources of inspiration come from my countless journeys. It is during my travels that I seek difference, but also from simple things like what I call the soul of the space itself, its surroundings, or its history!

For example, the Aquapura Douro Valley is a Hotel from the Douro Valley Territory, where the earth tones are put to test in each area!  In the Hotel Teatro the inspiration came from the history of the building itself, which was a theater long ago, so that all its design is an allusion to the world of arts and show.  In case of the The Vine Hotel the inspiration is its surroundings, that is, the island of Madeira itself. Here History begins outside and is told in detail inside the hotel!

2. On your website you say:  "I don't follow trends... I seek to create them!". How do you see the decoration trends in Portugal for the next 10 years?

Coco Chanel said once "La mode se démode, le style jamais!”.

I could not agree more with this phrase, because I also feel that I live ahead of my days!  Trends are something I do not worry about, because they are precisely why my projects superseed each other.

When we speak of the hotel sector, and of the private dwellings, there are endless factors more important than the current or future trends, namely the surrounding, the history, the context… Those are really important.

3. How do you describe your relation with these three so very distinct projects (Aquapura Douro Valley, Hotel Teatro e The Vine Hotel)?

Each project is unique, so the relation that I establish with each one of them is also unique! The Aquapura Douro Valley is a fantastic project for I had to travel all over the world in search of the right piece for each area of the hotel! The antiques, the rare objects, make this hotel a living museum! The Vine Hotel is a true tribute to my island, here the relation is affectionate. As to the Hotel Teatro, I must point out the fantastic creative solutions we conceived for furniture design, almost all of them designed specifically by my team and I.

4. Which are the main motivations, that led you to accept projects such as these?

The motivation is in each challenge that I seize as if it were the first one.

5. Does a Nini Andrade da Silva style exist?

Yes, there is a style called Ninimalist! [Laughter]