Reisa Pollard is a much sought-after Vancouver-based Interior Designer and principal of Beyond Beige Interior Design Inc. While she may poke fun at her mother’s cooking ability, when her mother Ali gets going, she has the same flair and creative spirit as her daughter. This flavourful dessert (please see below for full receipt), an enticing combination of Roquefort, pears and wine, is a sensory experience. Not only is it a sweet and zesty treat on the palette, but the aroma of the wine and the vision created by the gorgeous merlot-stained pear flesh offer an experience in presentation alone.

Much of Reisa Pollard’s design creates a layered and dynamic experience, where a space can be appreciated on numerous levels. The immediate impact when entering one of the spaces Pollard has created is the great style, the funky feel and the fashionable flash – whether it’s a private home custom-tailored to the client’s lifestyle or a public space, such as Ginger 62.

But as one begins to enjoy the comfort of the furniture and engages in the function of the room, it takes on another level of appeal. It indulges, while the room and furnishings seemingly anticipate the needs of its occupants, like the unusual feature of a condo master bedroom Pollard recently completed, which has a luxury bathroom incorporated right into the room as opposed to being a private and secluded space.

As one looks more closely, examining individual elements of the design, there’s a further appreciation for the unique and unusual pieces that Pollard has incorporated, like the ethereal beauty of 15 old chandeliers, each dipped in wax and hung together, illuminating a seating area in The Morrissey Pub.

It’s interesting that Pollard’s sophisticated design creates such inviting spaces, regardless of whether they’re public or private. There’s a lot of crossover in the needs one has in both. In public spaces, explains Pollard, “I get behind the psychology of what you’re selling. You’re not selling beer, you’re selling comfort at your home away from home, or you’re selling sex, or your selling social interaction. You profile the end-user – what would they have in their place?” Making people comfortable in a lounge or a relax-and-let-your-hair-down type of environment can mean drawing on their own personal space to provide them their personal comforts – even when they’re not at home.

As her company name would lead you to believe – quite correctly – Pollard’s designs are complex creations of colour and texture. They’re anything but beige backdrops for a conventional life. This certainly doesn’t mean that she can’t design traditional or conventional spaces – her design vision is versatile and can satisfy anyone, from the most reserved client to the most outrageously flamboyant. She simply doesn’t see a need for a space to be bland or boring, and creates with passion.

Pollard explains that she doesn’t simply sit with catalogues, she works with imagination and inspiration. Sometimes she works from an idea, sometimes finding a piece that inspires the result – often finding unusual pieces that she can repurpose or that provide an unusual spin to a space. A powder room she did in a builder’s own home features a vanity made from an old stereo console. “I love doing powder rooms because they are this little contained story.” The whimsical and fabulously restored piece gives the room a story and a polished, upscale and masculine look.

While having designed a host of spaces, from nightlife hotspots and commercial condos to luxury homes, Reisa Pollard is currently her own client. The Beyond Beige design studio is undergoing a massive renovation and will soon feature four display bathrooms, two display kitchens and 3,000 sq. ft. of design sensation.