Dorling Design Studio

A full-circle design moment from Seattle to Venice ✨

We were so excited to hear there would be a “Chihuly Over Venice” exhibit in Venice celebrating 30 years since the original installation. I initially thought we would miss it since it officially opens May 5th, but to our delight, the 3 new installations were already up and on display during our time in Venice.

We did miss the indoor installation at Istituto Veneto, which shares Dale’s story and history in Venice, but we were so grateful to experience the 3 new pieces:

Blue and Green Tower
End of the Day Chandelier
Gold Tower (our favorite, especially when lit at night)

As a native Seattleite, you grow up hearing the name Dale Chihuly and quickly learn how to “spot a Chihuly” whether in a downtown Seattle office building, Las Vegas, or in an airport somewhere around the world. Chihuly is as synonymous to us as Mount Rainier, orcas, and the Space Needle.

There’s a wonderful article by that shares the full story behind the 30th anniversary of “Chihuly Over Venice”
https://seattlemag.com/arts/visual-arts/chihuly-returns-to-venice/

Now, when we’re out on our boat cruising through Portage Bay and pass the Chihuly Boathouse as we round the bend toward Lake Union, there will be a deeper connection to the work we see displayed and to our time in Venice. 😍

*We also visited Murano Island, where Chihuly learned his craft decades ago. As a designer, I’ve always loved Murano glass light fixtures and look forward to incorporating them into projects. There’s something special about now having a personal connection to the island, to Chihuly, and to Seattle.

Salone 2026. Flew from Spain to Milan to soak up the last few days of Salone. Milan's transformation for design week is incredible. I wish I had more than 3 days to take it all in. My next trip will be for the entire week of Design week and Salone. So much inspiration and cool details to bring back.

The reason for this amazing trip, part 1, was to visit the Cosentino factory and one of their local quarries here in southern Spain, a bucket list experience for me! huge thank you to and my wonderful rep for inviting me along with a group of design industry experts to explore both their factory and quarry. What an amazing experience learning about their products and commitment to sustainability. Seeing the stone extraction process firsthand was incredible, from mountain to kitchen, it's truly fascinating. Visiting a quarry was definitely checking off a bucket list item off my list!