RED KITCHENS

 

I ADORE red kitchens!  They have so much life and an expectation of something really COOL just about to happen.  (BTW, it's possible to have a red kitchen and still have it be cool.  Red does not always have to be warm.  However, a red kitchen is never COLD.  How's that for contradictory color theory?  Designers are allowed to do that!)  

My first personal remodel was updating a 1960s modern house to be current for the 80s.  We tore out the old kitchen and put in a modern white German kitchen (by Alno).  The walls were - you guessed it! - RED.  I cut my teeth on that project:  I had to layout the design in centimeters!  And my husband and I did all the installation ourselves. But that's a blot post for another day....Moving on with Doug's kitchen:

I had seen this red kitchen from Ikea on line and loved it, and I had read in shelter magazines about architects that were using Ikea for their own NYC apartment remodels.  If architects were using it, the quality would probably be OK.  And the price was right:  for an apartment, we didn't want to spend all our budget on Italian cabinets...there had to be some money left for art, since that is Doug's passion.

Doug and I visited the Ikea showroom in Palo Alto to check out the quality, and decided to go with it.  We started this project in 2007, long before I got my new Interior Design software, so I used Ikea's software to lay out the floor plan, import the cabinets and do the elevations.

The design developed as we went along, as design so often does!  The original design was for the microwave to be hidden behind doors, but Doug wanted to consider ease of access, so I laid out this elevation (above), showing the new black frig and dishwasher, with the existing microwave installed in an open cabinet. Neither of us liked this, so we went back to the original, with the microwave behind the doors.

This sketch is hand drawn onto the Ikea wall elevation of the back wall of the kitchen.  It shows the view from the Dining Room, with the new hood vent, the Dining Room drawers from Ikea, granite mosaic backsplash, and soapstone counters.  Doug loves soapstone - he had it in his Santa Barbara house and is hooked on soapstone!

This elevation is a study I did for Doug about hanging his new Wusthof knives on a magnetic knife rail on the granite mosaic backsplash.  I imported the Ikea elevation into my new software and imported the picture of the Wusthof knives from the internet, and correctly scaled it to see if it would fit properly.  We're going with it!   Stay tuned for tomorrow's post: Week 1- Demolition and Wall Construction....

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

This Cary Interior Designer has not been in Cary much over the past couple of months. What have I been doing? Check out this beautiful view of Alta Plaza Park in San Francisco! My son moved into an unfurnished apartment and I was lucky enough to be the designated designer! The amazing thing about this apartment is that it is right in the middle of all the beautiful hills and typical San Francisco cityscape, but when you look out the window, this beautiful park is what you see. If you step out on the balcony, you can see all the SF scenes; but from inside you see the peace of the park.

So I have been designing a bachelor pad for a twenty-something. (I also visited my other bachelor client in San Francisco. We are working on his apartment too, but it's a radically different aesthetic. Stay tuned for more on that project later, and visit his completed Bathroom Remodel post in this blog: July 2010).

So where do you begin when you are designing an apartment from scratch? We began with my son's art: a Mondrian that we ordered after our visit to MOMA in NYC 2 years ago.

Here is a pared down view of the process:  (Click on individual images to enlarge)

FIRST VISION BOARD: After discussing with my son what type of sofa he wanted, and what type of entertainment center, I did the first "vision board". That enables us to get a feel for the possibilities. I imported pictures from Pottery Barn for the sofa and coffee table, and I found a cool table at Pier One that complemented the Mondrian, since we had determined that the dining area would be the best location for it. We had discussed the art for the wall over the sofa, and decided on using my son's photographs from Europe, NYC and New Zealand. And the entertainment center I imported from my software program.

FLOOR PLAN: The next step was to properly scale all these items into the floor plan. I did many, many different floorplans, studies and vision boards of possible furniture for all these parts of the space. I emailed links to my son and together we reasoned out what would work best, what appealed to him most, and what fit the budget. I am only showing a few of the images here...

NEXT VISION BOARD: This board shows some changes: We shopped around and found a really cool table that is similar to the Pier One piece in the first concept board, but this table was less stark, both in color and form (slightly rounded, whereas Pier One was totally angular). We found a chair at the same store that was comfortable and affordable. We purchased an entertainment center from Ikea that looked just as I had imagined from my software. We had arrived at blue as the right color for the rug after looking at several possibilities, so I colored in a blue shape. And I found a coffee table that I thought my son would like from CB2. So I imported all these changes and we kept on working from this revised basis.

NEXT ROUND OF VISIONS: For this group of vision boards, I sent my son several actual rug choices. We looked at rugs from Crate and Barrel, West Elm, CB2, as well as several choices from my designer arsenal. In the end, we chose one of my rugs from the San Francisco Design Center - a Capel rug in Denim Blue. I imported it into the vision board, and we are waiting for it to arrive.

ELEVATION: This elevation shows the Pottery Barn sofa with chaise that we have on order. My new software is so cool that I can scale everything exactly, down to the fraction of the inch. So I did a design layout for my son's photos, showing the exact sizes of his frames, and how far apart they all are to be hung. I hung them all before I left SF. We are just waiting for the sofa now! To the right of the sofa, we opted for a small simple table from Walmart to hold the Ikea lamp. We were running out of money! To the right of the table/lamp are the beginning of the kitchen cabinets and the microwave.

This project lent itself very well to virtual design - long distance communication by email and phone.  (I didn't have to go to San Francisco - I just wanted to!!)

The examples of vision boards and floor plan are a good illustration of working on a design as a package.  I can either work by the hour, or on a package basis.  Sometimes all you need is an idea of where to begin - where to place your furniture, what sizes to buy.  For others, like my son, you need to know what the possibilities are, where to find them, and how to integrate them. For more information on how we might work on your project, give me a call, and we can talk about it.

I'm back doing interior design in Cary now, and the things we've ordered have started to arrive, so stay tuned for final pictures later on!

The MAGIC of WINDOW TREATMENTS

There are many beautiful things in the manufactured universe, and FABRIC

is certainly one of the most magical. I have always loved fabric. I first recall being entranced by it as a child, when I discovered a bolt of vintage silk in my mom's closet. She had brought it with her from England. It was a delicious red color, and I could imagine a rajah's trappings to go with it. When I was twelve, my parents enrolled me in a sewing class at the local Singer store and I got to select the fabric and pattern for a dress (black and white checked gingham!) that I made myself (with zipper!). I was hooked. I loved walking the aisles of fabric stores wherever I could find them, and made many of my own clothes. I even made my wedding dress - an exquisite, simple, elegant Vogue pattern.






When I enrolled in the Interior Architecture and Design curriculum at Northwestern University, I discovered all the magic of interior fabrics. The showrooms at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago begcame my regular haunts! Rows and rows of fabrics and trims - surely this is Heaven!

Window Treatments are one of the most creative ways to enjoy beautiful fabrics. With the perfect balance of shape, color and texture, each treatment is a canvas, and that is exactly how I approach designing a window treatment.

Also wonderful to consider in your "window treatment canvas" is how the outside light plays into the mix. Different times of day produce different light effects, both in color and shadow, and the results can be thrilling, when you walk into a space and see the light dancing on your wall or floor through the pattern of your fabric or shutters.

I have a wonderful workroom that I have used for years. I specialize in very individual treatments, and this seamstress has all the background and skills to help me put my ideas together in the most practical form for the client. I am an artist, and I treat each project as a canvas specific to that client. I don't have any standard treatments. I start each treatment with an in-depth discussion with you to find out what you need and what you love. And then we work to narrow the field to those solutions that are right for you (including your budget). If you do want a "standard treatment" (simple pinch pleats, for instance), we have no problem executing it. But I love to put in a little detail that distinguishes your treatment from anyone else's...

I don't have a particular period. I love all interior design! I do traditional through contemporary based on the client's preferences. Clients usually come to me because they have specific needs and desires. My task is to coordinate all the elements that you love and fuse them into a cohesive whole. Creating a beautiful, individual project canvas is what I love to do!

All the above treatments were designed by me. Check out my new Window Treatment Slideshow to see more. These are not professional photos (I took most of them myself), but you can still get the idea! See the Slideshow link in the column to the right, just under my website url.

SAN FRANCISCO HIGH RISE APARTMENT

What would you do, if you lived on the top floor of a high rise in Pacific Heights (San Francisco), and this was your daytime view of the city.....


And this was your night time view.....

And this was your bathroom....?

Not a hard decision!! My client decided to renovate. We are having the best time selecting all the materials for a really classy bathroom. This is the new vanity.....

This is the new light fixture......

And this is the elevation that I have done with my new software program, which I absolutely LOVE working with!! With this software, we can change out the different elements with the click of the mouse, and experiment with different colors and materials. I have enlarged the mirror to over twice the size of the existing one, and we have selected wonderful recycled glass tile (eco-friendly), slate flooring, and a really unusual wall paneling....The installation should be complete in a few months, so be sure to check back to see the photos of the finished project!