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.

LED Lighting update

In January, I posted some info on developments in lighting, including LEDs. Now there is exciting news about the developments coming to the market. Recently in NYC, at the SDA Lighting Showcase, 30 premier lighting manufacturers featured their latest products. Here is the summary from 3Rings: "....we got a sneak peak at USAI's newest LED lighting, along with the company's groundbreaking NanoLED, which will be unveiled on the national stage at Greenbuild...." read it for yourself, and watch the video on these amazing new lights at:

http://3rings.designerpages.com/2010/09/28/usai-debuts-its-groundbreaking-nanoled-at-the-sda-lighting-showcase/



It may be a little while before these products are available for ordinary residential use, but they are coming!!!

RENOVATION IN ANDERSON HEIGHTS

BEGINNING WITH THE DRAPERIES, ART AND RUGS.....



These clients own a wonderful home in Anderson Heights in Raleigh, not far from Five Points. They have lived there for years, and love the neighborhood so much, that they decided to stay where they were and renovate. We are still working on the final touches, but I wanted to get this much up on my blog, so the rest of you could see what fun we have been having with our art collection and custom rugs. The picture below is the BEFORE for the Dining Room, and below that is the empty Music Room, which they added during the renovation.

BEFORE

When I first saw this Music Room, I envisioned it as an art gallery. There aren't many walls, but with proper selection of original art and custom area rugs, we could make this room a peaceful yet dynamic experience.

After we designed the draperies (see below for full details), we began the search for some original art. I had seen the work of Scott Upton at Flanders Art Gallery a year before, and had recommended that my clients take a trip to the gallery to see his work. When they did, they were captivated!! We tried several different pieces for this space, and when this blue one went up, my clients were sold. So we began our color scheme with this work. We have since added some additional pieces on the other walls, and they will show up in a later blog post. Flanders has been great to work with!

The design for the rugs in these rooms had to begin with the Music Room. It was critical to choose a color combination that enhanced the Scott Upton, as well as flowed with the rest of the downstairs. And it needed to be simple enough not to detract from the painting, but still have enough detail to be interesting and balance with the rest of the traditional decor in the home. The colors turned out perfect in the space. These jpegs don't do it justice, so if you would like to see the rooms in person, I am sure my clients would be happy to give you "the tour"!

Once we arrived at the right rug for the music room, the challenge was to come up with a design for the adjoining Dining Room space, which is just a few feet away and completely visible from the Music Room. We explored many possibilities, and eventually chose a design that is actually a continuation of the border scrolls in the Music Room. But in this rug we used a plain double border, and let the scrolls dominate in the middle.

This is a close-up of the Dining Room rug, with the Music Room in the background. Both rugs use only 2 colors each, and they are the same colors. But the Music Room field is tip sheared, which makes it look like a third color (while keeping the price down!)

We did a lot of analyzing of color poms to get the right results in these rooms. The Music Room is very sunny, while the Dining Room light varies. We wanted to be sure that the results would be pleasing at all times, both day and night. We are thrilled with the final product!

CLOSE-UP OF CUSTOM LINEN DRAPERIES: I had a close-up here but I accidentally deleted it after I had completed all the rest of the layout. And since I am a designer, and not a webmaster, I give up! I'll post a close-up later on, but you can read about it here:

We chose to wrap the exterior of the room with these linen panels, to improve the acoustics for the piano. I designed a simple pleated panel with horizontal tucks at the top and the bottom. The sheers are fully operable, to provide protection from the direct sun in the morning.

Below are the renderings of our final selections for our custom rugs. After we chose the styles we were interested in, and the wool colors, we had renderings made of each possiblility. There was no charge for these renderings, and we explored at least 20 possibilities. We narrowed it down to these 2, and ordered custom strike-offs (24 x 24 inch corner samples), to be sure that they were perfect in the rooms. We were very happy with our choices, and then ordered the full size rugs. Davis and Davis Rugs has been wonderful to work with. There are hundreds of designs to choose from, and I can render all the standard designs myself with software on my laptop. There are over 120 wool colors, and I have the samples. When we want something that is not standard, they are so helpful, and they will render whatever you want done.

ALSO: they do WALL-TO-WALL carpeting, and have many beautiful designs that they can customize in your choice of colors.

Stay tuned for a continuation of this Project!

As we wrap up the details, and the photos are taken,

I will be posting it!!

USEFUL INTERIOR DESIGN LINKS

I've just added a new category to the right: Useful Interior Design Links. This makes it easier to just click on the topic you want information about, and be directly linked to that webpage. I had already posted info on lighting, but it's buried in past blog posts. So now you can access it whenever you need it without having to search for it!

Another useful link is to Residential Architect's recent article on Bamboo vs Hardwood - the pros and cons of each.

I've also added the link to Greenguard's Virtual Tour of Indoor Air Quality....A useful interactive guide to understanding indoor air pollution, and the simple ways you can combat it in your home. This is an on-line house tour which allows you to walk through a residence, scroll over various products to learn more about their chemical emissions, and discover some practical solutions.

BACHELOR'S BATHROOM REMODEL

SAN FRANCISCO HIGH RISE PROJECT COMPLETED....



Remember my April 25 post, with the pictures of the High Rise view from the 1oth floor? We have completed that bathroom remodel, and we are ecstatic about it! Quite a change from the "before" picture below.....


To see the drawings for this design, refer to the earlier email. Here is the finished product:

This is a tiny bathroom: the footprint is only 5 x 9, and this includes the tub, water closet and vanity. The actual floor space is less than half that figure. The challenge, of course, was to make it appear bigger. I did this by expanding the mirror over the sink to be the full width of the wall, and by using a reflective wall paneling on the opposite wall. Also, replacing the old medecine cabinet with a high quality cabinet the same height as the wall mirror creates a continuous corner of reflectivity, adding to the illusion of space.

This apartment building is about 30 years old, and due to the way the plumbing was configured, it wasn't feasible to change out the water closet. So we chose white grout for the tile, to help minimize the old fixture.

The wall hung vanity also adds to the spacious feel.

The owner of this space is an art collector, with a terrific sense of humor. He chose (with my approval!) this hand painted shower curtain, to continue the "art experience". The artist has a website, and you can order these artsy shower curtains on line, at www.showercurtainart.com

The carved granite sink is a focal point, and is complemented with the hand cut, recycled green glass mosaic tiles.

Halogen lighting adds great clean light to this crisp room....

VIEW INTO THE DINING AREA

We had the BEST contractor on this project: Be sure to check him out if you need work done in San Francisco: Brendan Waters. www.brendanwatersconstruction.com

This project is an excellent example of virtual design. I visited this space 2 years ago and took pictures. That's it. The entire project has been completed long distance, using phone and email. It has been a real pleasure to work on - the client is ABSOLUTELY one of my favorites!

Now we are working on the plans for remodeling the kitchen.

STAY TUNED!

W O W ! ! is this RECYCLED ? ? ?

SAVE THOSE PLASTIC BOTTLES!!!



Look what was launched at the Milan Furniture Fair a few weeks ago!



This is a very classy chair! Shown here in a one ton block of ice (Milan always does things over the top!), the chair is designed by Philippe Starck, and produced by Emeco, in conjunction with Coca-Cola. It's official name is the Navy Chair, and the original design was produced with 80% recycled materials. This new version is called the 111, because it uses 111 recycled soda bottles per chair.



Coca-Cola approached Emeco with the challenge of making a Navy Chair with a new, unproven formulation of rPET (recycled plastic bottles). Spawned by Coca-Cola’s new Spartanburg South Carolina recycling plant, the concept intended to raise awareness about recycling. “The goal of the 111 Navy project was to alter consumer behavior by illustrating the value of rPET with beautifully designed and everyday products - ultimately encouraging more recycling.” They expect to use 3 million plastic bottles per year in the manufacture of this chair.



Looks to me like they will succeed. It sure appeals to my "Green Mindset!"

The chair has a distinctive, “velvet” finish that is scratch resistant and comes in six colors: Red, Snow, Flint Gray, Grass Green, Persimmon and Charcoal. Three of them (Snow, Flint and Red) can be used outdoors.

Drink Coke, and then sit in it!

=)