Should You Hire an Interior Designer?

Lynne Dewhurst / October 31, 2011 / No comments

What is the value of hiring an interior designer?

Autumn Conrad: From working in the field you probably understand that there is a perception in the community at large that interior design is about creativity and coming up with a fabulous design concept, which is what designers ultimately do in the end. Interior design really involves a lot of technical problem solving skills so really it’s finding a blend between that and creativity to achieve a successful design solution that’s going to have long-term value for the client.

Interior designers have training, expertise and experience about building codes, construction, plumbing, electrical, lighting, materials and products. They are continuously researching materials and finishes, and they create new and innovative ways to create amazing spaces.

Who should a consumer hire: a decorator, a designer, or an architect?

AC: It depends on the type of project. If you don’t need to have any sort of major structural changes, or your project doesn’t require building permits, an architect isn’t required. Some states allow accredited designers to pull permits, but they cannot submit drawings that require moving load-bearing walls. They can have an architect or engineer review their plans and stamp them, though.

If you’re doing a basic refresh of your materials and furnishings and accessories for your home then possibly a decorator or someone who hasn’t completed a degree and taken the NCIDQ exam might be appropriate if you like their work. If your project is more involved and it might involve building permits and opening up or demolishing, a designer with more technical expertise and training is appropriate.

Read the rest of this article at Just Luxe!

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Category: Questions, Tips & Tricks /

An All Black Apartment?

Lynne Dewhurst / August 6, 2011 / 4 comments

You may have to refresh your page once to view the video above.  But if that doesn’t work, the original is here: All Black Apartment

I love this apartment.  At least, I love the color and the drama.  I’m not such a fan of her objets d’art, however.

But it works for her. I would love to see a trend in black or other dark colors being used as paint and flooring. I think people have become so used to white and other “safe” colors, that we forget how many options are out there.

If you could know, without a doubt, that a color would look fantastic in your home, what would you choose? Red? Green? Gold?

I’ve already gone part of the way there, by painting my powder room a rusty red color. It’s not something most people would pick for a small room, but it really sets off the art and other accents. And it’s not dark, like you might expect.

So what daring color might you use?

By the way, if you’re interested in the music used in the video, you can find the artist, Darling Cait, here.

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Category: Design Inspirations, Trends /

A Real-life “Up”

Lynne Dewhurst / March 9, 2011 / No comments

How cool is this?!?

In a project organized by National Geographic, a team of engineers, scientists, and balloon pilots transformed fiction into reality when they launched a small house into the skies, modeled after the Pixar film ‘Up’.

Read more and see the rest of the pictures here.

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Category: Uncategorized /

The Ultimate Boy’s Bedroom

Lynne Dewhurst / March 7, 2011 / No comments

Designer Steve Kuhl fulfills every boy’s fantasy with this insanely cool pirate ship bedroom. The six-year-old occupant from Minnesota chose between a space ship, race car, castle, and pirate ship. Most of us would probably agree, he made an excellent decision.

The main feature of the room is the incredible floating pirate ship. Kuhl used 2×12 ribs to construct the hull of the ship, covering them with layers of 1/2 inch plywood to act as the planking. A bomb-proof blend of plaster and epoxy with integrated coloring was used simulate an old ship’s hull.

But that’s not all. The room is also decked out with a rope bridge that connects the pirate ship to the top of a jail cell, and a rope suspended from the ship’s hull provides drop-in access to the closet. There’s also a completely hidden spiral slide, that lets you travel downstairs in a more adventurous way.

Check out the rest of the post here.

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Category: Bedroom, Design Inspirations, Trends /

Interiors Awards Pt 3

Lynne Dewhurst / February 15, 2011 / No comments

Large Office Winner: One Shelly Street

Via Contract Magazine

When Clive Wilkinson was invited to design the interiors of a new building for the banking and financial services (BFS) of the Macquarie Group, he realized, “They were closer to samurai warriors than city business gents—fast, efficient, rigorous, and driven by a code of ethics.” That response pleased Peter Maher, the freewheeling head of BFS, who wanted to energize his 3,000 troops and show clients “how open our culture is and how we operate and communicate.” The building was to be a catalyst for change, and Eric Veldhoen + Company gave substance to the client’s vision with Activity Based Working, a system the firm pioneered for the Interpolis insurance company in Tilburg.

The Macquarie Group was founded in Sydney in 1970, and it has become Australia’s largest investment bank, with 70 offices in 26 countries. Anthony Henry, Macquarie’s head of workplace design, explains: “We wanted a healthy, sustainable work environment, meeting spaces that would penetrate the entire building, and mobile, follow-me technology that would liberate staff from their desks.”

For Wilkinson, BFS was a fulfillment of his own desire to infuse the workplace with a feeling of creative play. He devised a vertical village of meeting spaces, consisting of 28 pods of different sizes cantilevered from the sides of the atrium. Dubbed “the meeting tree” for the way the pods branch from a trunk of circulation, it puts everyone on display through windows that command vertiginous views of the atrium and out to the harbor. Visitors feel they are floating in space and are energized by the spectacle of people moving up and down the open staircases and beyond the glass walls. Inspired by the traveling cranes that load shipping containers in the docklands, the designer originally proposed an overhead steel gantry that would carry the pods to wherever they currently were needed, but was advised that the rooms didn’t need to move. Card-activated glass doors provide security for the workspaces beyond the meeting tree.

A highlight of each open-plan floor, with its “neighborhoods” of a hundred employees, is a themed plaza. There’s an open square on the ground floor, a dining table to promote social interaction, a library where people can work within book stacks that are simulated by wallpaper, and a garden with real plants. Clive Wilkinson Architects designed most of the furnishings and specified a wide variety of ergonomic seating.

All I have to say is that I would LOVE to work in this office.  Doesn’t it look fun? Think you could handle a meeting in one of those “floating” rooms?

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Category: Design Inspirations, Trends /

Happy Valentine’s Day

Lynne Dewhurst / February 14, 2011 / No comments

In honor of Singles Awareness Day (aka Valentine’s Day) I bring you a list of websites and blogs that I LOVE!  I check out each of these at least once a day.  Do yourself a favor and give them a peek!

La Dolce Vita

A style (fashion, interior design, whatever strikes her fancy) blog by Paloma Contreras.  She’s also the editor-in-chief and founder of  High Gloss Magazine.

POW!

A product-of-the-week blog from an Interior Designer based in New Orleans.

Trendir

The website for a home decorating magazine.  They tend to showcase unique and modern designs from all over the world.

Design*Sponge

Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney.  There are about 6-10 posts per day, written by one of 22 different contributors.  There’s always something new and interesting here.

Pagoda Red

Even though I probably will never buy from this site (but I want to!!) I love pouring over their selection of Chinese antiques and contemporary art.  I get some amazing design inspirations here.

And finally…

Etsy

I love this site. There’s always something new to find, and I really love that so many of the items here are handmade.  I discovered Etsy a little over a year ago when I started selling my jewelry there.  And now I spend as much time browsing other stores as I do tending to my own.  Caution: you’ll get hooked!

Leave a comment and let me know what blogs and websites you LOVE!  And have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

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Category: Tips & Tricks, Trends /

Interiors Awards 2011 pt 2

Lynne Dewhurst / February 13, 2011 / No comments

Education Winner

Via Contract Magazine

project: University of Oregon John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes
client: University of Oregon
location: Eugene, Ore.
designer: ZGF Architects

Only 1 percent of college athletes ever make it to the pros. Those odds mean that players must be students first and athletes second. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) agrees, so to that end, the NCAA mandates that student athletes receive academic services for tutoring. The University of Oregon in Eugene now provides these services in the striking new John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes, designed by ZGF Architects.

Based on his theory that learning best occurs in a garden, Gene Sandoval and the ZGF team strove to bring the verdant splendor of Oregon’s Willamette Valley into the building. Utilizing a double-wall façade, the glass structure rests on a table of water surrounded by birch trees. A prismatic vertical stainless-steel screen within the façade provides shading, thermal comfort, heat harvesting, and privacy.

Inside, occupants enjoy uninterrupted visual contact with the outside world while surrounded by warm woods, inspirational displays, and eye-popping splashes of “duck yellow,” the university’s color. The first floor is open to the public and features a soaring atrium. Atrium walls feature displays such as the “Few Who Just Did It,” a celebration of former student athletes who went on to success. Another wall holds a three-story pictorial mural of student athletes that morphs into the portrait of Albert Einstein at a distance. Why Einstein? “He represents the universal person,” explains Sandoval. “He reminds students that college is the first stepping stone in life.”

The first floor also contains a café that features a four-sided gas fireplace surrounded by yellow leather lounge seating arranged to suggest the university’s signature “O.” A 114-seat auditorium set on this floor features yellow leather chairs, each individually wired for power and Internet. The top two floors are devoted to the athletes and their teachers, with a variety of study spaces to accommodate different learning styles from one-on-one nooks to larger group teaching areas. Incoming students are introduced to college life with individual cubicles outfitted with oak desks, lockers, and lounge seating. The idea is to make that transitional, often high-risk first year a little easier.

“The goal was to create not just an exciting space, but a place where the students want to hang out,” says Stephen Stolp, director of services for student athletes. “I always said, ‘Good students make good athletes.’” Could the building be partially responsible for the football team’s undefeated season this year? “Well, it’s already helped with recruiting,” says Stolp, “so I won’t rule it out.”

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Category: Uncategorized /

Interiors Awards 2011 pt 1

Lynne Dewhurst / February 12, 2011 / No comments

Healthcare Winner

Via Contract Magazine

project: The Dubai Mall Medical Centre
client: Emaar Healthcare Group
location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
designer: NBBJ

Imagine you are in one of the world’s most prestigious retail locations where you are surrounded by top brands like Christian Dior, Armani, Tom Ford, among others. What would you expect a clinic amidst this setting to be like? To many’s surprise, gleam and glamour were not the choice of NBBJ. On the contrary, the firm endeavored to create a simple and elegant space where the five senses of its discerning clientele are attentively considered.

The 60,000-sq.-ft., premium, multi-specialty medical center offers a complete range of medical specialties and healthcare services, such as cardiology, orthopaedics, general surgery, and advanced services in diagnostic imaging. Apart from a fully equipped clinical laboratory, it also encompasses an on-site pharmacy, 50 private consulting suites, and a dedicated wellness center. Providing such world-class healthcare that can accommodate a flow of up to 90 patients per hour and operating 10 hours a day requires a highly efficient facility design, and Emaar relied on the expertise of NBBJ to maximize space efficiency and craft an elegant, timeless design commensurate with its brand.

According to Karen Miller Eskandari, interior designer at NBBJ, the connection to TDMMC’s design concept was water: “Water was our foundation of luxury. Water possesses a quality of universal timelessness. It transcends cultural and geographic boundaries and enhances the human experience.” Indeed most of the materials in this medical facility either have an abstracted or literal relationship to water. To further appease guests’ senses, an ambient sound system is installed to provide light music throughout the main waiting areas, and a custom scent is infused through the air distribution system to enhance the unique ambiance.


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Category: Design Inspirations, Projects /

Why Hire a Designer?

Lynne Dewhurst / February 11, 2011 / No comments

Master Bedroom Makeover

 

You’ve got a house project you want to start.  Maybe you’re ripping up floors, changing walls, or just getting new furniture and appliances.  Or your office needs work.  Everyone needs new cubical workstations and your break-room could use some new counters.  Then someone suggests that you hire an Interior Designer.

And you think, “Why on Earth would I want to do that?  Why pay someone for something I can do myself?  I can handle all the details just fine.”

Maybe you can.

But I think that hiring a professional designer is the smart move.  And paying a little now could save you lots in the future.  For now, it’ll definitely save you time and stress; especially during the design process.

There are many reasons to hire an interior designer.  Here are a few that top the list.

1.  An Interior Designer will save you money.

Designers have extensive education and experience that will help prevent costly (and common) mistakes.  We’re trained to do this.  Would you fix your own cavity?  Or call a dentist?

In designing, there are many choices, too many options, this product over that product. There are so many things that are hard to know unless you have encountered those dozens of times before. We have, so we can nip any issues in the bud.

2.  An Interior Designer will save you time.

In the design process, our expertise will help you quickly reach a design solution for your space.  An Interior Designer knows sources well enough to edit the options and offer seasoned advice to guide clients through the myriad of design choices.  Interior Designers save you shopping time and work on-site. An Interior Designer will bring the “store” to you.

Once you hire an Interior Designer and make a plan, he or she does most of the work.  We call the contractors and sub contractors.  We make sure that deliveries happen on time and that you get what you ordered.  No pressure for you.

3.  An Interior Designer has access to resources that you don’t.

There’s a world of furnishings, fabrics, case goods and accessories that are “to the trade only.” Designers have access to local and national manufacturers and products that would otherwise be unavailable to most consumers.  And any design is only as good as its execution. Designers work with the best workrooms, carpenters, and painters and have the clout to make sure the price matches the quality.

4.  An Interior Designer will help you set priorities.

We like budgets.  Believe it or not, having a frame of reference to work within makes everything easier.  An Interior Designer will help allocate your “design dollars.”  We can advise you how best to spend your money now and how to plan for future phases of your design project.

5.  An Interior Designer will be your liaison/advocate.

Interior Designers work with tradespeople and manufacturers regularly, so we have more leverage to get things repaired or replaced when necessary.  Even after the job is done.

6.  An Interior Designer will work through opposing taste.

Interior Designers can be the third party to join taste and style between husband and wife or significant other.  Think of it as a little additional marriage counseling!

7.  An Interior Designer gets the job done.

Interior Designers see to it that everything is completed.  Often when a project drags on for months, clients might be inclined to leave those few details undone if they are doing it themselves. It’s the Interior Designer’s job to see to it that every aspect is completed to your satisfaction.

These are just a few of the reasons to hire an Interior Designer.  Have others?  Let me know!  Or if you still have questions about why, ask me!

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Category: Questions, Tips & Tricks /

Spruce it Up! Pt 1

Lynne Dewhurst / February 9, 2011 / No comments

About once a week, I’ll be posting easy (and relatively inexpensive) tips to help you spruce up different rooms in your house.  Today’s tip can be applied anywhere in the house: Paint.

Painting is one of the easiest ways to make a major change to any room.  And it doesn’t have to be a dramatic change in color, either.

From this:

to this:

It isn’t a major change, just a very pale rose/cream color.  But the little bit of extra color warms up the room and makes it seem less imposing.  The white trim gives a nice accent, but natural wood works just as well.

Or you can go a little more dramatic:

A darker or more vibrant color can make a large room feel more cozy and welcoming.  And leaving the ceiling and trim a lighter color keeps the walls from feeling too close.  In addition, the new color on the wall can make your existing art and accessories pop.

It’s amazing how different colors can influence the feeling of a room.  Here’s an unpainted bathroom, then the same bathroom in 2 different colors.

The pale green makes the bathroom a fresh, airy room while the purple gives the room an elegant, sophisticated feeling.

One of the best things about painting is that it doesn’t require a lot of extra materials and tools.  Usually you just need painting tape (the bright blue masking tape), a few drop cloths (I use old shower curtains), a roller and a brush to do touch-up/edges.  And for the last, I just use one of those paint brushes that used to come with my Crayola watercolor sets.

As for paint finishes, it really depends on the room and how much wear and tear it receives.  For bathrooms and other rooms that get a lot of moisture, semi-gloss paint is best.  Semi-gloss or satin is good for rooms that will have the walls wiped down on a semi-regular basis.  Flat paint is great for rooms that don’t get a lot of traffic or if you don’t have small kids.  The only issue with flat paint is that if you scrub it with a sponge or rag, the color can come off.

There are many brands of interior latex paint out there, and for the most part quality doesn’t differ.  At the top of the spectrum is Benjamin Moore paint.  I love it, but it can get pricey.  You also will probably have to go to a specialty paint store to find Benjamin Moore. Behr is another great brand with a more reasonable price range.  You can find Behr paint at Home Depot.  Other reasonably priced (and decent quality) paint brands include Miller and Dutch Boy.  However, know that cheaper brands usually mean thinner paint, which translates into more coats needed for full coverage.  Sometimes it’s worth it to buy one gallon of the expensive stuff, rather than 2 or 3 gallons of the cheaper stuff.

If you have the time and patience, you can often find a great value on paint at stores like Fred Meyer and Home Depot in their “mis-mixed” section.  A lot of home improvement and paint stores will sell mixed/tinted paint at a discounted price if customers decide they don’t like the color or if the mix doesn’t come out “just right.”  It’s rare to find more than a gallon in any mis-mixed color, so you’ll likely have to pay full price for any additional paint you need.  But it can be fun to look through those mis-mixed colors – sometimes you’ll find a color you never considered before.

So have at it!  Paint away and spruce up an old room.

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Category: Bathroom, Design Inspirations, Finishes, Living Room, Tips & Tricks /
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