Tip-toe through the Tulips

as promised: an entry on international design. what is it? what does it mean? why do i like it so much?

it all started shortly after the turn of the century (last century) with the bauhaus arts school. some of the century's greatest architects and designers emerged from that school, taught at that school, etc. what it taught was raw. edgy. the core of true design. which probably gives the strongest reason why i am so in love with it. the toast lady (see icon to the right), professor paula peek, introduced us to this concept our sophomore year of college at auburn. i think its one of the things that separates auburn graduates from other interior design programs. not that its necessarily better than others...just different (in a good way :) )

we executed some serious projects to really develop an acute understanding of the raw talent behind interior design: eyes for the elements and principles of design (if you don't know them, look them up), a knowlege of the masters that paved the way before us, and the ability to create something new when we design. its so much more than just recreating a picture in architectural digest. and that's what the bauhaus did by putting the focus back in the important parts of design.

a popular phrase that will help you identify international design is what ludwig mies van der rohe became famous for (among other things): "less is more." international design is simple: clean lines, use of the elements (like natural light), long strings of windows, simple colors (white is very popular), and a beautiful lack of fancy mouldings knick-knacks. here is one of mies's famous houses, the villa tugendhat:

also from the bauhaus came le corbusier. this house is right outside of paris. i've been there personally. it was one of the great moments in my growth as a designer.

emerging in the furniture world came eero saarinen. knoll has the rights to many of the designs and you can still buy them today. i remember my babysitter having a tulip table and chairs. she lived in a trailer...little did she know she had a treasure inside those wood panel walls. you've probably seen these chairs all over the place and not even known how important they were.

in these pictures its easy to notice how easily these classics fit in anywhere. its part of why they've remained around for so long. international design in itself is a breath of fresh air from steel rectangles and cookie cutter suburbs that dominate architecture today. witnessing, myself, the process of new buildings spring out of the ground, all it really is composed of is a copy of the last thing someone built, but tweaked and changed enough to not look like a clone.

international design can speak to anyone, anywhere, like a living piece of art. villa savoye is nestled among a circular grove of trees, planted on some of the greenest grass i've ever seen. just sitting there. right in the middle, like "hey. what's up ya'll. check me out." of course to the people of france it probably says something that sounds like "wee wee, sach bluh cccchuhh hohn" (i took spanish. sorry). and it still looks so modern, even though most of these pieces and buildings were created over 60 years ago. how amazing is that?!

so keep an eye out wherever you are. chances are even the most behind parts of the country (even pensacola) have international design thats been snuck in somewhere. kudos to them!

hope that was educational--its pretty difficult to sum up something like this in a blog post thats short enough to keep the interest of the reader. and i hope part of you has developed a small interest in international design. do great things!!

The Fruits of LIfe

never underestimate the ability to be creative in almost any aspect of life. even eating :)

whenever enjoying a fruit with a peel which you will not eat, grab a sharpie. but like i said, make sure there's a peel. i tried it with an apple and then realized i had to wash all the sharpie off before i devoured it. oops.

 

Dear Santa:

I want this.

you can't beat $99. plus its redddd :)

i've developed an afinity for old metal storage pieces. even those late 70s/early 80s metal desks. the ones we see in offices in desperate need of renovation. little do those desks know i secretly want to save them from the dumpster and take them home...

How wood you like your escape?

1 2

3 4

5 6

Wood seems to be a recurring element of comfort in the fall. I enjoy it all times of year. Its warm, its textural, its flexible, and open for almost any form of use. and the way light reflects off of it can really add to the inviting feeling of a space.

1. an old market turned into a library/reading room for underpriveleged children.

2. a modern day tree house

3. a woodland retreat (this one has glass doors on a garage-like track that open in the living room)
4. an exotic wood staircase in an island house

5. another woodland retreat. (this one is on the front page of archdaily today--all wood interiors)

6. this one took me forever to find and its in June's features of archdaily. i don't know what it is about this photo but i'm in love with it. i don't even know why. maybe the red and green with the wood and concrete and open space? who knows. but i marked it on my favorites as to never lose it again.

any form of architecture can benefit from wood. a lot of modern designs are moving away from this, but i think they should be careful. wood is classic. timeless. remember this. and do great things.

Fall Favorites

finally! the 90ish degree weather with 89% humidity has up and left pensacola. i'm a warm-weathered gal, but it was just getting way too much to handle. fall swept in overnight and i am finally able to enjoy the things i love about my favorite month of the year.

here are some things i find enjoyable in fall:

caramel apple spice from starbucks. we went through the drive-through and the feller asked "don't ya'll have like an appple cider?" and the voice behind the menu said "um. no. but we have something that's about 10 times better than an apple cider." so we got ventis and he made us taste it right there so he could see the satisfaction in our face.

old navy cardi-coats. you know, the ones with the weird commercials. well i bought one because they were on sale for FIFTEEN BUCKS. well worth the money. its cute, warm, good for outdoors during fall and those of you who are as unfortunate as me and have an office that constantly runs the a/c like its mid-august in mexico.
these are too neat. i love pumpkins. i love pumpkin muffins. crate and barrel offers a 2-in-one. its a win-win. now if only they weren't $34 + shipping.

in addition to the taste of pumpkin, the smell of it also is equally amazing. wondering who offers the best pumpkin smell? well that would be pier one in my opinion. and they're usually on sale right now. hurry quick!

this is probably more spring appropriate but i wanted to throw it in to show an example of what to do if you're ever spending the weekend in the thriving metropolis of crestview, florida. go to the feed store. hold a baby duck. it was my first time, and it was all that i imagined it would be.

cowboy boots. every southern woman should have a pair. also, consider them as an alternative to ugg boots. please. much more attractive than wearing a dinosaur on your foot.

that's all for now--i hope you have pleasant weather where you are!

do great things!

Can I get that creativity on the side, please?

so. about the feller. he can work a building like nobody's business but i guess florida a&m is not so much concerned with architecture history. being somewhat of a fanatic (and by that i mean, all my sight-seeing i've ever done in any city has revolved around architecture and design as much as i can help it), i have done my best to educate him about the great architects, architectural landmarks, and have successfully turned him on to international design (don't worry, there will be another blog soon to come dedicated to the explanation of international design--its not just design in other countries).

since architecture hasn't been rolling in projects lately, he came up with a rough idea for a one bedroom, loft-like dwelling, based on what i've taught him about international design. i'm so proud :)

now. since i'm over here just waiting for someone to put me on the task of finish selection (so i can secretly gaze at the beautiful lonely finishes that we never use in our library), i jumped on the chance for a dream side project.

slowly, when we have the time, we're adding to it. here's what its looking like so far. its really exciting to have my hands in something like this.

the order of the drawings goes: front of house, back of house, kitchen view from dining room, living room view from kitchen. i should have added a floor plan. that will come later when perfected. there's still some funky walls going on (mr. architecture will have to fix that), and adding furniture in revit is much harder than it is in autocad. you kind of have to hunt it down in hopes that someone out there has built what you're looking for.

the house is very open--lots of windows, simple. there is a 3-sided fireplace separating the living and dining room (hard to tell what it is). you can see the loft above the kitchen, although there's no railing or furniture yet.

its a work in progress--i actually haven't touched it in a while because it requires me working during lunch or after work so its not during work hours. i usually abhore staying late, but it has moved into the fun stages lately.

i'll keep updates posted! especially when i figure out rendering-ha. i'll just print it and color it myself and it will look WAY better. duh.

REcovered

For those of you who, like me, are still too poor to have a house/apartment full of your own furniture and have a grand collection of hand-me-downs and yard sale finds--there lies hope!

i had at my apartment in auburn, a sofa and chair that belonged to my grandmother since the 50s. they both survived children, grandchildren, smokers, art projects, and pets. the beautiful cream upholstery had turned yellow, there were stains, and a fine hybrid fragrance of old people and dog. even still i was absolutely in love with both of them. when it came time to move down to florida, i had to make the tough call to donate the sofa and keep the chair. after a very hurting REJECTION from the salvation army (i mean really, they do that??) my mom and i dumped it at the garden district apartments (not nearly as lovely as they sound) in hopes that it would at least gather beer spills and dna (as my mom says) at some party house. i can only hope...

so i still have the chair. upon learning of the fantastic designer discounts offered from upholstery manufacturers, i decided to take the financial leap of reupholstery. the chair is a family heirloom, it would cost more to replace--it just made the most sense. architex offers a 50% discount to designers on top of their already good prices (find a designer if you're not one and tell them to buy you some fabric--upholstery shops will snactch up your pocketbook fast!) thanks to the amazing work of pettus upholstery here in pensacola, my chair is as good as new. see for yourself:

before

after! [disclaimer: this is a camera phone shot. my digital is jacked up. and yes that's a dog toy on the ground.]

little bit of a detail shot for you. the brass nailheads were a last minute idea. and i love them!!

FYI: the upholstery is architex, corinthian: westchester. the buttons (which i'm contemplating adding another row) are anzea, exotiqua: snapdragon and my only disapppointment. i thought they'd make more of a statement. it almost makes me wish i'd done the whole chair in alligator, but i'm still happy.

to give you an idea on price: 7yds of fabric cost me $100. the upholstery job including reupholstery, all new foam, and nailheads was $400. a new chair like that would have cost double that if not more. it left me poor, but that chair will be in the family for generations to come.

a little warning about faux leathers though, especially if you have aminals. my dogs sat on it after i put on their flea treatment and the oil got on the fabric and left a mark. its not very noticeable and i'm sure a pillow can cover it, but it was still disappointing. they don't run tests for flea treatment resistance!

What to Expect

Hey folks--
First post. I thought I'd let everyone know a little bit of what I'm about. First and foremost, most of the time I do not care to use capitalization in my typing. The first few sentences were freebies. now you're out of luck. however, i place great emphasis on punctuation and grammar. so no worries there.

so you might be thinking "what will this blog be about?" well i established it because i am an artist at heart, and right now i am stuck in an extremely un-creative interior design job. i know you must be wondering how interior design can be uncreative. well, we do government interior design. that means gray, beige, and every once and a while the wonderful air force/army color blend of teal. some days i would just die for a box of crayons.

in my spare time i rarely have opportunity to take creative adventures. but i often look at them, talk about them, and dream about them. this blog is an opportunity for me to share with you the things i do, and the things i love in the world of design.

a daily ritual of mine includes visiting http://www.archdaily.com/ at least twice daily (thanks to their frequent updates), and my computer background rotates between the particular things that inspire me each week. this is one of my favorites:

why i think this is good design: notice the different elements used: glass, wood, porcelain, concrete, tile, and metal. the 6 most important elements of good bathroom design. personally i love the colors. you can't get more relaxed than that. and the spectacular view doesn't hurt. beyond that, the planning is excellent. i usually find luxury bathrooms to have the common fault of wasting space. although appearing large because of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the footprint of the space is not all that big, but you still have the feeling of an open space. look at all those shower heads!! ahhh....

above is one of my favorite bedrooms to ever grace ArchDaily. usually too much white seems yuppy to me, but this is brilliantly executed with the almost retail-like lighting, dark wood floors, and pops of color to move your eye around the room. notice how the room is separated. i can't tell if that's stairs in the middle or a look to below, but it definitely separates the office and sleep spaces. with the ceiling kept all white, your eye stays lower in the bedroom for a cozy feel; the high-book shelves in the office bring your eye up for a more grand space (such as an office should be, living in a house like this.)

well that's all for today. somehow between work and all my personal designs at home, i hope to bring you a little piece of me next post.

do great things!