Design and the economy

Tags

design, economy, money

Welcome to 2012! I am not sorry to see 2011 go. What a tough year. Everyone I’ve talked to says the same thing. Seems like no one had a good year. So now it’s 2012 and the slate is clean. Time to look on the bright side. We’ve got the whole year ahead of us. Right?

As far as my design business goes it really wasn’t a horrible year. I was laid off for the second time since 2008. That’s the thing about the design industry. We got hit twice by the economy. First hit came in 2008. That’s when the housing market took a huge dive. New housing starts stalled and all building stopped. With the builders not building; architects aren’t designing and designers have no clients to design for. I found myself working for an architectural firm that specialized in designing tract homes for builders. All the work dried up and nearly everyone was let go. It took me a year to find another job

I then took a job at a major retailer as a custom decorator. This was a position that at one time I thought was beneath me. But with jobs so scarce I took it. It was closer to home and there was a pay check. I traveled, most days, all over the area but at the end of the day I wasn’t more than 30 minutes from home. The pay wasn’t great but I could live on it. In February of 2011 the retailer made the decision to close half of their design studios. Mine was on the chopping block. So I found myself once again unemployed. Not a great way to start off the year. If I thought jobs were scarce before; it was worse in 2011.

The good thing was, while I was still working I took a side job helping an architect friend on a development at Stanford University. I wrapped that up half way through the year. In October I was back at Stanford on another short project. So it was not an empty year. Still, not having steady employment has been stressful. The general public just is not spending money on design.

So what’s different in 2012? There’s hope. Tax season is coming and people tend to have more money. It’s an election year. So maybe the folks in Washington will help us out. I’m not holding my breath but there’s hope. In the mean time I will keep trying . I’ll give myself practice projects to keep me busy. So here’s to hope. Happy 2012!

Historic Park Inn

Tags

Frank Lloyd Wright, Mason City, Park Inn

In Mason City Iowa there is a hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It had been converted into an office building and then fell into disrepair. A great effort is being made to restore the Park Inn to its original glory. This includes putting back a mezzanine that was removed. It’s an incredible project and the best part is they are taking reservations! You can sleep in a building that FLW designed. Of course you’ll have to find a reason to go to Mason City Iowa…

For more information
www.wrightonthepark.com/

(image from wrightonthepark.com)

no posts

Tags

decoupage, painted chest

I have not posted in a while.  I spent the last week in San Diego at Comic con.  It was great.  I got to see the Game of Thrones cast.  I picked up a load of swag too. 

I started a new project today.  I’m redoing a chest and a magazine rack for a client.  She wants them to match her baby grand so she can store her music in them.  The pieces are both old but in bad shape.  I HOPE I can revive them!  The plan is to paint them black to match the piano.  I’m going to replace all the hard ware on the chest and decoupage sheets of music on the tops and front.  I’m thinking about wallpapering the interior of the chest.  I think it will be a cleaner look.  It should be a fun project.  She also wants me to come up with a way to hang her Masai spears and shield.  Wish me luck.  I’m thinking of doing a skull and crossbones arrangement.  How? is another question.  Pictures will follow…Stay cool out there!

Living Inside the Foot Print.

Tags

Cube, live inside the foot print, sustainable

I saw a video of an experimental housing design that was on display in Scotland.  It’s called the Cube Project.  It’s a 3x3x3 meter cube (Approx 10′x10′x10′)  Within in its walls are everything you need to live.  It’s pretty much a single occupancy or possibly a close couple could live there.  The idea is to include everything a person would need in the smallest foot print possible while leaving the smallest carbon foot print possible.

http://www.cubeproject.org.uk/  have a look for yourself.  It’s fascinating!  I particularly LOVE the space-saving stairs.

It brings up something that I’ve been thinking about for a while now.  Living inside the foot print.  It’s a concept for living.  The planet is getting more and more crowded and we are living closer and closer to our neighbors.  Soon we are going to have to change our ways or we’ll kill each other.  Living inside the foot print isn’t just about saving energy and recycling.  Though that is part of it.  It’s about the effect you have on the people and the environment around you.

Think of it much like a foot print in wet sand.  Your foot sinks a little and displaces some of the sand around your foot.  The lighter you walk the less of an impact you make on the sand around you.

So how does that translate to living in the real world?  You have to stop and think about other people a little.  Consider, if I am in my yard working and I have the radio on; how many people can hear it?  What if it bothers my neighbor?  I should think about them and turn it down or get head phones.

Here is an extreme example of living way outside your foot print.  I pulled up next to a LARGE suv.  The driver had his window down and the radio turned up to thumping.  He was also smoking a cigarette that I could smell; though my windows were closed.  This guy was totally imposing his lifestyle on me!  It made me angry. 

First he was driving a huge vehicle.  It takes up more fuel and pollutes more than is needed.  Not to mention the size just takes up a lot of road.  Then his thumping music could be heard inside my car.  I imagine if it’s that loud it’s got to be hurting his ears.  That means an unnecessary doctors visits.  Beside the fact that I don’t care for that genre of music.  Lastly was his smoking a cigarette.  I could smell the smoke in my car.  I am a non smoker and I don’t feel anyone has the right to make me breathe their smoke.  Go ahead and smoke if it’s not polluting my airspace.  Once again this will lead to preventable illness and more doctors visits.  The result of which is higher medical costs for me.

Now if he’d been driving a hybrid vehicle, if he had his music at a reasonable volume and If he quit smoking he’d have such a smaller foot print all around.  I’m sure this man was totally unaware of what his effect on me was and sadly he probably didn’t care. 

I want to creat a movement of Live Inside the Foot Print.  People that try to minimize their impact of the world around them.  People that respect the needs of others and try not to impose themselves on the world.    I feel we’d all be happier if we just got out of each other’s way!

Spread the word #liveinsidethefootprint  We can do it!

(there was a great quote on the show Hoarders last night.  “There is a limit to what one person needs.  Once you go over that limit you’re in someone else’s territory.”  That’s Living in the Foot Print.)

Flipping Out with Jeff Lewis

Tags

design, Jeff Lewis

I’ve been watching a marathon of “Flipping Out” today. If you aren’t familiar; Jeff Lewis was a flipper. Flipping properties and reselling them for, hopefully, more then he paid. Since the economy has dropped all over, he has become a designer. It’s interesting to watch. He has exactly the same problems with clients and contractors that I have. Some clients are needy some contractors don’t listen. The whole time you are thinking I can’t afford to deal with this.

The difference between me and Jeff Lewis is the way we handle these situations. He is a perfectionist and OCD, in my opinion. If things don’t go his way he blows up. Often he says things that are inappropriate. It would be so very uncomfortable to work with him. I have to admire the people in his office. They endure so much. I feel if he changed his approach he’d get more out of his employees.

I have to give him credit. When he realizes what he’s done he goes out of his way to appologize. He likes to buy expensive gifts for his employees. Like a Cooper Mini for his house keeper. But those employees EARN it!

Jeff is a popular designer because of his reputation as a flipper. He’s got very good taste. I don’t know his background or education but he puts together a tasteful design. I don’t always agree with his choices. They can be a little cold and frankly, boring. He favors greys and stone. It’s very hard look. I think he’s capable of doing something softer but it doesn’t surface often. His own home is very mordern. It’s grey, black and white and stainless steal. While it is nice it doesn’t look like anyone lives there. It’s a bit like a prison cell. (I know he’d hit the roof if he ever read that last statement!) His is a very masculine look.

As a color consultant I like to push the boundries.  I don’t like to play it safe with color.  I have found that if I give the client a fairly neutral pallette.  I can get away with a much more risky accent.  I once paired a very neutral beige with a spicey red.  It worked because it the over all color was the beige.  I used sparing pops of the red.  It stood out and made a statement.  A client might be a little scared at first but they always come around.  Sometimes they just need to see it all together.

An Update on Eichler

Tags

Eichler, mid century modern, post war

Recently I posted about a local Eichler ruined by the owners. I posted the before photo of what the original exterior looked like.

I don’t think this makes a really impact until you see the after.  So i drove by yesterday and took a photo.

So you tell me, is this a bad idea?

Eichler

Tags

Eichler, mid century modern, post war

Last night, as I lay in bed, I started thinking about Joseph Eichler. For those that aren’t familiar with Eichler; you’ve probably seen his work. He was the father of mid-century mordern architecture. He did houses like this all over California. He even did a couple of homes here in my home town. There is one I was thinking about in particular. It was a typical Eichler ranch style house. It sits on a large lot and had fruit trees in the front. A couple bought the house about 10 years ago, knowing it was an Eichler. It wasn’t in great shape to begin with and the new owners did nothing except cut down all the trees! Now the beauty of the Eichler was on full dislay but it was deteriorating. It’s blue paneling was badly faded and the windows needed replacing. Who knows what other problems there were. Recently the owners began renovations. Insted of respecting the architecture and keeping with the style of the house they “updated” the facade. They replaced the windows and the paneling with cream colored stucco and new white windows. The only thing left of the original is the blue beam across the car port. It’s hideous! Why would they do that? I assume they have no idea what they were doing and they think this is better.. It’s saddly not better.  Here is the before photo (via Google) of the Eichler in question.

 

A little bit about Joseph Eichler.  He was a post war real estate developer in California.  This from Wiki-pedia…

Between 1950 and 1974, Joseph Eichler’s company, Eichler Homes, built over 11,000 homes in nine communities in Northern California and homes in three communities in Southern California. They all came to be known as Eichlers or an Eichler. During this period, Eichler became one of the nation’s most influential builders of modern homes. The largest contiguous Eichler Homes development is ‘The Highlands‘ in San Mateo, built between 1956 and 1964.

Unlike many developers of the post war housing boom, Joseph Eichler was a social visionary and commissioned designs primarily for middle-class Americans. One of his stated aims was to construct inclusive and diverse planned communities, ideally featuring integrated parks and community centers. Eichler, unlike most builders at the time, established a non-discrimination policy and offered homes for sale to anyone of any religion or race. In 1958, he resigned from the National Association of Home Builders when they refused to support a non-discrimination policy.

Welcome!

Tags

About me, design, welcome

This is my brand new blog. I’ve never blogged before so please bare with me. This is a blog about design and color. It will be full of my thoughts and opinions on design. It will include tips and ideas as well. I hope you enjoy what I have to say.

Why should you listen to me? I’m an interior designer. I’ve worked in the business for the last 6 years. My specialty is color design. I have an eye for color like nobody’s business! I’m also an award winning photographer. So I have an eye for composition. You put color and composition together and what do you have?…A designer!

I have a bachelors degree in interior design. (So don’t worry I’m not one of those people that call themselves a designer and really they just help their friends decorate.) I’ve owned my own business, L’Amande Interiors, for the last 6 years. As well I’ve worked for several companies in that time. I always maintained my company on the side. You should know I am a serious designer. I like to have fun but design is my passion.

I hope to make this a habit and post many fun and interesting things. I just hope someone sees it…