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!

For more information
www.wrightonthepark.com/

(image from wrightonthepark.com)

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!

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.)

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.

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?

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.

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…