The contractor- friend or foe?

First off, this posting is not meant to offend contractors.  In my thirteen years as a designer I have met a number of contractors that I respect and who are genuinly trying to do their best.  This is my take on the relationship between designers and contractors on a jobsite.  

A designer's role within a project is to represent the client on the job site and to make sure that the project that is finished represents the project that was designed and approved up-front.  That means that we are hired to be the bad guy and to nitpick and to point out any variations from the design plan or slight inadequacies.  All of this is done in the hopes that the finished product will be taken to a higher aesthetic and quality level.  In my mind this relationship is MEANT to be tenuous at times with each party working toward their absolute best interests.  

So, is it really possible to find successful "teams" of contractors and designers?   Does this mean that a designer can't work repeatedly with the same company?  No, but in my opinion it does make it hard to find a company that you want to align with, because that means staking your professional reputation on the work of another organization.  If a designer does get into a "partnership" with another company the challenge would be to maintain objectivity.

This is why I choose foe.  Because looking from the eyes of a client- I want the creme de la creme and if you want to keep us happy then you need to bring your A game!

This chair needs help STAT!

I am a recycler.  You name it, I recycle it.  Ink tanks, tech equipment, batteries, pots and pans, and all the typical items like paper and plastic.  So it is only natural that I want to try to reuse as much of my client's furniture as I can during a project.

One of the most forgiving items to repurpose is upholstery.  I frequently come into contact with patients that seem to be on their last leg.  With the help of my upholsterer and armed with a good design plan I have snatched these lucky pieces from the big garbage heap in the sky!

PATIENT #1

BEFORE

Sixties era swivel rocker.  Good size but the years have not been nice to it.  Notice the unattractive low kick pleat skirt and awkwardly shaped back cushion.

AFTER

Let's admire the new floor to seat tailored kick pleat skirt.  A tight channel back replaces the loose back cushion.  The arm shape did not change but let's say this patient has made it through surgery with flying colors.

PATIENT #2

BEFORE

An early 80's gem.  The gathered ruching on the outside back is reminiscent of flash dance leggings.  The skirt is the same unattractive low kick pleat as in patient #1.  The client typically used arm caps so there was severe farmer's tan fading on the arms and the entire piece looked in need of a good bath.

AFTER

Here is our patient freshly upholstered in a up-to-date print that channels the same color vibe as the original.  Notice the new skirt and the smooth, clean back.  This former flash dancer is updated and ready for a night on the town!

Oh Missoni- you make me feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I dislike mornings.  So it takes a real event to make me bolt out of bed at 5:30am without an alarm.  That event Tuesday was the unveiling of the Missoni for Target collection!!!

The collection was met with a crazy frenzy that I can only compare to a Black Friday event.  Within minutes products were sold out.  The website was so overloaded it crashed a number of times.  But I had success scoring a number of the home and clothing items that I have been eying for months!  My sister needed more instant gratification and waited in line to go into the store to see and buy in-person.  She came over Tuesday evening so we could divvy up some of the loot.  The quality is pretty amazing and this little taste of what is to come has only made me more excited to get my packages in a few days!

Even if you missed out on this event you can still have Missoni in your home at a reasonable cost.  Check out their beautiful display at the DCDC photographed above.  Stark carries this gorgeous collection of fabrics that is worth a splurge.  My budget trick to making a beautiful expensive fabric go a long way is to use it for the face only on several pillows.  Find an inexpensive coordinate for the back and cording.  You will get more impact this way than if you use the fabric on both sides of only one pillow.  Another great budget move is to have your tailor finish the raw edges of your fabric to turn it into an instant throw.

Think how beautiful these fabrics would be in your home!  I think I want that one and that one, oh and that one.....

Perfectly Poirot!

I love the clean lines and elegant forms of the Art Deco period.  I also have a weakness for cheesy murder mysteries.  And who combines these two elements better than Agatha Christie? 1/2 of what I love about the Poirot series is the amazing set design.  Poirot's apartment is as perfectly appointed as his impeccably upturned moustache!

All images from http://poirotchronology.blogspot.com/p/associates.html

Just say no to fake (or at least do it right)!

Call me a snob, but I like products that are genuine, so in that vein I generally dislike imitations.  Sometimes however, I need to make exceptions.  In the case of window treatments there is nothing that can replace the effect of a well designed, well proportioned window treatment.  But you may not require the privacy of a full functioning drapery treatment, or a full functioning window treatment may not be in the project budget (Gasp, there is more to life to spend money on than kids and interiors?!).  If this describes you then you can still have beautiful panels that look natural.

Here's how:

1.  Splurge for custom or semi-custom treatments.  This is usually so necessary because houses, like people, rarely come in a "standard" size.  If you are wise with your fabric choice then you can usually keep your costs similar to upper end ready made panels.  Have your drapery work room make them long enough so that they can be hung a few inches lower than the ceiling height or a few inches lower than the crown molding.  For higher ceilings you can get away with hanging them a little bit further from the ceiling.  Use one width of fabric on each side of the window, this means that you will likely need 6-8 yards of fabric for one window in a room with a 8'-10' ceiling height.

2.  Order your drapery rod 3-6 inches wider than the full width of the window, including the trim.  Avoid the urge to try to save a few bucks by ordering two short rods.  For one thing, your cost savings is going to be little, if anything because you may need less rod, but you will need to order two extra sets of brackets.  Secondly- nothing screams "I'M FAKE" like seeing these little side rods.

Take a look at this in-process project.  We are doing it in stages and we just brought in the draperies.  Just see what a difference a little change makes!

Before

After

GO BIG _______ (your favorite college football team)!

Since we are on the verge of football season it occurs to me that there are probably many of you in the same situation that I find myself.  I have been a football widow for half of my life!  I can’t really blame my husband, he was clear about his obsession with the game from the very beginning.  And while I too appropriately cheer for my darling Husker’s while they play, I have no desire to take anything off of the field.  Unfortunately, my hubby doesn’t feel the same way.  If it were up to him he would be watching all the games in his Husker red man cave with every school spirited but slightly tacky piece of school licensed furniture out there.  So I thought that it would be beneficial to show how simple it could be to have a beautiful and patriotic schemed room.  These rooms would do their teams proud!

RED AND WHITE

(room photo by Ambi Design Studio)

BLUE AND GOLD
(room photo from Ambi Design Studio)

RED AND YELLOW

(room photo from Ambi Design Studio)

BURGUNDY AND ORANGE

(room photo from Ambi Design Studio)

GREEN AND YELLOW

(room photo from southernliving.com)

Interior Designers (ok and architects) ROCK!

So, today after having experienced Virginia's second largest earthquake in recorded history I am reminded how much WE ROCK!
Well, do I really have to explain myself?  I guess I need to tell you the story of how I experienced the historic event today.  Amanda, my associate designer, and I were heading down to the Washington Design Center today and we were at a stop-light one block away from it when the earthquake hit.  Since the Washington Design Center is surrounded by a hot bed of construction we assumed that a crane was in demolition mode.  However, we realized there was a problem when we turned the corner to go down into the parking garage and a security guard blocked our way, yelling at us to leave, they were evacuating the building.  Then we noticed that there were hundreds, no thousands, of people pouring out of the buildings around us.
Now, you may or may not know that there is a lot more to being an interior designer than decorating.  We study and implement egress, ADA and fire codes (among others) in our interiors.  These skills don't get talked about often because they are not the glamorous part of our job.  But the importance of these talents were exemplified today when I saw all those people swelling into the streets in just seconds after the quake hit.  Clearly the egress plans worked.  It was an amazing site.  And all due to us designers (ok and architects)!  We have incredibly important jobs that affect the way that people experience their surroundings.  Hooray for us!

These are some of my well loved and post-it laden resources.

If your cashmere scarf gave birth to a tough-as-nails upholstery fabric...

One of the things that I focus on while working on selections for my projects is Eco-friendliness.  A key part of creating an eco-friendly environment is using products that are appropriate for their surroundings.  This creates longevity and minimizes long term waste.
 
So when one of my favorite clients came to me recently and said that she really, really wanted to use a white fabric on the daybed in her media room I was very, very leary.  This is the daybed that we had discussed weeks earlier as being the crash-pad for her best friend's children who frequently spend the night.  This is also the daybed that we had discussed being used as the morning coffee/newspaper spot and the kick-off-you-shoes and enjoy the spectacular view spot.  I went through all the reasons why this was a terrible idea.  I warned her that she would have to reupholster the piece all the time I told her that it would look awful after the first time that the kids jumped on it with their shoes on.  All these warnings fell on deaf ears.  Now what?!

Well, after gathering my wits I realized that we needed to look for something more hearty than my typical repertoire of sustainable wools, cottons and silks.  Eureka!  I need to look for an indoor-outdoor fabric!  But yuck- could I really find a fabric that would not look out of place in this refined, elegant penthouse?

Yes, the majority of the products out there are just what you would expect- hard feeling and hard looking and totally inappropriate for a room where you want to cuddle up to watch a movie or read a great book.  However, if you haven't shopped the world of indoor-outdoor fabric recently then you should.  There are some fabulous things out there including soft chenilles, velvets and even trims.

We ended up with a Donghia fabric that was created for Sunbrella.  It comes in a number of colors including the warm white that we chose.  It wears like iron and could even be cleaned with bleach if you had an emergency (think red juice boxes and an excited kid...).  But that is NOT the best part.  This fabric may be as tough as nails, but it feels like your favorite cashmere scarf gave birth to an upholstery fabric.  And it is oh, so elegant!

So all you mothers and fathers out there- fear not- there is hope yet.  White need not be a color in our past.  Bring on the juice boxes!

I knew we'd get around to it!

So, it only took 6 months, but I finally found a day to set up the new blog.  You can expect posts about products that have enchanted me, people who impact me and projects I'm working on.  You can check out our website at www.ambidesignstudio.com or find us on facebook.
-S