How can you not love these two??
Tag Archives: interior design
NeoCon 2016
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I just got back from NeoCon, an annual Interior Design conference held at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and I’m still unwinding from the madness/excitement/whirlwind that is NeoCon. I’ve had an interest in Interior Design since I was little, and it started with countless afternoons spent rearranging the furniture in my room. And someday I might wonder why I develop back problems…anyway, this was my first Interior Design conference and it definitely gave me some good insight into what the industry is really like at the highest level. While I love aesthetics, especially when related to interior spaces, I felt like the conference was eye-opening, and not necessarily in the best way. The conference included hundreds of booths showing off their products, designers dressed to the T, seminars about various design topics, and all the showrooms were open for people to meander in and out of.
The Interior Design industry, and practicing Interior Design, is fun, but there is a certain level of superficiality about it that I’m struggling with. While picking out paint colors and tiles and fabrics is fun, sometimes I ask myself, “What are we really doing here besides making things look pretty?” Again, while this is very fun, I worry how much it’s actually contributing to society and what good it’s really doing. Another thing is, that it is only an affluent clientele that can afford to hire an Interior Designer, therefore resulting in providing a service that caters only to the rich. Furthermore, as a designer, you might have a certain style, but the client for whom you are working might have a very different style, and you have to cater to that style, even if you happen to hate it.
All of these components of Interior Design have started to weigh on my mind as I’ve gained more exposure to the industry, and I find myself questioning if it’s really the industry for me, despite the fact that I love looking at and putting together beautiful spaces. It’s a complex and competitive business, akin to the fashion industry, which makes it difficult to make one’s way in.
On the flip side, what is inspiring about Interior Design is creating spaces that will inspire those for whom you are creating them. Helping clients see their space in a new way and teaching them how to coordinate certain things, or bringing in pieces they would not have thought of on their own, arranging things to make a space more functional, or completely redefining a space, and giving them the luxury to enjoy and feel comfortable in the space they call home are all aspects of Interior Design that can be rewarding (and fun)!
Kitchen backslashes
0I recently saw the movie, Mother’s Day, and while not a great movie, it was at least entertaining. What did hold my attention though were the kitchens! As a lover of all things related to Interiors, I was so distracted during the scenes that took place in kitchens because all I could focus on was the backsplash or the light fixtures. What also sparked my interest was the fact that one of the characters is an Interior Designer and lands an awesome project, pictured below (interior designer on the right and awesome client on the left). If only it was that easy! Unfortunately I can’t find any pictures of the kitchens, but I guess you’ll just have to see the movie to know what I’m talking about!
Interiors
0Ever since I was little I can remember spending afternoons with friends after school rearranging the furniture in our bedrooms. I suppose I should have known then to pursue a career in Interior Design, but alas, I studied other things in college when I thought I wanted a life in academia. Now, after going to grad school for the humanities, I am finally realizing that I do indeed want to follow my dream of working with interior spaces in some way. Without having a degree in Interior Design, I am looking for other ways to gain experience in the field to start, namely the retail side of design, and then maybe eventually become certified in design. Meanwhile, I am teaching myself on how to use the popular Google modeling program, SketchUp, which is a lot of fun!
Several years ago when I was in college, I set out to photographically capture the way that I had decorated my childhood bedroom at the time. Here are some snippets from that time in my life, which I think only reinforce my love of interior spaces and what one can do to crete them, fill them, decorate them, and enjoy them.
Some more renovation projects
0A couple more renovation projects in my grandparents’ house for which I only have after pictures.
Dining Room
Master bathroom
Some renovation projects
0My grandparents’ house in the Berkshires, where I lived for one year while working before I went to graduate school, was completely redone – if not fully gutted, at least redecorated. Two bathrooms were gutted, everything but cabinets were renovated in the kitchen, and the rest of the house was removed of wallpaper, painted, re-carpeted, re-floored, re-roofed, and landscaped. I had so much fun picking out all the materials, colors, and rearranging furniture to make the rooms more functional. Some of the renovations were very long processes, but seeing the way the spaces transformed over time was very rewarding. It goes beyond a simple aesthetic pleasure for me. My surroundings heavily influence my mood, productivity, and overall well-being. So not only were these projects fun to work on, they also made me feel like I was creating something – constructing a life.
Here are some before and after pictures of some of the rooms.
My Bedroom Before
My Bedroom After
The Study Before
The Study After
Guest Bedroom #1 Before
Guest Bedroom #1 After
Guest Bedroom #2 Before
Guest Bedroom #2 After
Basement Before
Basement After
Kitchen renovation
1While living in my grandparents’ home last year, I had a lot of fun working on some renovation projects. The kitchen was by far the biggest (and most expensive) of the projects, but also the one that has been the most rewarding. It’s definitely a pleasure to cook in this kitchen now!
Before
During the renovation process
After
Apartment living on a student budget
0Who said you can’t have a cute apartment while living on a student budget? As I’m very interested in Interiors, I care about creating cute, inspiring spaces for myself. However, I have also been a student this past year and knew that I couldn’t spend a lot of money decorating my first apartment. But, by combining vintage family pieces and buying low-cost pieces, I was able to create a comfortable, uplifting space.
Fantasies
0We all have fantasies about what we want to do in life. But the question is, how do we decipher a fantasy from what we want to turn into reality? I’ve often thought about different things that I would like to do, like teach English abroad, make movies, be an interior designer…but I can’t tell if these are things I would actually do, or if I just like to think about them. What propels one to actually carry out an idea rather than just think of it as a fantasy? I think it takes a great deal of perseverance to carry out what you actually want to do. Sometimes it’s easier to settle for something that you might not like quite as much, but is still somewhat enjoyable.
gooollysandra 