Design Careers!!!!!!!!!

Even though HGTV is a fun channel, many designers know that's not the reality.  Thank goodness, I didn't come into this hoping for a spot on a new hit TV show, but instead I took a different route.  One of the most appealing careers I have found with Interior Design is Textile and Wall Covering design. 

Textile and Wall
Covering designers must be highly creative and have a strong sense of color, form and design.  They work in knit, weave, print, photography, and have to be innovative to create designs that are used to make a variety of fabrics, wall coverings, and other such products.  These designs are the beginning stages of textiles like linens, furniture and clothing; while the wall coverings can be an inspiration for any space and decor.  An average salary can be between $40-68,000 a year. 

Looking To Other Homes For Inspiration

While shopping for inspiration, some of the the best places to look are in other homes.  My favorite thing to do is go into a model home and just walk around looking at the funky things that were done to the space.  It's also fun to look at homes that are for sale and see what the lay out is of a simple apartment compared to a more "complex" condo or the layout of a house.  By adding a randomly shaped hall way instead of a plain one with parallel walls gives the space more appeal. 

Like this one:

                                
or being daring and fun by adding a fun colored couch

                          


I find it interesting how some apartments are pretty spacious in square feet but can still make you feel enclosed and squished in.  The apartment I live in has mirrors as its back splash in the kitchen, which brings in the natural light to the kitchen from the living room windows.  It helps in bringing in natural light to a space that would otherwise consist of shadows.  Due to the reflection it really works out. 

Also going into residences that go out of your usual norm is fun :) finding things you may never have in your own home, but bring a smile to our faces whenever we see someone daring enough to put it in their homes ha ha!

                                      

Poking at Someone Else For Inspiration

New week and new ways of finding inspiration.  Some of the best ways are looking at other blogs, maybe like mine if you're visiting this site as a fellow desgner :)  Well before writing this i've looked up a few different blogs and from them taken inspiration and been able to grasp new concepts. 



This picture from MOCO LOCO Designs, one of the top blogs rated.  It has everything from furniture to art work, so when looking for good inspiration here is one to look at.
 

This is from ikea hacker.  The wrighter posts invoative ways of using anything and everything from ikea.  This specific one chopping wood from tables and making them into soemthing else like another table or even a bed. 

So overall these blogs as well as others can give you an intersting look at what's new and what's hot.  There are blogs for just about any topic, even the crazy ones can give you a new idea.  So surf the web and google blogs, you'll be surprised. 

Designer Spotlight

 

Sally Sirkin Lewis

One of the best ways to find inspiration and stay inspired is by looking at the work of other designers.  Sally Sirkin Lewis is where I find today's inspiration.  Her work is composed of clean balanced lines.  Rooms that are modern and "beige" but still have the unexpected added to them.  She can put a space together and add the feeling of warmth and home while still making it a modern space. 

In an article for Architectural Digest she mentions, “It’s a subliminal feeling. When I walk into a room, correct scale and proportion always give me a sense of serenity.  A modern house doesn’t have to be all steel and glass,”

Read more: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/100/sally_lewis/sally_lewis_profile#ixzz12NyOv8uM

While her designs and ideas don't follow much of today's trend of adding color and SPLASH to the mix, she's a great person to look to when you just need to think a little outside the box, but want to keep it balanced and contemporary.  She adds the special attention needed to what she's designing.  Where some could easily make a space look boring and outdated using the color scheme as she does, she seems to easily make it work even for the most modern of spaces. 

These are pictures I have taken that have reminded me of her style.  The first one is one of the sights at the Fort Worth Water gardens.  It resembles her style in that it gives serenity in looking at it and it's balanced yet not all the shapes are the same size and the water is running in more than one direction, but all streams unite.  Then the next one is from Ikea.  It is a simple wall fixture that can bring a touch of the unexpected into any room and is a contemporary look with a serene look since it flows.

My First Blog!!!

This is day one of an 11 week assignment. . .  Though this may start out merely as a class project, I plan on having as much fun as possible.  As a fair warning, I am quite random and goofy so most likely anyone reading this will notice and chuckle. 

The point of this blog is to persevere through stressful days of homework piling up, midterms, then. . . of course. . . FINALS!!!!  AAAAAAAaaahhhhhh!!!!  while also staying inspired, because as we all know it. . . THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!!

I am an interior design student and have only "pretend" scenarios to work with and present to a pretend group of clients (that happen to also be my professors) so the likes of me staying inspired in this pretend show case gets a little limited. . . I enjoy class :) of course, and enjoy looking forward to what one day I will be able to do.  The goal is to stay inspired between now and then, so how do I do that?  Ah hah!!! Quite the dilemma. . .

so whether its grabbing inspiration through nature



Maybe it'll be while glancing to the heavens hoping God's divinity will illuminate my brain



Or just a casual shopping day at Ikea and something like this walks out of the men's restroom
bahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!