Coral Ambition

Coral Ambition by mbrown5709 on Polyvore

Pieces - Vintage White Trellis Cabinet - 1stdibs
1stdibs.com

Nina Campbell Mabel Chair
ninacampbell.com

Michelle Armas Laura Print
michellearmas.bigcartel.com

Sculptural Italian Chairs
1stdibs.com

Ralph Lauren Home Brompton Swing Arm Floor Lamp
bloomingdales.com

OKA Pair of Brass Bookends
$110 - okadirect.com

Blissliving Home Oxford Pillow
zappos.com

A di Alessi - A Tempo Wire Paper Bin
$92 - connox.com

Bungalow 5 Normandy Gold Tall Tray Table
zincdoor.com

George Kovacs Honey Gold LED Desk Lamp
lampsplus.com

Fishs Eddy Green Demitasse Mug
$14 - liberty.co.uk

Blocked Planter
anthropologie.com

Essey - Pen Pen Holder
$20 - connox.com

Menu Design Menu - New Norm Water Bottle
$46 - connox.com

Dorothy Draper Pink Desk
onekingslane.com

Silk Hydrangea Arrangement II Organic Inspirations
jossandmain.com

 

My First Real Client

Remember that job offer I got to help design my teacher's legislative office? Well I originally said we would meet on Friday, but it got pushed to today. So this morning I got up bright and early to get ready. The moment I woke up, an hour before I was supposed to, I was so anxious, nervous and had the butterflies! I have never done anything like this before so I was scared and excited all at once. 

I arrived at the meet up spot, McDonalds (Ha!), and I followed him to his office building that he just bought. It was a nice little office space and big enough for just him and a few other employees. When you walked in there was a long hallway straight ahead on the left side that led to three other rooms, two storage rooms and then a bathroom. Then on the right side of the hallway is a waiting/receptionist area that is right when you walk in the front door. Then to the right of that is his private office.

Today we just picked out paint colors, we decided to do a royal blue for an accent wall for his gallery wall that is in the waiting/receptionist area and to paint the rest of the walls a cool gray and then white trim and doors. He was excited about the look I came up with!

After choosing the paint colors he told me that he wanted me to help him pick out furniture and accessories for the space. He said his grand opening was at the end of the month and wanted it to look fantastic. Well he came to the right girl! :) 

So now he wants me to come up with a designer fee charge, which I have never done before because he is my first real client. How much should I charge? My dad says $25/hour, but I don't know if that is too high or too low for first starting out, and I'm still in school too! 

Well I have to email him my fee soon and he will send me pictures of the space so I can add it into my portfolio and also so you all can see the canvas I am working with. I will be sure to also show you guys the progress along the way! I am so excited to have this opportunity and beyond blessed! 

What do you think of the paint colors, are they good for a legislative office?

    

Ending on a Good Note!

Ahhhh! The feeling of being done this semester is so, so wonderful. And has ended on a great note! 

I am terribly sorry that it took me almost 3 weeks to post, but the past 3 weeks have been so hectic that I haven't even had time to just breathe!

So you all are probably dying to know how my project turned out! I am so excited to tell you guys that I have been itching to write this post for awhile now!

I am so pleased with how everything turned out! My color boards, I think, turned out fabulous! Excuse the bad photo quality of the boards, but I did add in the labels after each board so you know what everything is! 

 

Ballroom Color Board

   

General & Restroom Color Board

 Fireplace Room Color Board

From the last post I showed my renderings, I did changed them up a bit and I did a few others. 

 

 Ballroom: Dining

Ballroom: Lecture

Ballroom: Theater

Floorplan of the renovated portion of the building.

Food Service/Kitchen

Fireplace Room

Now to the good stuff! Our presentation was this past Monday and we had the President of my college come and look at our color boards and ideas and a few other people, such as the Director of Special Events, who uses this space the most.

Now I am really not trying to sound arrogant or cocky, but this is what really happened. Everyone in my class, who are all seniors (I'm a junior), were so amazed with my boards and saying, "Oh my gosh! Your renderings are great! How did you do that?! And you're definitely gonna win, they will chose your design!" I was overwhelmed with joy and statisfaction that my hard and diligent work paid off! And to have seniors who are graduating this Saturday ask me for advice and how to do things! Ha! I got a kick out of that, but was happy to give my help and advice! :)

The Director of Special Events, Don, LOVED my boards! He said that they were so different for the traditional look that everyone else had and that it had a 30's look to it (according to him that was a good thing!) He was so curious of what fabric went on that piece of furniture, what color the walls were, and how the flooring was going to be laid, and where this went, and on, and on, and on! He would briefly go look at everyone eles's boards then hurry back to mine to ask more questions. He was constantly complementing my work, saying it was outstanding, beautiful and very nice work. By the third or fourth time he came back to me he was asking for budget! It was like he wanted to start on it right away! 

I am unsure yet who's design they will pick out of my class, but according to how Don, the President, and my classmates reacted to my design, I am in high standings! I am so overly excited and blessed to have this opportunity to shine, and that people notice and appreciate it. It is so heart warming!

On an even better note, today in my Oral Comm class, my teacher knows I am an Interior Design student based on a few of the speeches I have done in class. Well he offered me a job to help him choose a paint color and decorate his Legistlative office! My first real client!!! I'm speechless! I am so thrilled, anxious and excited! We are working out the details and this Friday I will take a look at the space, so I will keep you all updated on the design process of my first real job! :)

Once again, so sorry for the uber late post. Now that things have hopefully died down a little bit I will be able to update more often! 

Anything exciting happen to you lately? I'd love to hear the great news! :)

   

Finals

 

Finals week (n.): a dormant superhuman power laying in young adults that comes out two-three times a year in times of great desperation.   

In school I am in advanced interior design right now, which is basically a class you take right before you graduate and it's an "advanced" class! :) Anyways, we are renovating a building on campus that is used for special events such as guest speakers, formal events, banquets and etc. Well it's getting down to the end of semester (a.k.a. crunch time) and we had to turn in some renderings today. (Renderings: colored drawing of rooms; can be done by hand or computer. (Just filing you guys in on the designer lingo! (: )) 

Lemme tell you just from past experiences, every time something big is due in my interior design classes at the end of the semester everything possible goes wrong! For example last night my computer kept randomly shutting off without warning, which can be extremely frustrating especially if you haven't saved your work recently. My laptop is hanging on by a thread and I guess the reason why it kept shutting of is because it kept over heating. So I sat a fan right by it! You always tend to go to weird, extreme measures to get things done during finals! Also my computer drafting software, Revit, never does what I want it to do. I basically have to coax my computer to cooperate and my boyfriend looks at me like I am such a weirdo talking to my computer! Ha!

Well I basically pulled an all nighter, which is never fun. But I really hope that my work looks good to non-sleep deprived eyes! :) Here are my computer renderings, nothing too fancy, I may add some accessories in later if time allows. But what do you guys think? It's the same room with 3 different furniture plans: lecture, theater, dining.

    

 Now here is the before pictures of the actual space

Very outdated and not very pretty, huh? I hope my design is such an improvement! 

In one of my upcoming posts I will add the furniture and finishes I have chosen for the space including other rooms other than this one. I will also be sure to add in the other renderings and my color boards. And I'll be sure to let you guys in on what the other students in my class think and what my professor thinks too. Oh and most importantly, this project will actually be implemented! The dean of the school looks at everyone's ideas and decides which design he wants to do and puts it into action! I really hope he chooses my design! That would be such a rewarding experience!

I find it exciting that finally I am not doing just pretend work in class and that my design may actually be used! I think that is why I'm so ready to graduate and actually start my job! I'm tired of pretend! I want to see all the preliminary planning I do for the space come to life! :) I'm so anxious because I know that day is right around the corner!

Anyways, I will keep you guys updated on my project!

What is finals week like for YOU? 

Happy Thursday! :)