2015: Looking forward to the year ahead!

Whoops - it's been a while since my last post. It's been just shy of a month, and so much has happened, it seems, over the past month.

For starters, HELLLLOOOOOO 2015.

Twenty Fourteen is no 'mo, and this year is going to take some adjusting to. In some ways, I'm so very looking forward to it; in other ways, I want nothing more than to run back into 2014's arms. But life can't be spent looking backwards, and we have to hope the best has yet to come.

I want 2015 to be a year of growth for me. I want to be able to look back this coming December (which seems so far away now, but I'm sure will be here in the blink of an eye) and see that I have grown and changed (for the better).

Though I haven't sat down to compile a list of resolutions, I do have a couple things I already know I want to have happen:

• Move out my 2BR rental (living with a roomie) and in to a place of my own

• Meet with and begin building relationships with professionals in the interior design industry

• Begin ID school (or have plans to begin)
• Meanwhile, begin teaching myself CAD freeware options

• Get this blog moving! 
• Establish a consistent blogging schedule
• Follow more blogs (and hopefully get followers back)!

It's a starter list, and I'm sure over the course of the next 12 months that this list will continue to grow and change and evolve.

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So, 2015, give me all you've you got! 

-LG

Interior Design Concept Competitions Offering Real-World Practice

In my quest to transition into a career within the interior design industry, I've been attending several info sessions and open classes at Harrington College of Design in Chicago. For now, it's one of a few options that I'm currently looking into, but it was quite an interesting glimpse into what my world as an ID student may look like.

The presentations that I attended this evening were semester-end presentations from a creative collaborative studio course. The students were assigned to groups of two or three and asked to find, prepare designs for and submit to an open ID competition.

(Real-world application is something I strongly value in educational settings, so I rather liked how students had to develop entire concepts for these actual competitions)

This experience resulted in a couple of things:

A) Now I'm all intrigued - what kinds of interior design-related competitions are even out there? How does one find them?

B) Just for shits and giggles - I would like to try my hand putting together something that at least "fits" the qualifications (I'm not saying I would submit it...). In case you (read: I) was wondering, the 2014 IIDA SDC conceptual competition to evolve the idea of open offices:

The 2014 IIDA SDC invites you to evolve the concept of the open office to offer employees’ a workplace that encourages health, well-being, collaboration, and productivity... (more)

C) A new understanding of just what interior design covers (i.e., everything). Case in point, this 40th Annual Interior Design Competition (2013) winner for a mausoleum:

Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum, Minneapolis, MN - HGA Architects and Engineers, Minneapolis, MN via IIDA

Yes, it's somewhat morbid, but it's definitely something I had never even thought of before.

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What aspects of Interior Design shock you, if any?

-LG

Floor Plan Sketches for Fun

Ladies and gents, this is where I come clean: other than blogging my way to fame and fortune (Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge), I'm not entirely sure how I am going to go about transitioning into a career in interior design. I've thought of numerous ideas ranging from grad school to a second bachelors to a simple certificate in architectural drafting (as a starting point), but that's where I get stuck.

While figuring this all out, I enrolled in an online Introduction to Interior Design course offered by Ed2Go and Morraine Valley Community College. Twice a week, new lectures are posted to the classroom's homepage along with supplemental material, an easy quiz and an assignment. It's not a rocket science course, and I don't get much (if any) from it after completion, but it's a start. Originally, I signed up for the course to see if interior design was actually something I found intriguing. Turns out, it is! 

Here it is, well past my bedtime, and I've been in my own little world, drawing a scaled version (1' = 1/4") of the large, wasted space of a kitchen in my rental. No seriously - it's fantastic that it's so big (roughly 12' x 12'), but with so much open space in the middle, I've always felt like something was missing. 

See for yourself:

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The assignment goes on to have me update the space as I see fit, including fixtures and finishes. I'm really liking the red kitchen by Jane Ellison that I shared in a post last week and am using it as inspiration for my space's "makeover." I'm thinking a kitchen cart to fill the void, a red accent wall with open shelving along the North wall and updated appliances (er... well, really, updated everything) to start.

* I'm loving the POP of color this kitchen cart brings to the room!

* A clean, modern take on the kitchen cart!

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Tell me, what do you think of using kitchen carts to fill wide-open spaces?

- LG

P.S. Don't mind the erase marks on my floor plan - I'm still learning!