It’s the third quarter and 35 yards to go with minutes to spare. It looks almost impossible but I can almost taste victory. I’m like my grid iron idol -- Brett Favre. I like to stay way past time to go and make those other young ‘uns jealous. For those of you who have been wondering what “the Brett Favre” of the design world has been up to lately, here’s the up to the minute ticker.
I’m running. Literally, I am running with my legs and my body (just like Brett). There’s a half marathon coming up that I am training for with my 10 year old son and my hubbie. Even though this is super exciting, I find it ironic that I “run” more during the day than I do to actually train for our adventure together. By that I mean, my design life.
Tuesday I began my first career move as a design firm intern AND taking 3 classes. You see, Brett and I know the secret to staying in the game - work twice as hard at twice the pace. We’ve got no time to waste. Here’s how the internship and the classes and the running all came into being....
To begin with, I fell into the “on-line course” trap. The trap that tells you “Hey, this is only on-line. How hard could it be to sit at a computer and read some stuff?” Wrong! It’s intense. Four assignments each week for 5 weeks. Runs from October 4th through November 6th. What was I thinking? The deadlines are killing me....at least for now. It’s called Introduction to Interior Design. My other two classes will run from October 4th through December 18th -- one called Color Fundamentals and the other called Drawing and Perspective both on Thursdays.
INTRODUCTION TO INTERIOR DESIGN
In the Intro class, I’m learning the steps to become an interior designer. This week I needed to read, write a quick autobiography, respond to several textbook questions and produce a short paper based on a designer interview. This may be one of the only benefits of doing so many on-line courses since I had just started my new internship the week -- free access to wonderful designers! Here’s an excerpt:
“WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING HERE?” This designer loves the fact that the lead designer of the firm allows her to work with him side-by-side. This allows her to experience a wide variety of tasks quickly without being pigeonholed into one single task (i.e. CAD or organizing the resource library). Another benefit, if there is something that she is not an expert on doing she is given the time to research it and come up with a solution.
“WHAT ARE SOME COMMONLY USED SOURCES FOR SPECIFYING MATERIALS AND FURNISHINGS?”Given the convenient location of the shop, the designer has quick access to nearby inspirational design shops - including: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Design Within Reach and of course Nest. The design district isn’t too far away either and houses the high-end tile (Ann Sacks), high-end fabric (Robert Allen), exquisite lighting and also designer goods all in one central location.Utilizing the infinite sample books and online design books is key to the success also.
As part of my continuing education, I stopped by the newly opened store on 4519 McKinney Avenue last week and it was fantastic! Take a peek..
With such renown customers as Restoration Hardware, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams has a slew of retail stores popping up nationwide in key design cities. The W Hotel is also reported to be a big fan of these two design gentlemen.
In addition to the designer interview for my class, we will be assigned a class project to design a gutted condo for a real life client. The process includes: client interview, picking out furniture, flooring and paint -- even sketching out floor plans and furniture placement with a final design board. Think designer showdown...
COLOR FUNDAMENTALS
This is probably the most unique class in this quarter for me. How color influences people. I will make my own color wheel and research my favorite color (blue for those who aren’t familiar with me followed by orange and then the classic pink!)
House Beautiful recently features this Jonathan Adler design that speaks to me with it's pops of blue and organized layout. Takes me to my happy place.
DRAWING & PERSPECTIVE
One of my main hang-ups about attending design school was that I can't draw worth a flip. To this day, David Bromtsad on HGTV's Colorsplash amazes me. He begins with his basic room drawings and then moves on through the process to his original artwork created for his homeowner. It leaves with my mahw dropped to my chest....will mine ever come close???
Drawing & Perspective class is my challenge this quarter. Without drawing, it would be impossible for me to communicate clearly the ideas floating around in my mind’s eye for the client. Sometimes our spoken word is not enough and we need to communicate our idea with pictures. “Chair” may not mean the same to you that it does to me -- I prefer modern but you may prefer French Country.
And another:
My hope is after this Drawing Class, I can get to at least 50 % of her skill level.
With all of this going on in my life, it’s no wonder that I feel like it’s 3rd and long with under 7 minutes to go. So little time and so much to do. I’ll just have to continue the tradition that my f-ball hero began when Mr. Favre came back for his umpteenth season with yet another team -- hard work and grit with a little bit of flair and lookin hot while doing it all. There’s a new facet to my already full life of wife, mom and student -- now intern! Just like my idol, I’ll continue to learn everything that I can and enjoy it along the way.
Off for another training run,
Carla
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