With the renewed focus on "small is good"
in residential construction and renovation, galley kitchens come to mind.

 

In condos, apartments and homes with smaller footprints, galley kitchens can serve as wonderful spaces to incorporate first rate design elements without breaking the bank. Designs can range from urban sophistication to simple Shaker style, and can really highlight the materials used for basic elements:

 

Floors - Natural stone or ceramic/porcelain tile, hardwood, bamboo, cork. Hardwood or tile patterns can accent and define the space to play up the geometry and individuality of a small area. Conversely, if desired, material can flow from adjacent rooms to make small spaces seem less confined and to create a connection.

 

Countertops - Natural stone, man-made surfaces, concrete, recycled glass products, butcher block. In small quantities, countertop materials can seem really special and are fun to light up with accent lighting.

 

Backsplashes - Ceramic/porcelain, natural stone tile, metal, glass, mirror. A great place for creative and specialized designs. The fairly small area of backsplash in a galley kitchen is a terrific opportunity to give a "wow" factor.

 

Cabinets - Light to dark, simple to ornate. Tall upper cabinets, often in simple styles, make the most of galley space and unify the kitchen.

 

Ceilings - Decorative paint colors or treatments. Imagine the possibilities of murals or faux treatments on the ceiling.

 

Walls - Subdued or dramatic, paint or wallpaper. The wall color will wrap up and define the overall results.

 

Lighting - Ceiling fixtures, rail lighting systems, and pendant lighting. Selections will accent the overall look, whether it's retro, contemporary, country, or something else. Remember undercabinet lighting for tasks at countertop.

 

Galley kitchens may or may not include windows - advantages, of course, being the natural light provided and the openness and connection to the outdoors, and cons being that you lose cabinet or storage space.

 

Powder Room and small bathroom design similarly offers great outlets for creativity and focus upon materials and finishes. Depending upon materials, colors and finishes, powder rooms can be dressy and dramatic, whimsical, tailored - you name it.

 

The key to small kitchen and bath design is attention to detail - let each element matter, and coordinate the elements and materials to work together to produce cohesive, beautiful results.

 

What is Interior Architecture, and how does it differ from Interior Design?

 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Interior Architecture education is a program that "prepares individuals to apply architectural principles in the design of structural interiors for living, recreational, and business purposes and to function as professional interior architects." It includes instruction in architecture, structural systems design, heating and cooling systems, occupational and safety standards, interior design, specific end-use applications, and professional responsibilities and standards.

 

NCES defines Interior Design education as "a program in the applied visual arts that prepares individuals to apply artistic principles and techniques to the professional planning, designing, equipping, and furnishing of residential and commercial interior spaces." Interior design education includes instruction in computer applications drafting and graphic techniques; principles of interior lighting, acoustics, systems integration, and color coordination; furniture and furnishings; textiles and their finishing; the history of interior design and period styles; basic structural design; building codes and inspection regulations; and applications to office, hotel, factory, restaurant and housing design."

 

The Princeton Review offers a more lighthearted look at each:

Interior Architecture

As part of its continuing attempt to shed light upon the problem of counterfeits and knock-offs in the design industry, M2L, a licensed and authorized U.S. importer of modern design products from Europe, recently announced its second annual Genuine Design Competition scholarship award winners.

 

The first place scholarship of $3,500 was awarded to Katherine Dabkowski, an interior design student at Arizona State University. Her entry explored the intellectual property rights and moral and legal issues associated with knockoffs, counterfeit designs, illegal reproductions, and deceptive advertising. You can view Ms. Dabkowski's video entry here.

 

A second place prize of $2,500 was awarded to Sarah Muchow, an interior design major at the New York School of Interior Design. Third and fourth place prizes were awarded to Marita Montes of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and Stuart Fingerhut of Los Angeles'Art Center College of Design, respectively.

 

M2L's design competition was developed in conjunction with the New York Eleven consortium of design schools, with judging by a panel of industry representatives that included Interior Design Magazine's web editor Laurel Petriello. The design competition awarded scholarship prizes to those students who created the most impactful public service announcement type videos about the harmful effects that product knockoffs have upon the design industry.

 

It's hard to believe that it's been over 10 years since The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka first arrived on the scene. On the closing side of a decade filled with oversized homes, oversized rooms and oversized furniture, The Not So Big House created a breath of fresh air for the building, architecture and design industry.

 

Susanka's newest not so big book is Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live. Based on the reviews, the book asks homeowners to consider how they live, what they need in terms of space, and teaches them how to renovate their existing spaces in an efficient, sustainable, and meaningful manner, paring down to the basics but not giving up on quality or good design practices. I'm looking forward to reading it in detail.

 

On the same note, I always enjoy Renovation Style magazine. The features consistently include reasonably scaled projects, straightforward design solutions, interesting materials, and well written articles.

 

When looking through magazines with clients to help them realize their design, style and color preferences, I'd have to say that Renovation Style is probably the one magazine that elicits the most responses from my clients. Renovation seems to embrace the same "build better, not bigger" philosophy that Sarah Susanka shared with us over a decade ago.

 

I recently read a book entitled "Green Building Through Integrated Design" by Jerry Yudelson. Author of several books about green and sustainable design, Yudelson is a professional engineer who has chaired Greenbuild for six years running and who has trained 3,500 people in the LEED green building rating system since its inception.

 

While the author's writing style is a little stilted, I found the content to be quite informative. The book takes a look at where things are today and where they're headed relative to Green Building and the integrated design process.

 

Yudelson examines the business cases and costs associated with environmentally friendly and sustainable building design, architecture and construction, and then walks the reader through predesign, conceptual and schematic design considerations, as well as the development and documentation phases.

 

The author not only looks at the design process from an environmental and public health perspective, but also from a cost/benefit perspective. He gives information about critical success factors such as delivering projects on-time and within budget while managing domestic and/or international certification processes, and does so by studying over 30 LEED Platinum projects.

 

To learn more about the book or to purchase it, click here.

Ever read Contract Magazine online? You can read past issues two different ways. It's pretty neat, actually.

 

I subscribe to their newsletter, so when I click on one of their article links from a past issue, I'm brought to a virtual article viewing page which gives me a nifty way for me to read the article, almost as if I'm reading the actual magazine. I can flip through the pages, zoom in or out to change the font size and perform searches for specific keywords or keyphrases. There's even a little virtual crease down the middle of the page. The technology is provided by nxtbook.com.

 

Virtual Magazine Viewer - Flip through Contract Magazine articles online

 

 

If you don't have a fairly good-sized LCD display, you're probably not going to enjoy the experience as much as you would otherwise. But you can also read the same article on the Contract Magazine website. It's just not quite as fun!

 

There are a couple of important notes if you intend to use the virtual viewing pages:

The particular "Pure Platinum" article featured above is about the Audubon Society's newly-completed LEED-certified New York headquarters building. All materials selected for the project were sustainable at some level. Definitely a worthwhile read.. Enjoy!

 

With today's tough housing market, many designers are receiving home staging requests from sellers who hope to gain an edge by presenting their homes in the best possible light to prospective buyers. Many designers are instinctively able to help sellers stage their homes, often with dramatic improvements even on a tight budget.

 

Clients should determine a budget up front that the designer can work with, both in terms of long-term, more permanent design touch-ups such as new paint colors or floor refinishing, and in terms of short-term, decorative accents such as house plants, floral arrangements, candles, artwork, pillows and throws, rugs and the like. Home stagers should evaluate the seller’s furnishings and other belongings to determine what can be used versus what needs to be purchased or borrowed for successful staging.

 

When it comes to how much is enough or even too much, there are generally two schools of thought here. Many feel that simplicity is the best approach so that buyers can easily envision their own belongings in the space being showcased. Others believe that the seller should offer some “wow factor” by showcasing a well-appointed, beautifully decorated home that may be hard to resist.

 

I've helped clients stage homes on a shoestring budget with inexpensive additions such as small kitchen and bath accessories, a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore, and some nice houseplants. And I've also undertaken complete kitchen and bath renovations for my clients. I'd have to say that I generally find home staging for clients who are on a tight budget to be very rewarding, since the homeowners are frequently stunned that such significant improvements can be made for so little money spent. "Why didn't we call you long ago!?"

 

Although consulting time can be charged by the hour, many home stagers charge a flat fee for staging. Either way, the client generally provides the designer with a budget for purchases and pays directly for the items brought in for staging. There should be no financial risk to the designer.

 

Many construction and renovation projects include fireplace surrounds, hearths and mantels. There are a tremendous number of wonderful options out there to dress up and finish the fireplace, including stone, tile, glass, concrete, and wood. During numerous home renovation projects, I've proposed revamping the fireplace area, and when I've done so, clients who thought that their current set-up was fixed or permanent usually get pretty excited about making a change or improvement.

 

Some great options for surrounds and hearths include marble, granite, limestone, slate, soapstone, brick, tile, concrete, and recycled glass. One of my current favorites is a stacked stone surround with a coordinating slate hearth, especially in casual settings. The stacked stone is reminiscent of exterior stone walls and provides a nice connection to the outdoors. It also relates well to earth tone color palettes. Stacked stone color options tie in with slate tile or slab options for hearths:

 

 

Glass or recycled glass used as a surround is heat resistant and creates a softly colored, translucent look that works well in seaside homes or contemporary settings where stone might look a bit heavy. Glass surrounds can be combined with tile or stone hearths, or glass can be used on the hearth as well. Studio G3 features glass as fireplace surrounds in several applications:

 

Mantels run from traditional to rustic to minimalist/modern and can be purchased pre-fabricated or custom-built to fit a specific application if desired. Wood mantels are generally traditional but can also be contemporary.

 

 

Limestone, marble, or cast stone mantels can create an old world, classic look, or can be streamlined for a more contemporary appearance.

 

 

Shelves above a fireplace and surround fit the bill if there is limited width and if a minimalistic or rustic look is desired. Custom cabinetry around a fireplace can also finish the look.

 

One of my main goals for 2010 is to earn LEED "Green Associate" status and then LEED Accredited Professional (AP) status in Interior Design and Construction (ID+C).

 

One can earn a Green Associate credential separately or in conjunction with a LEED AP exam, depending upon one's past experience on LEED registered projects.

 

There are three tiers to LEED Professional credentials: Green Associate, AP, and Fellow. The "Fellow" status criteria is currently under development, but will feature an elite group of professionals who are leaders in the field.

 

Green and sustainable design will remain on the forefront of the construction, architecture, and design industries. It seems that there is less hype about green design as it becomes more mainstream, and projects and building materials/products will continue to incorporate aspects of sustainablity in order to be relevant and to be viewed favorably.

 

A recent report from Design Intelligence states that green and sustainable design has become "an integral aspect of good design". Indeed, focus upon good design often now starts with the use of environmentally sustainable practices and materials, and projects are evaluated equally for their "green-ness" and aesthetics.

 

I've already been working with a variety of environmentally sustainable products for several years now, but having a LEED accreditation can only help me with my design business.

In this sluggish economy, some people are still moving ahead with full kitchen and bath renovations that they'd planned on and for which they'd allocated funds. I've recently worked on some great kitchen and bath projects, both new construction and renovations. I've also worked with a couple of kitchen design clients that are quite budget conscious, but which have included new tile, lighting, paint and wallpaper, counter tops and cabinet hardware - not full blown renovations, but the results were beautiful nonetheless!

 

Tile can be one of the most cost effective materials that a client can purchase since tile can dramatically improve a kitchen's appearance. Basic tiles can be combined with accent squares in metal or glass for a great new look at affordable prices. I've had terrific results with Panaria Tile - lots of great colors and flexible sizes to allow for creative designs on a minimal budget.

 

New lighting can freshen up a dated kitchen or bath. Pendant lighting and rail systems add a lot of personality and color. There are so many great systems out there. Some of my favorites are Alfa Lighting, Tech Lighting and Besa Lighting, as they feature wonderful metal finishes, plus gorgeous glass selections for the pendants or directional lighting.

  

 

 

 

It's important to set aside room in the budget for key items, and lighting is one of them. I've seen clients with fairly restricted budgets fall in love with great lighting such as Hubbarton Forge, and they realize that high quality elements can make all of the dfference between modest and spectacular results.

 

Bathroom renovations often allow the use of stone remnants that can be purchased for very reasonable prices. At large stone yards, remnant choices and options are usually quite numerous.

 

Even new cabinet hardware can freshen up a kitchen or bath, especially when combined with new tile or a new paint color.

 

Here are links to some of the aforementioned products and vendors:

 

Panaria Tile

Alfa Lighting

Tech Lighting

Besa Lighting

Hubbarton Forge

Cabinet Hardware