Friday, October 1, 2010

Rome and Lazio interior design

Ancient Rome's architecture inspired the Neoclassical movement, thus the city was a major epicentre for interior design made according to that style. Giuseppe Valadier was famous for making Roman Neoclassicism unique, including his bold and grandly-sculpted tables.
He was also famous for giving the city a dramatic facelift, restoring many of the ancient monuments and making grandiose classical marble tables, which were often gilded in gold to give a dazzling effect of wealth, just like in the Roman times.

Turin and Piedmont interior design

Turin was the most French of Italian cities, since it was its closest neighbour, and still produced some of the grandest Royal Palaces in the nation, themed on buildings such as those of Versailles.
In the 1770s, Piedmont and Turin-based Neoclassical furniture was essentially French in style, and its greatest son in that field was Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo who made what was believed to be the best Italian Neoclassical furniture, with his elegant designs and luxurious materials.

Interior Design Education

Interior design education has been delivered in South Africa since the 1970s, and this education is on a par with programs offered in most developed countries of the world. In Africa, interior design programs are offered at universities, universities of technology and at registered private colleges.
In Europe, the educational requirements differ between interior architects (considered a profession comparable to architects or structural engineers) and interior designers (considered a trade comparable to carpenters).
Traditionally in Germany, Interior Architecture has been taught at polytechnic universities or universities of applied sciences. Baccalaureate programs are normally three years (6 semesters) in length. In Germany, the adaptation of the university system to the international degrees Bachelor and Master has led to a restructuring of degree programs. Since university education has traditionally lasted at least 5 years, many Diploma programs have been transformed into consecutive graduate Master programs. Some European universities form partnerships with other universities to offer "internationally orientated Masters courses" in Interior Design, where parts of the course takes place between European partner institutions to offer comprehensive instruction in the Interior Design program, including preparation for the Interior Design qualification exam.
In the United Kingdom around fifty universities and art colleges offer 3-year degree courses and, in some cases, year-long MA courses in interior design. Many of these courses are relatively new however there are several institutions with a long proven track record in this subject area. Kingston University in London is seen by many as the "home" of interior design education in the UK and has produced many of the country's leading interior design professionals who have shaped the nature of the profession over the last forty years.

Interior design

Interior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment.
The interior design process follows a systematic and coordinated methodology, including research, analysis, and integration of knowledge into the creative process, whereby the needs and resources of the client are satisfied to produce an interior space that fulfills the project goals.
In jurisdictions where the profession is regulated by the government, designers must meet broad qualifications and show competency in the entire scope of the profession, not only in a specialty. Designers may elect to obtain specialist accreditation offered by private organizations. In the United States, interior designers who also possess environmental expertise in design solutions for sustainable construction can receive accreditation in this area by taking the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) examination.

Client Project Plans: Aimee & Dave's Open Plan Living Area

I thought I'd share another project I've been working on with you.  I started working with Aimee & Dave om their new house pre-construction this past Winter.   Here's a photo of the living room mid-construction:


Aimee & Dave are probably one of the cutest couples I've ever met as you can see from the pic below.  See the smiles on their faces as they check out their new place?



They have two cutie pies (not pictured) Eli & Lucy (right around my kids' ages) and are a young couple with a really fun sense of style.  They were looking for fresh, "coastal," fun, family-focused design.  Now since there's really no coast in sight around here, we had to make sure that we didn't get too themey-coastal and instead went with pieces that could work in Virginia but had that easy-breezy vibe.  Aimee knew she wanted aqua and from her inspiration photos we settled on aqua, oraange, and black & white for the general color scheme.

The kitchen is open to the dining nook and the living/ family room and Aimee & Dave wanted a place where they can cook, play with the kids, watch TV, eat, entertain, etc.  (Basically do it all)  Their house is new and open with classic details.  The rooms are a nice liveable big-but-not-too-big- sized-rooms and there aren't any wasted rooms in the house.   They will be literally be using every room of the house.  I love it.


After getting to know Aimee & her style, here's the plan I came up with.   (I typically do client plans in a 3-pronged folder, 1 for me and 1 for them to take home...  Samples are usually loose so we hold, drape on other things, tweak, etc.  I used to do large boards but have gotten away from it recently for the sake of portability...  they were fun though so who knows, I might eventually go back.)
  Anyway, here's the plan for the living area:


Here are the fabrics pictured above:

I'm a little bit in love with the sofa fabric which is the large-scale orange floral linen.  Aimee loved the fabric but took a long time deciding whether to do it on the sofa or not.  Doing a print on a sofa is a big deal.  For the past few years we've all heard the general touting: "Go neutral on your sofa and then switch up your pillows and acessories whenever you want," which I definitely think is perfect for a lot of us, but sometimes a pattern is so right, so timeless and so personal, that you know you'll love it for years and you don't want to switch things up all the time.  And that's how this orange fabric was.  We toyed with the idea of going neutral on the sofa and having pillows made out of it, but Aimee's style is realy fun & bold so she decided to go for it.  I am so excited for this baby to arrive!!!   We're doing it on this sofa: (which has just been finished this week and is ready for delivery!!)"



We're doing the modern wing chairs in a brown velvet with the black & white fabric for pillows, and then aqua pillows on the sofa.

Here are some of the other pieces we're using:



We're doing a large seagrass rug on the floors with the black & white Dash & Albert rug over it.  Remember the German antique barley twist table with inset needlepoint panels?


Yup!  It went to Aimee & Dave.

Here's the living area mid-construction:


...And please don't laugh, I'm not an artist, but the point comes across in this quick drawing:

 

The brown velvet chairs will go in front of the windows which will have aqua blue curtains and woven shades.

I made some optional pieces we could add in later:



Love that lantern pendant...  we're doing one over the island too.  And this guy's going above the fireplace:


Here's the dining nook:



Here's a super-quick brainstorming sketch:


 And here are the actual pieces:


Aimee & Dave have decided to go with all chairs (no banquette) for now and are having a custom table made.  They've also added chalkboard paint to the wall for Eli (who loves it!!) and eventually Lucy.  I'll keep you posted & can't wait to show you some "afters."  Thanks so much to Aimee & Dave for letting me help you with your project!!



xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.