Note to Self... Tile and how I did it all wrong.

I often make mistakes.  Like, practically everyday.  I usually learn from them and move on because if I beat myself up every time I made a mistake, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning!
There are days though, when I make a really big Homer "dooooh...", and when these moments occur, I make a mental "note to self..."

Today's "note to self" was kind of a big one and I just thought I'd share to save all you fabulous designers out there from falling into a trap:

09/14/11 - Note to Self:
When selecting tile that comes with a paper backing and the tile company offers the option to create a custom blend, PAY THE EXTRA to get the custom blend done at the factory.  (Especially when the client can afford it)  Self, DO NOT attempt to make your own blend by hand, in the field just because you think you know just the right ratio to make the tile look spectacular and just-so.  You don't, you numbskull!  Furthermore, getting the tile pre-blended in the future will aid in retaining more friendships with your tile contractors, because guess what?  The client will NEVER, EVER appreciate the time you took to "custom blend" their backsplash which will be hidden from view by cereal boxes and countertop appliances two weeks after the big reveal anyway.

This is how it all went down.


Day One: (yesterday)
Here is the design I did for a kitchen backsplash.  I worked closely with the tile guy and we did a pretty good job.  Yes, I had to lay out the entire pattern first to make sure that the joints were perfectly matched because I'm insanely anal that way, but at this point, it was coming along smoothly, just the way I imagined.  I felt really good and design-y yesterday.  It was also kind of fun to get my hands dirty even though the thin-set was drying my fingers out and cutting the glass tiles was tedious.

Day Two: (today)

The tile is pretty much in place.  The pattern looks good.  We remove most of the paper backing and cardboard shims and we install most of the final pieces that need to be cut around the cabinetry...  I know you can't see it in these pictures, but the larger running bond pattern is in a matte silk finish.  The little vertical chicklettes are an iridescent pearl finish.  My goal is to replace some of the larger bricks with iridescent bricks of the same size, thus creating the "custom blend."  In hindsight, what an idiot...

Precision cuts around cabinetry...  Can we say, "thank you inventor of the tile-cutter?!?!"

Three hours later...  I mark all the tiles that need to be "removed" and replaced with the iridescent ones to form the "custom blend." (blue tape)

Up until now, it's been kind of a pain, but okay...  I wouldn't want to do this everyday because my back hurts from hunching over, but nothing compares to what happens next.

This is when things go south...  What I realize waaaay too late is that since the thin-set has dried over-night, it is nearly impossible to remove the tiles that I want.  It wasn't just a matter of popping the tiles out with a fingernail and popping the new tiles in.  (That was what I was thinking in my head.)

The tile guy and I hammer and smash through the first few tiles, then we resort to a 2 step process of a small rotary blade to cut the tiles off the wall and break down some of the thin-set, then a hammer and chisel to smooth the holes out of caked on thin-set.  Consequently some of the little chicklettes and larger tiles fall off and I have to replace them one by one.  FRICK-ity-FRACK!  A royal waste of time, not to mention a royal pain.  I am sure the tile guy hates me at this point as he mixes another batch of thin-set for my sorry ass.

Two more hours later, we have removed all the tiles and the excess dried thin-set.  Now we have to remove individual iridescent tiles from their paper backing and set them one by one and level them with tiny plastic shims.  "Is it just me?"  I whine to the tile guy...  "I can't even tell if they are matte silk or iridescent at this point!"  I am pissed.  I know he is too, but he just smiles and says, "Kayo, don't worry, it will look better tomorrow when the grout goes in..."  What a sweet soul.

So, tomorrow...  Grout.  This frickin' backsplash better look good when all is said and done...

I'm going to go put some heavy duty lotion on my hands now.

Also to contend with:  Tile nightmare #2...  The fireplace.  Why do I feel another, "note to self" coming on with this project as well?

Inspiration/Mood Binders

One of my favorite things to do is to spend time looking through design magazines and ripping them up.  Yes, I do have a collection of magazines that I keep at hand, but space in my abode is limited, so when it comes to magazines, I am forced to recycle them after about a year.  Therefore, when I am ready to purge my glossies, I look through them one last time and tear out the images that speak to me.  Then I go through the process of organizing the images into two 3" three ring binders, scrap-book style.  These are what I call my inspiration binders or mood binders and I absolutely heart them.  Each binder contains thousands of precious images and are packed full of inspiration of all kinds.  I have sections for different rooms in a house (foyer, kitchen, closets, stairs, etc.) all the way to a section on flower arrangements and even a section dedicated to other people's mood boards!  I started this ritual of collecting inspirational images when I graduated from university.  Over the years, the binders have been edited and re-edited as trends change and my personal tastes expand.  But even though some tabs have been added and subtracted, there are some timeless images that I will undoubtedly keep forever.  Over and over, the contents of these binders lend inspiration to the work that I do.  Sometimes it is a color palette or a theme that I want to use in a room.  Other times it is a gift idea or an "aha, that's what I was missing!" type of revelation when I feel creatively stuck.  I can't tell you how many ka-jillions of times those plastic-sleeved pages have been turned over, but I relate them to comfort food.  No matter how many times or whenever I peruse through my collection of ripped out magazine pages, the eye-candy never gets old and those images make me feel warm and good.

Two things that surprise me about my inspo binders...

1. Is that even when I know what section I need to look at for a quick reminder or reference, I always end up looking through every single page.  I never seem to skip over images and think, "oh, I don't need to look at that one..."  Somehow, I end up scanning every image and find myself considering what it mean to me.  What I like about it.  How it makes me feel and if it has anything new to lend.  I know... it sounds like a royal waste of time but once a binder is opened.  It just happens.

2. Is that I always tell people that I like 'modern' design.  (I do tend to lean towards the clean and contemporary), but the truth is, if a stranger flipped through my binders, they'd find them kind of all over the spectrum with modern stuff sprinkled in.  They would probably conclude that my tastes are in fact, wildly eclectic.  So why do I keep telling people that I like modern when it is just as easy to say I have an eclectic appreciation for all types of design?  I don't know, it just happens.

Many designers create mood boards on the walls of their studios for instant visual gratification.  Unfortunately, I work in a miniscule home office and there is not a lot of vertical space to plaster full of beautiful images.  That's why my binders work for me.  Yes, I have to flip through the pages, and take the sheets out when creating an array or a visual field, but I have perfected my binder organization meticulously and this method works for me.  They are just the way I like them to be.  If you ever feel stuck creatively, or just like the idea of looking at images that inspire the creative mind, I encourage everyone to try creating a mood board if you have the space, or if not, maybe the binder system would work for you too.  I find there is nothing more inspiring than sitting at a table, surrounded by glossy images of Mother Nature's perfection and creative spaces or things that other people have designed.  As I greedily hoard my images and torn scraps of beauty, I am gratefuly reminded that there is an abundance of thoughtful, creative people out there trying to make the world a more beautiful place and also of how important it is to try to protect our earth so that these places, spaces and things of fancy can be enjoyed by future generations not only in photographs but in real person.

When it's all coming together...

I'm juggling right now.  But it's fun.  Just love that everything is all coming together nicely.  I visited 2 sites today.  Just wanted to share the progress.

Project #1: Living room/kitchen remodel which has now somehow turned into a whole house remodel and it's been a great experience.  One of those where the contractor just does what I tell him to do and it just gets done.  So nice.  Love the contractors that are so agreeable and even pick up all the tile since it was too heavy to fit in my car.

Here we are today.  Fireplace has been stripped of old tile and ready for the new.  Ceilings sprayed.  Wall color going up and the kitchen cabinets will be delivered on Monday!

Project #2: Whole house remodel as well.  Family looking to move in at the end of this month!

Here we are today.  Drywall up.  Insulation has been blown in.  Doors are 80% hung.  Wood flooring has arrived.  Patching has begun and the kitchen cabinets went in!

 All in a days work.  Looking good crews!  Keep moving forward!

Respect thy client's pocket book.

     I ate a tuna fish sandwich and 16 tortilla chip crumbs (what was left at the bottom of the bag) for lunch today.  Then I washed it all down with what was left of my cold coffee from this morning.  I abhor tuna fish sandwiches and cold coffee, but guess what?  That was lit-er-ally all that was left in the kitchen.  I mean I couldn't possibly stomach the banana on the counter which was so brown that it was a week past 'good enough for banana bread' and had like, 6 fruit flies on it.  'Cause that's just gross.  Really?  Are we this poor?  Has the economy left us stunted with nothing but tuna, mayo and stale chip crumbs?  Oh, and that nasty piece of fruit which is now in the trash?  Earlier today I was on a construction site where the client just ordered a Viking/Subzero appliance package!  Yet I am eating lumps of canned fish?  Where I implore, did I go wrong?  Oh yea.  I decided to become a designer and then I went ahead and fell in love with a contractor.  FRICK!  All was well when we were both working for other people and getting steady paychecks, but THEN, with impeccable timing, juuuust before the economy decided to take a royal dump, we simultaneously had the brilliant idea to "go out on our own and live the American Dream!"  Just Fabulous...  I never thought we were complete idiots but lately, I find myself questioning our sanity.  I mean, we both got university degrees and all right?  uhhhh, right...???  BARCH. (check) and BS in Construction. (check)  That was us wasn't it?

     As the husband and I struggle monthly to make our mortgage payments and keep food in the house; a house mind you, that is being eaten from the inside out by termites, I have the immense pleasure of knowing that at least I get to do for a living, what I love.  It may not be "cutting it"in terms of getting me ahead monetarily, but I get to design!  Pretty much same goes for the husband.  Despite it all, he idiotically loves what he does.  Adult babysitting he calls it.  For him I guess it's because he's really good at it.  (Big, boss-man, number crunching guy that seems to yell to get things done right - a lot)  For me, yes, I complain about our current state of affairs, but I am fortunate enough to still have the rare few clients that seemingly trust me and my design-y opinions.  Economy aside, it's a hard profession to be in.  This design business...  We try to sell a complete, three dimensional space on paper.  None of it is tangible until built, but we bill the client on what we think are brilliant ideas at the time.  My time and opinions (I guess) are worth X amount per hour and I most graciously accept payment.  I go around collecting fabric swatches, mini pots of paint, tile samples, and countless specifications.  Then I kind of haphazardly put it all together (mash it up) because it looks good to me.  I use big design-y words to describe my creations like 'cohesiveness' and 'dimensionality.'  And then, I pray.  I pray hard that the clients sitting across from me think that I know what I'm talking about.  HA!  But do they know that I am simply presenting what I have been trained to do?  Express my love for design as seen through my own eyes, and from my past experiences, not necessarily theirs, and hoping that they want to pay for it and live in it for themselves?  I don't know.  I have never been on the other side of design.  I always had my own personal taste and never really asked for the opinion of another person on matters concerning design-y things.

     It's kind of weird when I think about it.  My extension of the perfect living room arrangement lives across town in that house for Mr. & Mrs. So-and-so and the master bath that I could die for is perched up in that other house on the hill for Mr. and Mrs. What's-their-face-again.  I say that I always have the client's best interest and personal tastes in mind when I design "perfect"spaces for other people but do I really?  Am I not just pushing what I think is best?  Is it right?  I guess it must be if they pay me for my services and are happy in the end...?  Though I have to wonder... when my own tastes change every other day it seems, how truly happy are those clients in their designer-created spaces after let's say 5 years?  10 years?  What if they think the worst???  I can just hear the conversation now!  "What the heck was that crazy designer thinking when she brought this to us for approval?!?!?  Furthermore, what were WE thinking paying a crap load for it and then on top of that, paying her know-it-all ass to tell us it was... what was the word she used?  Cohesively, dimensional???  What the hee haw does that even mean?!?!  What a load of absolute BS!  Go find her business card  from my Rolodex so I can tell her just how cohesively demented she is!"

     I guess the best compliment a designer can get is the exaltation of, "OMG!  This is exactly what I imagined but could not put together on my own!"  I love that feeling I get when I know my little trick worked.  You know, the one where I haphazardly mash things together and sell it with big design-y words.  Tee Hee.  But seriously, I love thinking about how people feel in space.  Humans are amazing that way are they not?  We are the only animals that create spaces to live and work in and those spaces make others feel.  The emotions that a room can evoke are created from mixing and matching textures and colors and that is what moves our emotions from high to low, sunny to sombre.  And we as designers and builders get to partake in the creation of perceived spacial magic.

     I guess I will continue to complain about my current disposition until it all gets better.  I'm just that way.  (Short, slightly cynical, idea mashing gal that seems to complain while trying to get things done right - a lot)  But I will always continue to recognize and appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to put in practice, what I love.  I love to design and I love to watch the husband build.  We make quite a pair, us two.  Tomorrow's lunch might be crusty left overs from tonight's dinner of God knows what, but at least we can get up each morning and say we love what we do.  We create and build for others, spaces and places that are lived and worked in and most importantly, felt in and that's a pretty sweet mark we get to leave on this earth.

Like Floating Fairies

I died a little and went to heaven today.  A client who's house is currently in construction just informed me that after much deliberation, she has decided on the Bocci Chandelier for her entrance hallway!
My reaction upon the news?  I squealed like a school-girl who was just offered a personal meet and greet with Justin Bieber...  I know, I'm pathetic.  Who gets that excited about a light fixture you ask?  That would sadly be me.
I work part time in a lighting design/low voltage office as their CAD jockey...  (Soooo NOT glamourous)  But I took the job for 2 reasons.  I wanted to learn more about lighting because I have always been fascinated with it, oh and it pays really well.  So in the past year & 1/2, I have learned a LOT about lighting and various aspects associated with the Electrical trade.  Beam spreads, conduit sizing, Lutron, LED strips, can housings options, sizing racks for Low Voltage, yadda yadda yadda...  It's all very technical and (no offense to all electricians out there, but) painfully boring to draw, but the reward are the end results.  From this particular office, they are always stunning.  And lucky for me, I get to see the installation of some of the most phenomenal fixtures on the market today.  I have fallen in love over and over again with what lighting and automation technology can bring to a project...
Anyway, back to my beloved Bocci Chandelier.  I have always described this fixture as looking like "Floating Fairies."  I always say it in my "once-upon-a-time" voice and imagine myself with anime starry eyes.  That's how much I love this look.  There is nothing quite like crystalline glass globes cascading from lofty heights, a soft glow emitting from each orb is there not?  Photo after photo that I see of this arrangement is just magical.  Unfortunately, until today, no one thought it was magical enough to purchase for their home...  But FINALLY, after many years of introducing this lighting marvel to any client with a double height space, Mrs. H delivers!!!  I can not wait until the day I stand in the entrance of her Palisades home and marvel upon the heavenly fixture I have admired for so long!  I am secretly praying she gets the one with the most glass globes...  For the full effect!

Though often overlooked and sometimes sadly neglected, lighting is, in my opinion, essential in good space design.  Just as much as the pieces of furniture selected!  Maybe even more so!  I wish I could convince everyone who decides to build or remodel to not skimp on their lighting budget even if it means compromising on a line item that could wait until another day.  Once lighting is in, it's more of a pain to change than, for example a couch or draperies.  Proper lighting creates a mood, and warms the soul.  It enhances architectural elements and sometimes makes them even more striking.  Lighting can change one's perception of space.  I don't think any other tactile sensation can be fully appreciated without proper lighting to bring out depths of colors and textures the way good lighting does.  So doing it right the first time can literally make or break a space.  And concurrently, if lighting can be improved upon for a remodel situation, I believe it should be!

So let there be light!  Whether it is floods of natural light through spans of glass or with a fabulously glittering, perfectly positioned, piece of eye candy, plan it well and let it shine.  I may go as far as to say that I would rather sit in complete darkness than to endure the dogginess of a poorly lit room...  Okay, maybe not as drastic as that, but shouldn't everyone enjoy a well lit room?

Here are some more of my all time favs.  (All fixtures below can be found at Y Lighting.)

Remodels - The new Construction Model

Remodels are a pain in the ass.  They have so many variables that are unknown and have to be dealt with after-the-fact; when the ripping and tearing has already begun.  I get it.  The last thing a homeowner wants to hear is, "oh, and while examining your leaky roof issue, we also discovered black mold...  That will be an extra $$$ added on to your already growing list of by-the-way's that we found after construction began 3 months ago..."  FRICK!  But I believe it's worse for the designer and contractor.  They are the ones that actually have to DEAL with the issues and make them right.

And that my friends is why contractors LOVE a ground-up build.  The issues, though they still exist, have to do with things that are NEW and controllable.  Not pre-existing mistakes that are obviously bone-head moves made by the previous builder who cut corners to make his own life easier or to save money.  I mean come on, Mike Holmes from 'Holmes on Homes' and 'Holmes Inspection' makes a damn fine living pointing out how incompetent and lame the previous contractor was!  If I was a non-designer and knew nothing about construction, I would probably think that all contractors were a group of bull-shit talking, total dumb-ass idiots too!

Whether we like it or not, the reality for builders and designers today is, the remodel is the new construction model...  It's most likely the bulk of our business right now.  At least that is the reality for us.  No one seems to be building ground-up homes in this economy and those who are, aren't hiring us.  Why?  I don't know... but such is life for young, professionals in a shitty economy trying to compete with either guys that drastically cut their prices just to keep their employees working, or the big boys who have been around the longest and therefore are just better known.  I feel like though "this ain't our first rodeo" and we've been around the block more than a few times over, somehow we still look too young to "really" be legit.   ???

But all bitching aside, we have had the pleasure to work on a few lovely remodels that have turned out great.  Despite the problems, we are thankful to the gracious clients and happy to still be in business!

So the first project below was no different in terms of difficult remodels, but it was a testament to how a solid and respectable working relationship between designer and contractor is vital to the quality of work delivered in the end.  I participated on this one from the construction side with the husband.  The designer, R.S. from Ras-a, Inc. did a phenomenal job of keeping the look clean, simple and classy.  In the end, good design (and good construction) always prevails.  Thank you Ras-a, Inc. for another fabulous partnership project!  We love working with you!  (Photos Credits: Roel Kuiper 2011)

Before

After

Before

After

Details

The next project was a design-build collaboration with mod and always hip, Culver City architects Modative.  This loft space remodel features bold wall partitions that double as storage, a charming butter yellow nursery for a new family addition and thoughtful details that create a luxe living space such as sultry gray walls and an interior peek-a-boo window. (Photo Credits: Krystal Navar 2011)

Remodel Heaven / Hell.

I have neglected this blog for too long.  Not that anyone reads this thing, but I apologize.  To myself.  I have been busy.  And it's the good kind because I get paid.  I am currently working on 3 remodels and it's great. I love working with families and navigating through the different personality dynamics between husbands and wives.  It's like design psychology.  It's my favorite thing to source materials and pick surfaces and finishes.  Some designers hate driving around doing the background research on materials.  I personally love it.  I have wood flooring, cabinet finishes, lighting and tile samples in boxes in the back of my car.  I have talked to about 50 reps from various manufacturers and been in more showrooms in one month than I have in all the years I have been doing this gig.  I am at what feels like constant and daily design meetings (face-to-face, via text, e-mail and Skype) and find myself making revisions to plans at midnight.  I really get so much more done when I'm busy.  It's heaven.  That is, until I lay in bed at night and think about the condition of my own house.  Then it's like hell.

Why can't I work on my house?  Why can't I have new tiles in my bathroom, shiny new SS appliances and new engineered quartz countertops in my kitchen?  Where are my custom built-in cabinets and what's my total construction budget?

As a designer, it's easy to go around spending other people's hard earned money and convincing them to choose x instead of y because of it's superior eco-friendly qualities.  It's not so easy when you see how quickly everything adds up if one were to make those exact same design decisions for themselves.  Four nicely spaced skylights goes down to two without the remote control shade option in a blink of an eye.

I revisited the plans for our house last night for the first time in months.  I rolled them out, closed my eyes and had a good laugh.  What plagues my current situation is the taste that I have acquired ($$$dream$$$ vs. $reality) through the years of specifying phenomenal products and not having the money to afford them myself.  The husband and I have been living in our "tear-down" for FOREVER now so one can just imagine the hours I have spent designing, redesigning and re-redesigning the minutia within every square inch of the "new house."  I can verbally walk you through the new construction and describe in nuanced detail every color and texture, every fixture and every plug location from the first floor up to the 3rd floor mezzanine.  I don't know much about landscape design, but for our house, I can recite the latin names of the various drought-tolerant plants that will live on our roof garden.  This hypothetical home has been marinating in my brain for so long that there are design decisions that I made 4 yeas ago that would now look practically archaic due to the constant flow of new materials and ideas that flood the market.  Hence the redesigns that occur over and over and over...  The newest tiles from way-back-when have now been replaced with the next generation of newest tiles.  They are hipper, shinier, more mod.  And even more out of my price range!  But I guess that's another great thing about the remodels I've been working on.  The more research I do, the more educated I become when it comes time to yet again update the designs for my own dream home...  I keep telling myself that someday, it'll become a reality.  I just hope it doesn't take so long that the structure has to change to resemble a space-age pod that floats...

So at the moment, I'm living vicariously through the three wonderful families that I'm designing for.  Between all three projects, I can safely say that I have fulfilled many of my current dreams for my own house.  The glass backsplash and Dacor stainless steel appliances from house A, the stately dark wood kitchen island and contrasting white countertops from house B and the banquet dining area and foyer layout from house C.

I'll keep the updates coming with pictures as the projects move into construction phase, but until then, more refining, structural calculations and construction documents...  Happy Remodeling.