Homes for the Holidays

It's been a great start to the holiday season. Alice and I went on the Homes for the Holidays tour, which gave proceeds to The United Way charity. Our tickets included the list of six homes that we could tour during the afternoon. Some of the homes are new and some are newly renovated. This one is a charmer:

Adding to the charm, you walk along a front, full length covered deck to get to the front entry.  I've seen many spaces with too much wood, but in this home, the wood floors, handrails, and wood frame windows are gorgeous.  They kept their choice of finishes and furnishings to the traditional palette.  They even have new yet traditional kitchen appliances from Heartland.   Oh and their Christmas decor was charming too.

The decorators and the home owners are all volunteers.  There are a number of businesses that donate product, cash and time to decorating the homes on the Homes for the Holidays Tour.  One of the new homes, with the support of Urban Barn, was elegant yet comfortable.  The master bedroom was very romantic with a base of soft greys.  The accents and Christmas Decor were deep purples with touches of silver.  When we entered the ensuite, we were rendered speachless.  It was so inviting and elegant, it made us feel like princesses.  We tried to hang out for awhile, but no one would bring us champagne.  We were not allowed to take photo's but I just could not resist.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I'd like to volunteer next year, we'll have to see how things go.  My work is focused on public spaces, it's hard to find the time to branch out into other areas.  The people who volunteer work on residential spaces, the tour offers a good marketing opportunity for them.

     

Halloween

I luv luv luv Halloween. Although I did not get time to decorate this year, I will be dressing up today. I have an old hand-me-down red velvet bridesmaids dress, a red wig, a crown, a gold patterned silk housecoat, and a strip of black fabric with painted on gold hearts. Can you guess my costume? I am The Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland! I'm so excited, I get to yell "off with their heads" all night!



Unfortunately my husband doesn't enjoy dressing up and my friends turned down the invitation to be The White Queen. My kids don't understand how cool it is to dress up with their mother. But my neighbors are very into halloween. They did have time to decorate. (photo from pier1.com)

If I had made time to decorate, and if I had some extra cash, I would've picked up a few things from Pier One and HomeSense. I like crystal balls, candles, ghosts hanging from the ceiling, big black spiders, black cats, skulls, witches and orange lights. If I have some time this week, maybe I can get some after-holiday deals, and prepare for next year. (two photo's from trendhunter.com, courtesy of styleathome)





Here are some photo's of my neighbor's halloween creation:

Lighting

I went to a lighting seminar in Kelowna, in June 2010. It was hosted by the IDIBC, Kelowna chapter, of which I am a member. The presenters were Joseph Scott from Tripped on Light, Clarissa Raymundo from Canlyte Philips, Don Milner from SLS Group, and representatives from CDM2 Lightworks. They showed us how lighting science is rapidly evolving.

The above image is from the Tripped On Light web page. Joseph helped us refresh our memory with a review of lighting terminology. He recommends to use a black baffle in a recessed downlight to reduce glare. Joseph mentioned the photography Law of Thirds during his presentation. I will definitely need to learn more about this visual arts tool.

Clarissa presented information about IESNA lighting level guidelines, lighting power density, colour temperature, and luminous hierarchy. Don introduced us to control techniques including light harvesting, scenes, occupancy sensors, daylighting sensors, and control zone schedules. It becomes more and more clear how important lighting designers are. There is so much to know about lighting parameters that it takes full-time focus to be proficient in the art.

Lightworks displayed some of their products, and have an extensive collection online at www.cdm2lightworks.com. I am typically attracted to European designed products like this one.



Many of us were impressed with their closet rod shown below. They also have an LED coloured light fixture that can be installed flush in your driveway and be driven over! Lighting technology is most certainly a leader of design innovation. I plan to spend some time trying to catch up with them.

Bryan Lortie sent this comment: "LIGHTWORKS experienced Product Sales Group is dedicated to assisting the design, specification and construction community in the creation of exciting and sustainable projects. We provide full service support including applications, mock-ups, budgeting, global procurement, project management and field project services to ensure installed product satisfaction"

Introduction

Typically my work days are filled with architectural drafting and design. But I've had the privilege of taking up the interior design responsibilities as well. I've worked on residential and institutional projects, and would like to experience some commercial work soon. I would expect restaurants and retail projects to have more room for daring hits of colour and texture, and have more possibilities for creative expression centered on lighting and spatial arrangements.

When helping a client or a friend with interior design, its important to first learn about the person's preferences and to learn about their goals for the space. This way you can get a good clear start on the correct path. There's few things worse than a designer taking over a project and trying to create a space thats suitable for the designer, but is not inline with the client's expectations. It is easy to get lost and lose precious time going down the wrong path. It is beneficial when the client can fully trust the designer or decorator and allow new ideas to be created and completed. This is when the big 'wow' and the big pay-offs are created.

I am a Registered Interior Designer with the IDIBC, an Applied Science Technologist with the ASTTBC, am a LEED AP, and have a diploma in Engineering Design and Drafting.