ASID Showhouse: On the Boards

We’re currently working on an exciting ASID Designer Showhouse in Raleigh. Design Lines will be designing a “work-in and work-out retreat,” the powder room & vestibule, and a living room. Our designs debut in May. At the moment, our designs come to life through presentation boards—allowing someone to touch and experience the space before it is finished. At Left and below: Molly’s Presentation Boards for her “work-in, work-out retreat”

Brittany’s Powder Room Design

Judy’s Living Room

ASID Raleigh Showhouse 2008

The Women’s Club of Raleigh and the Carolinas Chapter of ASID are partnering once again for this years ASID Showhouse. Proceeds will benefit Hospice of Wake County as well as other community organizations and programs supported by the Woman’s Club of Raleigh.

ASID is the largest national organization for professional interior designers with over 34,500 members who have passed its rigorous acceptance standards.

The Carolinas Chapter ASID held a lottery drawing to choose approximately 25 from over 250 local area ASID designers to effect the two Ramblewood townhomes. Each designer will make over a specific space in the house. The finished houses will open to the public on May 10 – June 1, 2008. With 26 designer spaces this will be a truly treat for the eyes. Design Lines has four of these designer spaces, located in 3615 Rolston Drive.

Judy Pickett will be creating the living room, Molly Simmons will be creating a “work-in and work-out retreat” in a second-floor bedroom, Brittany Ruch has the small, yet accomodating Powder Room and Lauren Bishop will design the laundry room.

Be sure to check the blog for exciting updates!

Color of the day: Green!

I’ve always had a fondness for our dear Mother Nature, our Planet Earth. As of late though, i’ve become accutely aware of the sizeable impact my existence has on her. This awareness has been slowly mounting, mostly from local drought warnings, the American Society of Interior Designers’ sustainable views with which Design Lines is closely aligned, as well as my love for the community of Carrboro and the following blog: www.treehugger.com/ . However, the topic was pushed to the front of my mind after viewing an Oprah on Going Green.

During the show, Oprah discussed the importance of making environmentally responsible life changes. Which prompted me to do the same. My first step? Buying this intriguing guide:

The Green Book, by authors Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen discusses interesting facts about waste, recycling, and simple solutions we all can implement in our lives. See the following excerpt:

“Use fewer paper napkins-everywhere. There’s no need to grab a huge stack of napkins from the concession stand when you know you’ll use only one or two. Each American consumes an average of 2, 200 standard two-ply napkins per year, or the equivalent of just over 6 of these napkins per day. If everyone in the United States used an average of 1 fewer napkin per day, more than a billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year. A stack of napkins this size could fill the entire Empire State Building”

I decided to challenge a few members of the Design Lines team to join me in accepting a green resolution for the new year. This is what we got:

Brittany’s (that’s me) green resolves:

1-Use less napkins

2- There’s an interesting view point which suggests the utilization of existing furniture as an alternative to subjecting the earth to the waste, fuel, and energy, involved to produce all new furniture. Say…there’s nothing more I love than antiques.

3-Bring my own bag to the grocery store for small trips as an alternative to the paper or plastic options.

My usual decision:

vs. my favorite alternative to paper or plastic. This is the Bag by designer Anya Hindmarch I’ve had my eye on since mid-summer:

Laurie ‘s green:
“I will eliminate duplicate mail order catalogs that are sent to my home and the office!
So many trees are used for mail order catalogs that just end of in the trash and our landfills. ”

Click here to see how Laurie could implement this solution in her life.

Designer Ashley Lane commits to utilize one green product in all of her designs. She plans on acheiving this goal by searching for locally made materials, or materials that are manufactured using environmentally responsible methods. Ie: http://kravetgreen.com/ Ashley could also recommend energy-saving lighting to her clients.

Lauren, our intern, commits to turning off the water while brushing her teeth. According to the Green Book, turning off the tap while brushing could save up to five gallons of water a day!

Hopefully, our small goals may have an effect on the Earth, and if not on the Earth, on us and our increased efforts to be aware of our commitment to sustainability.

I shot the picture above on a summer trip home to central Illinois.

I love this tree on Duke’s campus


What I call the “forest”, a view from inside the Design Lines lounge (this is where we eat lunch everyday), a truly uplifting space.

The end.


The Olive Knuckle Hinge

All five DLL Designers (now that’s a number for the record books) enjoyed a class at one of our favorite showrooms Tuesday evening—Raleigh Decorative Hardware & Plumbing. While snacking on beautiful cupcakes, we perused the expansive showroom. We love being able to see and experience the variety of knob, after knob, after knob.

The Baldwin Hardware-sponsored class discussed the specification of door hardware. Though already fans of Baldwin’s offerings, we were informed and inspired, as the class generated even more enthusiasm (and multiple opportunities for us to drool over their product). Our favorite? The most memorable was the rarely-seen-in-this-market-due-to-the-required-amount-of-beforehand-thinking, olive knuckle hinge. They whispered unceasingly to each of us, “specify me on your next project!” and we can’t wait.

Above: The Olive Knuckle Hinge in a variety of sizes

From Left to Right, Stephanie, Ashley, Judy, long time Design Lines friend Rick Jacobs, Molly, & Brittany.

Moving

Seeing as how five of the six Design Lines employees have relocated in 2007…we thought we would share our favorite (and least favorite) experiences about moving. We asked almost all of the relocatees to answer the following inquiries:
1- Name your favorite thing about your new place
2- List your biggest moving/relocating pet peeve

Laurie:
Fave: My new house is worth the commute! I also love the Llamas I pass on the way to work each morning and when I see them on my way home, I know I’m almost there.


Least Fave: Living in the unstable/unorganized disarray of boxes while packing and the anticipation of getting into the new place.

Ashley:
Fave: I love the fact that I finally own and I am not renting and the perks about being an owner. I got to install a great picket fence that I love. I also love all the square footage that came with the yard. I have to say I lucked out because my house was built in 1979, and the owner gutted the whole house and renovated it right before we moved in. So the fact that this was already done, simplified the move. I love the open floor plan along with the fabulous new cabinetry that goes with it. I have a built-in trash can now!

Least Fave: The pet peeve that I have grown to get over is the fact that everyone that lives on my street has to park one car on the road. I would not be so upset but their driveway is so conveniently close. Is it necessary to showcase a car in front of the house? It must be a CARY thing. I am learning to get over it.


Stephanie:

Fave: The location couldn’t be better. . . I love being close to all of the wonderful restaurants downtown and the fun shops at Cameron Village.

Least Fave: All of the frustrations that come with trying to live in a house while renovating . . . I never knew there could be so much dust! Swiffer is sure to make a profit this year thanks to my incessant cleaning!

Brittany:
Fave: I love the well-manicured walkways of my community, they are great for taking strolls. More than ever I love antique shopping for the new space, there’s nothing greater than buying an uniquely shaped chair for five bucks or the calcutta marble topped dresser I had been dreaming about for my bedroom.


Least Fave: Town homes that do not have enough visitor parking for guests or driving 3 days from Idaho to get here. I’m still adjusting to the heat, too.

We are happy to say that we have a new-found empathy for our clients who move!