Designing Life Has Moved!

Though I haven't made a blog post in quite a while, my reason for absence has to do with a life change for Designing Life and for my family.  Due to a job change of my husband, we have relocated from Gulfport, Mississippi to . . . Italy!  This does have an affect on my business at least for the meantime.

Since for the next two months I am in a temporary living situation, I only have a small netbook in which to work so I will not be doing E-designs.  The small screen makes the process much more challenging.  I am still choosing paint colors, making banners, and avatars though!  Some things are easily done on a netbook . . . and some things are next to impossible!

Newest Goal:

Since I am in Italy, I intend to find some murano glass beads with which to make earrings.  Also, since starting my experiments into jewelry making, I began with the metal sets provided by the stores.  I am planning to upgrade to silver plated earrings and making my own hooks.  My goal is to make the best quality earrings in the most unique styles.  My existing earrings are great; they are the best I could do with what I had.  That's why I am going to get better supplies to make it even better!

So my family, my business, and I are in Italy . . . what would you do if you were in Italy?

Homeschool Room E-design

Homeschool Room Design

This week I have been privileged to provide an E-design to a mother who is homeschooling her two children.  My client really wanted to make her School Room go beyond average and really be a room that would aid her children in their learning and not be a hindrance.  Most of the E-design was designed using existing furniture, but I was also able to add in a few accessories to complete the look and add to the organization.  Here are a few photos of her E-design as well as a some pinterest photos that were my inspiration.

A Storage Solution for the School Room as well as the Kid's Rooms

Each E-design includes storage solutions as well as ideas for increasing organization.  While toys are not a standard addition to a School Room, organized toy storage bins are a great way to begin teaching children to clean up after themselves.  Toys are not just for playing, but they can be a great tool for teaching.

A Placement Plan for her New Accessories

Since my client had plenty of existing furniture to work with my challenge was using her furniture in the best locations to aid learning.  I needed to create a space where she could stand at the whiteboard while teaching, a computer space, a reading nook, a workspace, as well as ample opportunities for organization.

A Furniture Floor Plan Using Existing Furniture

E-designs are all about the details.  These particular details will help to bring together her classroom and provide unique storage.  Both red, yellow, and green were colors that were reused throughout the room.  This floor plan shows the placement of these items throughout the room.

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Here are some Pinterest pictures of my inspiration!

Source: confessionsofahomeschooler.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Brooke on Pinterest

E-Design In A Nutshell

Since opening up my Etsy shop with E-design products, many potential clients, friends, and family have asked me to explain exactly what E-design entails.  In order to take the guesswork out of the concept, today's blog will explain what is involved in a room e-design.  In order to do this, I will explain the process that I used to create my recent client's Craft Room/ Guest Room E-design.

Existing Floor Plan

The Need

My client has a small bedroom in her house that she wishes to use as a guest room and a craft room.  Many people wish to have a room where they can house guests as well as routinely use as a craft room or office.  With the limited space, she had felt limited as to her options and decided that an e-design could help to give her ideas, product choices, and a layout that she had not previously considered.

The Room
The room has one double window, one closet, one entry way, a bed, an existing set of drawers, and an existing desk.  The floor is carpet and the walls are stark white.  The windows are dressed with blinds, but have no draperies.  In essence, the room is pretty must a blank slate with tons of craft room potential!

The E-design Interview
After a client purchases an E-design, they are sent an E-design Interview that helps me to understand my client's needs, wants, color preferences, and personal style.  No design should represent the designer, but instead it should be representative of the client.  From the words and expressed needs of the client within the E-design Interview, I am able to understand how to help them best and can provide them with an E-design that helps to solve their design problems with feasible solutions.



Color Selection



The Selection Process

After I have a full understanding of the room, the client's needs, and the client's personal home style, I begin the selection process.  Typically, I begin with colors.  I choose often choose two main colors and up to two accent colors.  My client loves teal, turquoise, and a fresh look.  So I chose the color Spa from Sherwin Williams, which is a light teal that is not overwhelming, and I also chose white to correspond with this color.  My suggestion was to use the white to create horizontal lines that would serve to make the room feel larger and taller.  The main accent colors were brown and light beige, which were mostly emphasized in the accessories.



Furniture and Accessory Selection



After choosing the color scheme, I began to consider the furniture and accessories that would best suit her room.  I choose items that will help with organization, storage, and add a specific style to the room.  I found tall inexpensive bookshelves that would be able to house much of her crafting supplies and I also located decorative fabric bins that would help her to organize her crafting supplies on those shelves.  To offer her more space to work on her craft projects, I found an adjustable folding table.  Due to the small space, she could have her table set up while working on projects, but hide the table under the bed when hosting guests.

Her closet has previously been underutilized for storage.  The solution was to add hanging shelves for fabric swatches as well as utilizing pants hangers for larger fabric pieces.  This allows her to save floor space while having visual access to all of her fabric.

One of the best and most exciting proposals I made through the E-design was to use a white pegboard for craft organization.  By utilizing pictures found on other crafter's websites, I was able to help my client see how useful and beneficial this concept could be for her craft room.  The concepts provided through the E-design are not always my own created concepts, but rather I find ideas that will work for my client's space.

New Floor Plan



Floor Plan

I take the measurements provided to me through the E-design Interview and draw out a floor plan.  This helps me to visualize the clients room.  Often, my clients will provide me with pictures as well.  The floor plan will then be rearranged for the best efficiency for the client's needs.  With the craft room, I decided to maximize the wall space by moving the bed into the center of the room.  While this may appear to hinder the ease of movement, the extra wall space is much more importance for my client than worrying about the time it will take to move around the bed.  In addition, the new floor plan allows space for the folding table and her ironing board while she works on projects.

E-design Presentation

After compiling all of the furniture and accessory selections, paint colors, concept ideas, and floor plans, I put together a custom E-design Presentation saved as an Adobe file.  The client is then able to flip through her E-design and see the selected furniture and accessories, the paint colors, floor plans, and the concept ideas at her own convenience.  In addition, I provide each client with a shopping list saved as an Excel file so the client can go directly to the websites of the retailers who carry the furniture and accessories featured in the E-design Presentation.  Simple, fast, and easy!

Below are a few more examples from this clients Craft Room/Guest room E-design.