Inspiration straight from the White House- Decorating This Holiday Season

Putting up Christmas decorations is such an exciting time of year! We are all home again and family comes together to set up the tree, pull out the ornaments, and keep my dog from marking and/or eating the tree. Although this is a joyous time, we often bring up the same conversation: We need new decorations. Everything here is from 1998. Our house is full of memories and primary school crafts, but it is lacking in a unified theme. 

I think this is why, I have always loved The White House's holiday decorations. The way the designers always bring new blare and sparkle to the space, while still holding on tightly to the essence of the historical White House. So let's take a look at the White House houses decorations this year! 

The Christmas Tree this year is a 18.5 feet tall! It is a Douglas Fir from a Pennsylvania tree farm.

The Blue Room. The military appreciation tree is dressed in blue to honor Blue Star families. Each ornament is dedicated to a military family as well as unique ornaments from every state and territory. I have always wanted to have a tree in every room!

Here are the decorations on the 16.5 foot Christmas Tree. I love gold as a holiday color scheme. I also love the variation in sizes and shapes for the for the ornaments. The roses, beading, and ribbon bring great texture in to the scheme. 

These wreaths are hanging in every exterior window in the East Wing. This would be a great way to reuse our old balls if we bought new ones.  (For the new ones I'm thinking blue and sparklyyy!!)

Here is the Obama's 2013 Holiday card. Its pop-up with 3d puppies! How great is that? I am glad to know the first family idolizes there dogs as much as my family does. 

Cant forget to decorate the dog! Good boy. 

Good luck with your holiday decorating. Don't be afraid to get adventurous. Happy holidays, everyone! 

Presenting Tips: An Honest Easy Way to Kick Anxiety's Butt

At Auburn, I have had to present every project I have done for a class. Despite the fear and anxiety I have gone through with this exercise, it has actually been very helpful to me. I now feel like I can stand up and talk to a group about anything for a few minutes. But trust me- this skill has not come easily. I used to just go up there, black out, and say whatever came to mind for 5 minutes until my time was up. Through 4 years of forced pitches, I have learned how to present myself in front of an audience, and I think that is one of the most important skills to have as a designer.
For our final project this semester, my class of 26 had to stand up in front of our client and pitch our project in 8 minutes. It was extremely nerve racking. Our audience was my professor, the general manager of the hotel, his assistant, the head of an Atlanta hospitality firm, and 25 of my closest peers in a large auditorium. Some went exceptionally well, others were 8 minutes of the slowest train wreck you will ever watch. We have all had the same amount of experience, but some people just tend to fall apart.
So here is my guide to the most basic and important things to remember when pitching a project to a client!

1. Don't forget to say the most basic things. I forget to mention that all of finishes were durable and easily cleaned. To me, that is an absolute must as an interior designer, but a client needs to hear the words.

2. Have a good opener and closer. If every word you say in between is useless garbage filled with 'umms' at least be able to say who you are, what their needs were, what your theme was, and thank them for their time. Presentations that don't have a strong closing are like slow car crashes and the pause waiting to clap and be unbearable.

3. Practice! I know all of those record yourself and make your mom watch you tips can just go in one ear and out the other. The way I practice is by writing down the vocabulary I want to use and practicing my lines, in my head, while staring at my boards. Be able to find some organization in your thoughts. Do whatever makes you feel calm in your head before you stand up on that stage.

4. Figure out how to draw attention away from the problems. Address the functionality of what you have created. One time I had to present a project that was half finished with tears rushing down my eyes while wearing yesterday's clothes. I went up there, put on my personality, pointed out the positive attributes of my design, and never addressed the empty parts of my boards. I got a roaring applause.

5. Be yourself and smile. For the most part, our projects were pretty similar because we were all asked to do the same space in the same style with the same design needs. The projects that stood out were the memorable ones. The people that smiled, and let their personality shine through their professionalism, and took criticism well. Don't let a good project be ruined by a boring pitch. Or in the reverse, kill them with personality so they don't notice the holes in your design!

Go get 'em, Tigers!

A Day at Hillwood House, Washington D.C.

Being a Northern Virginian, I swear I have seen everything every Smithsonian Museum has to offer. That's a little dramatic, but from field trips, to cousins coming for visits, I feel like I have experienced everything historical DC has to offer. Because of this, I was shocked when my knowledge of D.C. Museums fell short when talking to some touring Brits. They told me that they had just been to Hillwood House, the most gorgeous and breathtaking estate frozen in time- that isn't own by Smithsonian. So the last time I was home, I went on an adventure to see what Hillwood House was all about.  

A LITTLE HISTORY 

Hillwood House has been a museum open to the public since 1977.  The estate was left to D.C. after its owner, Ms. Marjorie Merriweather Post, passed away in hope of it becoming a museum. The home displays her very impressive Russian Imperial Art collection, French Décor, as well as the estate itself. Basically, Ms. Post had a whole lot of fabulous things that needed to be archived, knew what was up, and wanted to make herself infamous. 

Here she is, Design Reverence's Lady of the Week- Ms. Marjorie Merriweather Post! She was the only child of the man who founded the Post cereal empire. She also married and divorced four men of equally impressive status. After her purchase of Hillwood House, she took on the role of social ambassador and hosted hundreds of teas and parties for A-list Washingtonians and their guests. Fabbulllouuuss! 

Here she is giving a tour of her Japanese Garden. Hey, I have right stood there!

The Tour 

Hillwood House boasts 13 acres of manicured gardens. In addition to the Japanese Garden and waterfall, there is also an English garden, French garden, cutting garden, green house, pet cemetery (RIP!), and putting green. This is just so spectacular- especially because the greenery goes farther than the eye can see. I can not begin to explain how rare (and pricey) this is for Northwest DC. 

Here is the entrance and front of the house. The circle drive in its prime always had two Rolls Royce's at the ready. Am I starting to paint a picture here?

Here is the grand staircase, looking down towards the first floor. Everything was done on such a grand scale, but at the same time the home was warm and welcoming. The house still had a great flow and order, which is so important when working on a grand scale. 

Best room in the house! This here is the formal dining room. All the walls are oak paneling with French rococo motifs. The rug was a gift from the Napoleon III to the Emperor of Mexico- and holy cow, I got to step on it. I tend to push the limits in museums... Anyways, this room is the perfect example of what it looks like to design every square inch of a space. The dining room puts a lot The White House's rooms to shame. 

To show you how frozen in time Hillwood House really is, this the kitchen. All these things were the most high end elite appliances and finishes of the 1970s. With all of the large-scale dinner parties Ms. Post hosted, she had to have a top-shelf team working on modern amenities. Every wall and cabinet remains mustard green. There was a robins egg blue mixer still sitting on the counter! Too cute. It was like walking from 18th century grandeur in to The Wonder Years in one step. Eeek, I love design and the history it holds! 

3 Parts Garden 1 Part Guitar: Nashville's New Music City Center

Last week I took a design vacation to Nashvegas! My week was stuffed full of tours of historical architecture, local firms, and new projects. Surprisingly, the best tour of the week was Nashville's brand new convention center, Music City Center. Get ready ya'll- this thing is massive. 

Nashville is located within 600 miles of half of America's population. Using this to their advantage, the city of Nashville commissioned the new convention center in hopes of generating more travel to the city. The building is 2.1 million square feet, 1.2 of it being public space. The building sits on 16-acres, stretching all the from 5th to 8th Avenue. The aerial view shows the 4 acres of green space and guitar-shaped roof. In response to the convention center, Nashville has 12 new hotels in various stages of construction.

The convention center boasts 60 pieces of local art. Eight pieces were commissioned just for Music City Center, including the carpet design and a 4-story string sculpture. 

When spaces need to be extremely flexible it is often hard to incorporate exquisite design. The convention center overcame this challenge with flying colors- literally. The lighting design was functional, a great element for wayfinding, and provided a way to customize the space. All large ballrooms (as seen above) had uplighting that could be changed to any color of the spectrum to support brand image or color schemes. How cool is that? The illuminated signs outside the door could be changed as well, to help with wayfinding to get back to your group. 

My favorite design aspect of the convention center is that the architects didn't want there to be a main entrance or a back of the building. All of the dumpsters and loading docks are hidden discreetly behind a wall. The loading docks are actually one level above Demonbruen, so all of the unappealing elements of the convention center are hidden from guests and traffic. 

Can you see? Even though this picture is during construction, you can see that all of the loading docks are above street level and hidden by architecture. Absolutely brilliant! 

The Music City Center has raised the standards for the possibilities of commercial design. It embraces Nashville's culture, provides 90,000 square feet of functional meeting space, is wonderful and inspiring in both exterior and interior architecture, and on its way to becoming LEED silver certified. 

Photo and Fact Credit:
VisitMusicCity.com

The Lorax [design inspiration where we least expect it]

Sometimes when college gets tough, I start to revert back to the simpler days. You know, the days of naps... and picture books... and Saturday mornings that consisted solely of cartoons. While working on renderings, I often turn on some mindless TV show in the background, for when the 'pinwheel of  doom' takes over my computer. This Friday, I took a 180 from Real Housewives and I watched The Lorax. The Lorax had a surprisingly beautiful message about the future of our Earth and the troubles that come from building over top of it.

For those of you who need a summary, here is my swiftest attempt at one (though I highly suggest you watch it!): Ted Wiggins is a 12 year old boy trying to impress a girl, who fantasizes about owning a "real tree," for which there are none in the completely synthetic town of Thneedville. Ted listens to the cautionary tale of The Once-ler's troubles from cutting down the forest in exchange for a seed.

Though the children's animated movie is a whimsical rendition of Dr. Seuss' book, it has a great message to everyone about the future of our Earth. Whether or not that plot summary made any sense at all, here are some beautiful and/hysterical quotes that have a great message for sustainable design- some more subtle than others. Enjoy!

"Ted: Do you know where you can get a tree, like a real tree?

Ted's Mom: Why do you need a tree? Its just.. sticks out of the ground and does what? I don't even know what is does. Look! We've GOT a tree! It's the Oak-a-matic. Three modes! Summer, Fall, Winter, and... Disco!"

"You gotta be kidding me! Do you really think people are stupid enough to buy this?"
--Our research shows that if you put something in a plastic bottle, people will buy it!"

Ted: Ya but... Nobody cares about trees any more!
Once-ler: Then make them care! Plant the seed in the middle of town where everyone can see! Change the way things are.  I know it may seem small and insignificant but it's not about what it is.  It's about what it can become.  That's not just a seed anymore than you are just a boy.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

Photo Credit: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/movie/lorax_the/photo.html

Meeting New Role Models

Annual ASID Alabama State Conference!

Encouragement for Sustainable Residential Interiors 

Alagasco's Center for Energy Technology where the conference was held. The building was originally built in 1905 as a railroad depot. The old brick building is now LEED certified silver and powered completely by natural gas. 

Design Reverence's Superwoman of the Week: Annette Stelmack! 

Annette Stelmack is the founding principal of Inspirit-llc design consulting firm, on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and a co-author of Sustainable Residential Interiors. To say the least, Annette is a green movement bad-ass. CEU's can often be dull and redundant, but Annette had a really great message to bring to the state of Alabama. Sustainable residential interiors are my passion, and what initially pushed me to apply for interior design school. Often I am told that sustainable residential is too small of a niche or just a fad. Annette brought the message that healthy homes are a necessity for human life and designers can, and are, making a difference. Many great things were said, but here are the highlights. 

Elegant Highlights

1. People are often wary of words like ‘green’, ‘eco-friendly', and 'sustainable.' Instead, clients need to hear words like ‘healthy’ and ‘high performing’. These are Life goals as well as design elements that everyone in the world should strive for. 

1. Nobody wants to have a “sustaining” relationship. Sustaining can be defined as providing what is needed, keeping existence, or maintaining. That doesn’t sound very sexy, does it? A relationship that just gives enough to stay in existence? As with love, the Earth and the buildings we have put on it need not just to be sustaining, but always restorative, regenerative, healing, and life-giving. 

2. We need to challenge ourselves to construct buildings that can give back energy. We need to build cities that are resilient. 

3. You can't throw anything away. Where is away? With globalization, the world is smaller than every and we are realizing that 'away' is actually here.

3. "Let's do something to make the mountains glad"  So powerful! 

Fun Facts:

- The standard testing for a low-flow toilet is to flush down 3 tennis balls. So cool! …and yet so graphic.

- You can stain a concrete floor with coffee grounds. What? I love coffee! And if I had to choose, I would much rather live with coffee grounds on the floor than acid. 

 

References: http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2010/09/alagasco_center_powered_by_nat.html

Photo Credit: http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/199/844/1998445_300.jpg