interiordd.com Blog

I recently attended a wonderful presentation provided by Benjamin Moore Paints.  It was in regards to the color trends for 2009, and I thought that you might enjoy seeing how many of their “predictions” come true.  Metallics will still be big, but mostly when paired with monochromatic themes.  Cool grays paired with warm sand colors are predicted as an up and coming trend.  Recycling and reusing existing items is impacting the future more and more as many surfaces are returning to their stripped down state.  For instance, raw wood will be huge, and reusing existing dressers as possible living room side tables, etc.  Greens will be very popular, but less of the avacado green and more of an emerald green.  Also, expect to see a lot of simple patterns repeated to create a complex overall impact. 

In addition to the 2009 color trends, Benjamin Moore is rolling out a new (to most of the country) Aura paint line that is completely low VOC (Volital Organic Componds) which makes it organically friendly.  It has great coverage ability and no noticable odor.  Unlike Ben Moore’s previous low VOC line, the new Aura line not only has a low VOC base, but it also has new low VOC tints.  This means that you can paint the day before the guest arrive in any color (not just the pastel based colors) without worrying about the paint odor the next day. 

 In conjunction with this, Ben Moore released 144 new colors!  How do they do it?!

Everything is looking good for the plat division.  A representative of the city came and walked the property.  I happened to be arriving at the same time, and I was able to give him a verbal tour of the “gonna be’s” for the land.  He seemed very receptive and understanding.  A few days later I received a phone call from another city representative that told me that everything had been approved.  He had called the surveyor and instructed them to send a Mylar copy of the survey to me.  Upon my receiving it, I could take it to the county to get the health department to sign off on the water and sewer.  Once I got the signature, I was to take it back to the city.  They would complete the process. 

The short story is that I got it all done.  The bigger picture is that it took all day and a ridiculous amount of time and driving, but I did receive confirmation that the process should be complete within two weeks!  Wah-hooo!!!

The next step will be getting a tree cutting permit.  (I’m amazed at all of the paperwork the government requires of property owners, but we are way too early in this project to risk stepping on the wrong toes.)  Hopefully that will be an immediate release and not something that we have to wait on to get approved. 

While all of that is happening in the next week or two, I need to make sure that we won’t be held up by any of the plan work.  We feel confident that we’ve gotten the house plan worked out, but we’ve yet to establish the pool/guest house or the exact size and shape of the pool.  All of these things need to be set before we begin cutting trees.  In addition, we will need to establish how many square feet of impervious surface are being added to the lot.  Once this is determined, we can see if we need to consider run-off drainage needs.  So . . . I need to get to work!

Wow!  What an insane last couple of weeks we have had.  With school starting for both of my children and fresh new schedules to learn, it has taken us a bit to settle into our routine.  Once we had a couple of weeks behind us, it was time for my annual trek to Las Vegas for the Business of Design conference, or BOD ’07 as we Best Practices Network members refer to it. 

The conference was started in 2004 by David Shepherd, and it was there that Designing Profits gave birth to the Best Practices Network.  This network is a group of designers from across the nation that agrees to exchange ideas in a non-competitive manner about their business operations.  This isn’t to say that all firms operate on the same business plan.  There are almost as many different business plans as there are firms involved, and many of them are quite successful.  The conference allows each business to address their own position at their own pace.  It also enables and empowers each one to advance to the next logical step.  By spending two intense days considering a staggering number of options and directions viable for each company, we eventually narrow the field to the most important idea for each.  It may or may not be the same as other companies, and like people, some companies have advanced in areas that others haven’t even addressed.

Design Details joined the BPN in 2005.  Through membership, Design Details has met other designers that are in similar situations, learned the value and simplicity of specializing within this broad field, and received guidance from other designers with much greater experience that I have.  The BPN has provided immeasurable amounts of guidance and direction for growth in the design business. 

While in Vegas this year I was relieved to learn that Design Details is on the right track.  There are advancements to be made, but those items are ones that we have under way.  We are looking forward to seeing these projects come to fruition, and we will keep you posted on our progress.