Hey all!

So, I’m back from spring break and my spirits are dwindling. I was getting used to going to bed at 3am and waking up at 12pm. However, that did not help me wake up at 7am Monday morning. Oh well, as I said in the blog title… back to reality.

My break was quite uneventful. I relaxed, procrastinated on a lot of homework/studying I should’ve been doing, and slept a lot. I guess that was needed. Once the weather became B-E-A-Utiful, I took my dog to the beach, walked all around castle island with my boyfriend, and went to some museums and took great pictures of the harbor! Towards the end of break I started to get really bored, but I now welcome that boredom to replace the endless amount of school work I have/will have till the end of the semester. It is now crunch time in every class.

I came back to school to a new project assignment in Furniture Design, a mid-term exam in Art History, and a presentation/research project due in Materials and Finishes (along with rainy weather…AGAIN). Well, I am in college so I should expect an overload of work. Ok, enough wining, I just had to get that out of my system.

I am pretty excited because on Monday, the 29th of March, I will be turning 21! Birthdays aren’t really my “thing” but I enjoy the countdown and I always like to have something to look forward to (it makes the time go by faster).

I hope everyone had a great break (or just a great week if you did not have a spring break)! The weather is supposed to pick back up on Wednesday/Thursday so hopefully my spirits will rise with the temperature.

‘Till Next Time,

Kris

I LOVE THIS WEATHER!!! I don’t know if it’s the sunny, 50+ degree weather or just the three cups of coffee I have already had today, but I cant help being in a great mood! I’m so excited to be able to go outside without a coat on!

Ok, so on a more scholarly note, NESAD hosted their 4th this past Thursday and it was awesome! There were so many vendors that came with car loads of amazing samples. We were required to go  to the fair for my Interior Codes and Construction class and visit every table. Even if I wasn’t required to go, I still would’ve gone to every exhibit because they were THAT cool. Going into interior design you expect that there are a lot of materials, finishes, and textiles… but you have no idea how many there really are. Well, I got a quick glimpse of some of them Thursday. Not only did I have a great experience, but I entered in a raffle (you got a stamp on a “passport” for every table you went to that you could enter with) and won a $15 Starbucks gift card!! I’m pumped for my free grande, half-caf, non-fat, no-whip, white mocha (haha, now that’s a mouth full)!

My main focus academically this week was/is my Kravet Competition design. In my residential design class, we are required to enter in the “Kravet Your Room Interior Design Contest.” Traditional Home magazine and Kravet ask you to design a unique room using only Kravet and Kravet Smart products. I LOVE my design. I staged a living room based on “Tradition in Transition.” I made a traditional room and took traditional furniture and upholstered it with modern fabrics and used modern lighting and tables to create a juxtaposition between old school design and modern graphics. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the judges will like it as well! The winner will have their room design featured in Traditional Home magazine, plus win a Kravet Smart chair with Kravet Smart fabric (valued at $2,400) and a $100 American Express gift card! Five honorable mentions will each have their winning design featured on TraditionalHome.com and receive a $100 American Express gift card. Talk about opening doors… I’ll DEFINITELY keep you posted on that!

So, that is about it for today. Hope everyone is enjoying the sun!!

‘Till Next Time,

Kris

p.s. my blog is now connected to the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University website under blogs. Check it out!

Here are some photos from the 4th Annual Green Environmental Fair

Photos by Molly Ferguson, Imaginatas Photography

Hey All!

So today I’ve been thinking about hand rendering a lot. Random, yes, but important. It all started last night when I decided to show my boyfriend my first finished project for my Residential Design Studio class. As I had said before, I designed a master bedroom suite influenced by Mark Hamilton’s interiors. He (my boyfriend) said he liked the room a lot, but he wasn’t a fan of how I presented it. I’m not going to lie, at first I was a little offended but then I decided to listen to his reasoning. He said that it looked to “digital.” Now, I know that when a lot of interior design students begin to master the art of Adobe Photoshop and Google sketchup they can get a little excited and carried away (myself included) and forget the fundamentals of art and design…HAND RENDERING! I myself am guilty of this new obsession with photo-realistic computer renderings. I LOVE THEM!!! It is so much easier to build a room in sketchup, fill in all your materials and textiles, and then make all of your lighting come to life in either Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. But what happened to the “old fashioned” way of drafting each of your perspectives, elevations, sections, floor plans, etc and coloring them with markers and colored pencils? Our professors are always telling us that yes, it is great to have advanced computer skills but what really separates you from the rest is your ability to hand render. It never sunk in until my boyfriend said something to me… there are people in this world that actually like the look of a sketchy, process-driven, manmade drawings. I mean, we are art students so we should be expected to draw!! So, after having this little revelation I have decided to take action. I can’t just go from computer to hand, so I am going to take baby steps. I vow to hand render OVER my next project… it’s a start right?? I also vow to sketch more often to offer my “clients” (aka professors) more options in a looser, more flexible looking way. Our professors say that the clients like to feel as if they are part of the process, so sketching more ideas to present to them is a smart way of incorporating them. *gasp for air* OK, now I am done with my long rant about hand rendering… just thought I’d share that with you.

Not too much has happened since my last post. We were introduced to our newest project in Residential Design Studio. A 2 story, 6,000 sq ft house on Tremont St left completely to us to design. I decided that I wanted my client to be a famous DJ from Morocco (I love the colors and patterns used in Moroccan interiors!). There is a sustainability fair in the on March 4th that I am going to for my Codes and Construction Class. It will be in the main lobby of 75 Arlington St. Also, my materials and finishes class is going to NEXUS on Friday! I’m pumped for that tore as well.

I’ll keep you posted on any other breaking news in my life and let you know if I keep my vows!

Until Next Time,

Kris