The Modern Chair Design Showdown

I'm excited to be one of the jury members for the Modern Chair Design Showdown happening next month at Mod a-go-go.  Please spread the word and encourage people to submit a project - I want to be overwhelmed with the number of chairs I have to judge!

From the website:  "When it comes to Design, Utah is home to a host of raw talent.  Local furniture designers are moving into the national spotlight, while countless others have yet to be discovered.  In order to fuel innovation, define the Utah furniture design scene, and to catalyze interaction between designers, manufacturers, craftsmen and new clients, Mod-a-go-go is pleased to announce The Modern Chair: a Design Showdown in 3 Dimensions. The competition brings together both novices and professionals with the challenge of designing the perfect chair."

More information here.

And if you haven't had the chance to stop by Mod a-go-go yet, do it soon!  They have a great collection of mid-century and eclectic pieces - you'll definitely want to leave with something.

Basement Bathroom After Photos

I finally had the opportunity to take some photos of a basement bathroom project.

We started with a VERY small, cramped bathroom.  Look how little leg room there was between the toilet & tub!

The adjacent space gave us the flexibility to move a wall to add some space to the bathroom.  By moving the wall, we had room for a slightly larger tub, while still leaving adequate leg room in front of the toilet.  By moving the bathroom door, we also now had more space for a larger vanity.

My client moved to Utah from California, and loved the idea of a beach-themed color scheme.  Because we were working with a small space, we muted the colors - a light soft mix of grays, blues, and whites.  We added texture through tile patterns and a custom weathered-look vanity.

Small bathrooms don't have a lot of room for extra design elements, so something both functional and aesthetic is key.  This double recessed niche provides storage for shampoos and soaps, while also adding a dramatic design element to the tile surround.

Details such as a seamless tub, wire-brushed wood, cabinet hardware, edge treatments, and countertop lines really stand out in a small space, so choosing the right materials was important.  

Sources:

Vanity - Hallmark Custom Cabinetry 

Countertop - Caesarstone

Floor & Tub Field Tile - Contempo Tile

Accent Tile - Dal Tile Stone Medley

Faucets & Accessories - Moen 

Tub - Mirabelle

Contractor - Sundberg Building & Design Inc.

It's Official - I'm NCIDQ Certified!

I found out I passed over a month ago, but it's wasn't actually real until today, when I received this certificate in the mail.  Those of you who know me know that I devoted countless days and hours studying for this exam, since last Summer.  I missed out on so many things during this time - it was a big sacrifice.  

But it was all worth it.

What does NCIDQ mean?  It's the "National Council for Interior Design Qualification".  And per the documentation they sent us to use for announcements and press releases:

Passage of the Examination and earning the NCIDQ credential signifies that Nicole Zeigler has met the standards for education, experience and examination for interior designers in North America.  A minimum of six years of combined education and experience is required before being eligible to take the practice-based Examination.  The NCIDQ Examination is a rigorous, three-part examination requiring examinees to demonstrate competence in a wide variety of aspects that affect the safety of the interior environment.  The Examination covers programming, schematic design, design development, contract documents, contract administration and professional practice, among many other related topics such as codes, sustainability and universal design.

"NCIDQ has long been the standard to identify those interior designers who are uniquely qualified to protect the public's health, safety, and welfare," explains Kim Ciesynski, 2013 NCIDQ President.  "The NCIDQ Certificate is the mark of a professional, and this credential is what every user of a space should look for when choosing or working with an interior designer."

The Council for Interior Design Qualification is an organization of regulatory boards and provincial associations in the United States and Canada whose core purpose is to protect the health, life safety and welfare of the public by establishing standards of competence in the practice of interior design.  More information about the organization may be found at www.ncidq.org.

Considering there are less than 150 NCIDQ certificate holders in the entire state of Utah, I'm pretty proud of this accomplishment, and am already enjoying applying everything I've learned and relearned from my studies to my design practice.

Blogger19 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Tour

photo provided by Brizo

I typically post about interior design and the design industry.  However, this deserves an exception.  Last week, Brizo Faucet brought all the Blogger19 alumni (those of us who attended Fashion Week with Brizo in the past) to Memphis for a Blogger19 reunion.  Brizo planned and paid for this entire trip.  You'd expect that this would therefore be an event full of Brizo promoting, right?  However, the main focus of this trip was the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  Brizo has seen a bump in product awareness since starting their Blogger19 events, and this time they wanted to promote the mission of St Jude and it's founder, Danny Thomas.

Nearly 80 bloggers from the Blogger19 group.  Photo courtesy of Brizo.  

(First time this tall girl has ever been in the front row of a photo!)

We spent a day touring the St. Jude facilities, meeting patients, and hearing first-hand accounts from a St. Jude family.  I know I can speak for everyone when I say that this was an amazing eye-opening experience, both heart-breaking and uplifting at the same time.

A few of the points that really struck me:

• It costs $ 1.8 million to operate St. Jude every day.
• Families of patients will not pay a dime.
• And if a family does have insurance, St. Jude will take over that paperwork and handle the costs so the family doesn't have to deal with that stress.
• St. Jude is a research hospital, and they willingly travel the world sharing their findings, in hopes that more patients and families will benefit worldwide.
• St. Jude keeps the patients involved in everything.  Reception desks are kid-height, and doctors share treatment options and test results with the patients at the same time as the parents, so the kids don't feel excluded.

One of the more touching parts of the day was the "Design and Decorate with Brizo" portion, where we all had the chance to do various activities with the kids at St. Jude.  (All photos below provided by Brizo.)

Coloring:

Decorating Tiles: 

Designing a dollhouse room: 

Posing with props for a photo shoot: 

This really was an amazing experience, and I will proudly support St. Jude!  Special thanks to Brizo for opening my eyes to this organization.

Memphis Bound

On Tuesday I'm heading to Memphis, courtesy of Brizo Faucets.  Brizo has decided to bring all the alumni of the past "Blogger19" groups to Memphis for a reunion.  This is going to be 2 fun-filled days that will include a tour of their Jackson manufacturing facility, product technology training, a tour of St. Jude Children's Hospital, a celebration dinner event honoring the relationship between Brizo and St. Jude, and so much more.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the Blogger19 friends I met last February when Brizo sent me to New York for Fashion Week, and to meeting the other alumni as well!

To see who's going, and to follow what they're tweeting, check out this site:

http://www.brizo.com/theblogger19/index.htm

Plumen Light Bulbs

I loved the idea of Plumen CFL bulbs the moment I saw them.  And then I bought some for a great price on fab.com, even though I didn't yet have anywhere to put them.  Soon after the purchase, our ugly dining room track light (don't judge - it came with the house) broke and gave me a new opportunity.  I got to design our new dining room lighting around the light bulbs.  

I wanted to show off the bulbs, but I wanted something a little more finished than just the bare exposed bulbs.  The Industrial Glass Pendant from West Elm was just what I needed (at a great price too).

My handy husband relocated the wiring so we could hang the 2 pendants exactly where I wanted them.  My camera doesn't show them well when lit, but I love the sculptural look and the new dimension they add to our dining room.  This is the view when you first walk into our home (okay, in reality the dogs are usually jumping and barking and spinning in circles), so it was important to make a good first impression:

Dwell on Design - Best Impressions

Last week I had the chance to visit Los Angeles for the ASID Leadership Conference, in conjunction with Dwell on Design (that's me on the far right).

While the conference was filled with ASID seminars preparing us for our leadership roles within our chapters (I'll be President of the ASID Intermountain Chapter starting in October), we also had some time to wander the show floor for design inspiration.

I had so much to see in a short amount of time, but I thought I would post some of the things that stood out most to me, whether it was for their great design or their colorful imagery.

1.  Miele's limited edition white appliances.  I heard rumors of their new white appliances on twitter, and was thrilled to see them in person.

2.  Miele's flush-mount gas cooktop

3.  Wet Style's tub made of WETMAR BIO - an eco-friendly thermo-insulating material made primarily from a mix of soy and mineral stone. 

4.  Shared booth by WhyrHymer and Semi-Handmade.  WhyrHymer showcased some great custom light fixtures / works of art, and Semi-Handmade showed off their custom door fronts designed to fit on ikea cabinet boxes.  I met John online a few years ago when I came across his product and posted about it here.  It was great to meet him in person and to see how well his business plan is working!

5.  House Fifty Two.  Aside from being an attractive booth full of geometric pattern and pops of color, I met Erin Adams, the designer, and got to see her passion and excitement first hand.  Their products include coordinating wallpaper, tile, and fabrics.  But when I say coordinating, I mean they complemented each other nicely without being identical "matchy-matchy" patterns.

6.  Stikwood.  This product has SO many possibilities!  It's essentially a peel & stick wood.  That's it.  Just peel and stick.  But it's real wood - not a fake wood-look imposter.  The photo below shows part of their newer reclaimed flooring series.  They've converted their own industrial scraps into a really cool geometric pattern suitable for flooring or walls.

7.  Range hoods keep evolving into decorative fixtures, as shown in the Sphera hoods from Best by Broan.

8.  Dacor's new WineStation, designed for residential use.  This unit will keep opened bottles of wine fresh and ready for up to 60 days.

9.  Hansgrohe - I simply just love the modern-yet-classic lines of this Axor faucet.

10.  JC Penney is stepping it up with new lines from Jonathan Adler and Michael Graves! (sorry about the blurry photo)

11.  I lost the contact info for this company, but these mountain hooks are begging to be placed in a Park City home.  And their custom storage units in materials such as chocolate bamboo deserve a good home too!  (I will post their info once I find it.)

12.  If you read my blog, you know that I'm obsessed with outlet and switch cover options . Lutron did not disappoint.

13.  Walker Zanger tile never ceases to amaze me.  They were a sponsor of our ASID Leadership Conference, and I love my new notebook with the tagline "What will you create?"  As noted in the speech given by their rep, they are a company dedicated celebrating and inspiring all designers, which is evident in their social media sites.