Today we finished up selecting all of the interior furnishings, finishes, and equipment. We put together the budget for all furniture, and we figured out a mark-up, freight, and installation. We created a grand total. Also, talked about Room Finish Schedules and how to write them. We talked about some of the standard codes, such as IP for Interior Paint. Also, selected some lighting for the dance studio and put together a smaller budget for those items. We figured square footage for wood flooring throughout the entire dance studio, and tile in the bathrooms. We figured wallcovering take-offs for the bathroom and estimated cost.

The instructor provided a layout for a dance studio with furniture floor plan and some overall dimensions. This will be a multi-session project which will span over 3 or so sessions. We began the first step today, in which Sofia was instructed to make some selections for all the furniture finishes and equipment, and create a pinterest board. The next step will be to plug in the estimated costs in the master budget and come up with a project total cost, plus mark-up, plus freight, delivery, and install. The next step will be to select decorative lighting and create a lighting schedule for the general contractor, and write up a formal Specification Book for her selections, to include all interior finishes (flooring, paint, wallcovering, and wood trim/doors color). Once we complete these steps, Sofia will be asked to present her findings to Nancy (instructor). Sofia has been instructed that there is no limitations or design style directions on this -- this is her chance to be as creative as she would like. She jumped right in, therefore I am planning to continue to do more of these little hands-on studio projects. It is a great lesson to get the feel of how an overall project might flow from start to finish.

We took a look of many examples of furniture, finishes, and equipment, with respect to the various design styles: Traditional/Classic, Neo-Classical, Modern, Country, Farmhouse Modern, Coastal, Coastal Modern, and transitional. We talked about what makes each style stand out from one another and how transitional is probably the hardest discipline for an interior designer, because of having to mix multiple styles and yet maintain a great design.

The instructor brought in some preliminary design ideas from a new bank project we are working on at our design studio. I shared with Sofia the two concepts we are beginning to develop. After reviewing the color schemes for both ideas, I directed Sofia to International Wholesale Tile's catalog online, and instructed her to select 4 flooring tiles for restrooms - 2 large (if there is no drain), and 2 mosaics (if there is a drain). We then reviewed the selections and began to look at quartz options from WilsonArt, which would be utilized on the restroom vanities and the teller area.

We began the lesson today discussing 4 possibilities for field trips. 1 - Peacock and Lewis Architecture and Interior Design firm is less than 1 mile from the Batt School. It would be a great example. I will talk to the office manager and see if we can get a 20-30 minute tour. 2. My Design Office in Stuart, Florida. We are not open on Friday, and there is only 3 of us in the interior design project. But, we have a huge library and I can show 5-7 large residential and commercial projects we are working on. 3. Kravet Showroom in Jupiter off of Jupiter Park Drive. It is a great place to see wonderful wallcoverings and fabrics. Good example to see a few other great furniture and accessory resources. And, 4. Designers Buying Group on Maplewood Drive in Jupiter. They have Robert Allen Fabrics along with many furniture and lighting lines. We discussed using Florida Design Magazine also as another great way to source things. Shows some of the top designers in FL and what they are working on. The articles will share the sources for everything. Then, we started playing again with the furniture layout for Sophia's Classroom.

Sofia not here. Missed Miss Sofia. Looking forward to next week.

Walked the student through a real set of permit drawings for Osprey Golf Club, in Boca Raton, Florida. It was a complete renovation of 2 buildings - a golf shop with offices, and a brand new grill room building. I shared with Sophia the level of detail and importance in full sets of architectural and interior design drawings. Then, I shared with her photos of the finished project. We talked about the length of time (3 years) the project lasted, which is why we like to have our selections on paper. We talked about how a set of drawings is the tool for all people, subcontractors, and trades resource the drawings, so that everyone knows what the selections are, the dimensions of the space, etc.

We did a brief review of the elements of design, and started thinking about adjectives that relate to scale, proportion, texture, color, function, and aesthetics. We talked about how to balance texture in a room, which will allow a person's eye to travel around a room. We discussed how colors are contrasting and monochromatic. And, why we would use contrasting colors in a design to excite the space, whereas monochromatic, "tone-on-tone," is often most adopted. With monochromatic we would possibly add color in artwork and accessories to move the eye around the space.

This lesson was more of a hands-on working session. In the assignment, we developed and began understanding why some selections are better choices than other due to function and appeal. Example 1 was a mock condo in Palm Beach in which we discussed the best options for window treatments on sliding glass doors, and discussed why certain options are better than others. We then had our mock customer explain her concerns about the color of the furniture, and discussed the optimal options and why we changed the color from a light beige to a dark beige or blue in the example. We explored some interior design tools such as benjaminmoore.com, houzz.com, and dcota.com and how dcota.com is like Sophia's knowledge in jewelry designers, dcota.com is full of resources that are the, "Tiffany & Co," of the design world. We talked about how learning design lines are like learning fashion lines, and why it is so important in the design world and to your customers. We also talked about social media groups, such as Answer Anything: Interior Design, in which I took 3 real people with real design challenges and determined answers for these cases.

We reviewed what proportion and scale mean in interior design and architecture. We talked about how ancient Greek inventors, architects, and artists determined how to use proportion when designing spaces. We reviewed how scale of ceiling heights are commonly determined based on human scale and comfortability.