January 11, 2010
Pottery Barn Kids Artist Playroom
If you are anything like me you long for a space in your home that can be designated as a “Playroom”. I dream of a room like the ones I see in the Pottery Barn Kids catalogs that can be dedicated to my children and all the toys and activities that keep them occupied. In reality, we share all of our space with them. Our “Family Room” is exactly that, a FAMILY room.
Recently, we made some very big changes to our “Family Room” that have made it a comfortable space for all of us to “play” in. Using Markor storage solutions from IKEA, I have created a “grown up” look to store all of our childrens toys. In addition, we have storage for DVD’s, video games, books, accessories, and our new flat screen TV!
Reminder: I am an interior designer, not a photographer!
While I still long for a designated “Playroom”, I am happy with the solutions that we have put into place in our “Family Room”. What storage solutions have you implemented in your “Family Room”? What would be on your wish list for a dedicated “Playroom”?
January 6, 2010
It’s a new year and, like most people, I set goals for myself for the coming year. It’s been a while since I posted on this blog. Life happens…literally. I had another baby and things got busy. I never knew that it would be as busy as it has been. Between visitors (who were here to help out, but were still guests in our home), figuring out our new family routine, a husband who travels a lot for work, and the holidays I just have not found the time to write. That’s my excuse anyway.
The truth of the matter, is that interior design is my passion. I adore staying at home to raise my kids, but I LOVED working in the profession of interior design. I miss it. It is part of what makes me Stephany, not Mommy, or Mrs. Taddeo, or sister, or daughter, or friend. Leaving my job in the interior design world to stay home to raise my children was THE hardest decision I have had to make in my life. I am glad I made the choice I did, but I can’t lose part of me.
So, one of my main goals for 2010 is to be true to myself and not lose this part of me…the passion for interior design part of me. I am going to make a promise to myself…and anybody who reads this blog…that there will be at least one new post a week. It may not be full of amazing design tips, photos, or information each time, but it will fill up the space that is missing from Stephany…and hopefully fill a space for some of you, too.
Happy 2010!
May 11, 2009
I have been immersed in this “green” movement for at least 15 years since I majored in Environmental Studies while going to the University of Colorado at Boulder. It probably started before that, though. I remember picking up trash while we were out on hikes as a family, and leaving our campground better than we found it when we went on weekend camping trips. My parents grew fresh fruits and veggies in our garden, and while some may disagree with this, we ate organic meat that my dad shot each hunting season. My dad would also remind us to to turn the thermostat down to “6-0″ before we went to bed at night.
In addition to the things I learned as a child, these days:
- I drive a hybrid.
- I recycle more than I contirbute to the landfill.
- I bring my own bags…to every store.
- I buy organic.
- I shop at local farmers markets.
- I have replaced every bulb I can with a CFL.
- I use a programable thermostat.
- I plan and group my outings…even using right hand turns in my routes as frequently as possible.
These things, and more, are just living, and I don’t even think of them as being a part of “green” living.
Currently, I am struggling with the term “green”. I have been fighting with it while updating my ”Services” page on the Stephany Taddeo Interior Design website…how do I market “green” without using the word “green”? To me, just like “green” living is just living; ”green” interior design is just interior design.
May 6, 2009
She keeps me on my toes and awake at night.
She always has work for me to do, but she always has a tight budget.
She has a mind racing full of ideas for every project and it can change with any give moment.
If you hadn’t guessed already, she is ME!
I am my most demanding (and toughest) client.
Currently, I have been working on a project for my most demanding client. It’s a great project, but it’s also been keeping me up at night…stay tuned!
May 4, 2009
I am working with a repeat client right now. The good news is that she always has work for me to do, the bad news is that she always has work for me to do. Do you have any clients like this?
Leave a comment…I will have more to come on Wednesday!
April 28, 2009
It’s almost time for Farmers Markets here in the Northwest! I love this time of year. Spending Saturday morning looking through fresh produce and flowers has been something I look forward to each Spring.
It started with the Boulder County Farmers Market when my parents would come up to Boulder to visit me when I was attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. We would go to breakfast at Rocky Mountain Joe’s and then head to the Boulder County Farmers Market. After college we would plan Saturday’s to meet up in Boulder and do the same thing. Once I was married and my husband and I lived near the Cherry Creek area of Denver, we would hit the Cherry Creek Farmers Market. It didn’t quite have the atmosphere of the Boulder County Farmers Market, but had the wonderful aroma of fresh roasted peppers in the air.
Now that we live in the Northwest we are blessed with the bounty of what the Oregon and Washington farmers have to offer. It is, by far, more than the markets in Colorado had to offer! I am looking forward to coming home with fresh strawberries and asparagus on our first few visits. The additions will come each week, with some coming and going faster than others, until pumpkins at the end of October. These days, I especially love watching our son eat the berries fresh out of the containers while we pull him around in his Radio Flyer wagon!
Here is a listing of websites for some of our favorite Farmers Markets:
www.boulderfarmers.org
www.coloradofreshmarkets.com
www.beavertonfarmersmarket.com
www.tigardfarmersmarket.com
www.ci.oswego.or.us/farmersmarket
These websites should have dates and times listed for each of the markets. In addition, you can visit www.localharvest.org to find Farmers Markets in your area.
Finally, if you know of a Farmers Market in the Portland area that has fresh roasted peppers will you please leave a comment and let me know where it is? That is definitely something the Colorado Farmers Markets had to offer that we can’t find here in Oregon!
April 21, 2009
I’ve been thinking for days about what I wanted to write about for my Earth Day post. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve watched my twitter feed, read magazines, surfed the internet, read many other blog posts, and searched my own book shelves and knowledge base to find something that was right, but I couldn’t. I was overwhelmed!
Is that how you feel when it comes to Earth Day? Do you feel inundated by “green” in what you read, watch and hear? Do you wonder how you can participate in Earth Day, but don’t know where to start? Or, do you feel that the little thing that you might do for just one day isn’t enough, so you just decide not to do anything?
Here’s my tip…do something. I often wonder if I am doing enough, learning enough, teaching enough, and participating enough in the environmental movement. I have figured out that the answer is YES. We all do our part. Some of us more than others, but we can all do something. Start with today, Earth Day. Switch to a CFL, carry a reusable bag, recycle, drive less, choose low-VOC paint, buy organic, buy local, turn off your lights and electronics when not in use…it’s that simple.
To help you get started, here are some links to a few websites with more ideas and tips:
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/
http://www.thegreenguide.com/earth-day
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/takehomekit.htm
If you have more ideas or are still overwhelmed, please leave a comment on this post. We can all help eachother on this Earth Day…and that will help the environment!
Happy Earth Day!
April 15, 2009
This is a goal I have had for 9 years. A. Big. Goal. Now I am putting a timeframe on it. I have always said I would take it when I met the qualifications…well, I have met the qualifications. No more putting it off.
For those of you who have no idea what the NCIDQ is I will try to breifly explain it, but you can also visit this site www.ncidq.org to find out more information.
First of all, NCIDQ stands for National Council for Interior Design Qualification. It is an independent, not-for-profit organization with the “core purpose (is) to protect the health, life safety and welfare of the public by setting standards of competence in the practice of interior design”. The NCIDQ is best known for the NCIDQ Examination, which is a professional competency exam for interior design (for more detailed information go here).
In some states you are required to pass the exam before you can practice as an interior designer; in others, you are required to pass the exam before you can use the title of interior designer; and some have no requirements for passing the exam at all. I don’t know exactly where I stand with respect to how the states should legislate, but I do know that it is important to me to pass the exam and hold my NCIDQ Certificate. In MY mind it will mean I am truly a Professional Interior Designer. Something I worked hard to achieve and love to do!
Between now and October 2010, I will have a lot of studying and preparation to do. I am looking forward to it…I have never set a goal that I have not achieved!
April 6, 2009
I did not know that I would find myself in the field of hospitality design when I went back to school to become and interior designer. However, when my husband and I made the move to Oregon 3 years ago an amazing opportunity presented itself. I found a job with a small interior design firm (WCI, Inc.) that focused on hotels and resorts and soon found myself to be taken up by the whirlwind that is hospitality design. I soon found that I was critiquing the design of any hotel room that I stayed in and soon referred to myself as a “chair flipper” looking at the bottom of furniture to find out who made it!
I recently had a short stay at a newly renovated resort. The design was beautiful and, initially, I was happy to stay in a fresh, new hotel room! The room had new carpet, tile, window coverings, paint, wall vinyl, casegoods, lighting, artwork, electronics, leather upholstered chair, bedding…you name it, it was new. It also had what I would refer as “New Hotel Smell” (which was almost as bad as staying in a smoking room to my olfactory senses that are in overdrive due to being pregnant). The room also included a thorough welcome binder with a plethora of information about the resort and surrounding area, green bathroom amenities, the usual information that you find in hotel rooms now telling you how they save water by not washing your towels or sheets if you give them the right “sign”, and a recycle container next to one of the trash cans. Some steps in the right direction, but as a designer that is passionate about green design there are some things I really would have like to have seen instead of the usual this-is-how-we-are-saving-the-environment mumbo jumbo. I would have liked to know things like:
- What product was sourced locally?
- Were the lighting and electronics energy efficient?
- Was it low-VOC paint that was used?
- Why did they choose to use wall vinyl?
- Were the carpets and textiles recycled or recyclable?
- What did they do with all of the old FF&E?
It would have been great to see this list in the binder of other information about the resort and would have impressed me about how the resort was taking steps to be more environmentally friendly. Instead of being impressed, I spent most of the night trying to figure out how to use the remote control AC unit to get some fresh air circulating in the room so I could get rid of that “New Hotel Smell”.
August 26, 2008
I received the ASID Daily Digest in my inbox this morning and perused it as I do every morning. This morning I found an article from the New York Times particularly interesting. It was a profile on Umbra Fisk, an online column writer grist.org. I found it interesting because for years I wondered what the heck I could do with and Environmental Studies degree. I learned a lot about global warming, public policy regarding the environment, the psychology of the environmental movement, ecology, chemistry, biology. I felt knowledgeable about environmental issues, but also felt like I was never taken seriously…I mean, who thinks anything of an Environmental Studies degree?! I was thrilled when I decided to go back to school for Interior Design and the field of green/sustainable design was just catching on. I felt like I could finally have a career where I could utilize what I learned about environmental studies. At times, I still feel like I have to prove myself, but I am glad to know that there are others like me blazing a trail. We aren’t just passionate about the environment, our planet, and saving it for future generations, but we are knowledgeable about it because we (I) studied something that I really enjoyed learning about (thanks, mom and dad…and Ryan the second time around).
