Culin Home Knives

I found these knives on Amazon and liked them immediately. I have a magnetic strip that I hang all my knives from so the fact that they are decorative was very appealing. My question was, do they cut? Well, I ordered them... all of them, and they are great- incredibly sharp and they look wonderful. I have washed them a few times and they still look just as good. They have other patterns but this one is my favorite. Heres the link: CulinHome
Hope you like them as much as I do!

Metrocon Update and Review

Every year there's an event in Dallas called Metrocon for Interior Designers. It's a local version of Neocon which takes place in Chicago and has designers travel from all over to attend.

I look forward to this every year. It's a nice 2 days to get out of the office, continuing education gets knocked out and I get to see friends who work at other design firms and all the new products that have been released.

Here's a few photos overlooking the show.

My friend Lori who works at Club Design.

Ashley from Tri-Kes. Check out the beautiful wallcovering on the table. I want to use fun wallcovering on a project!

The Poulsen lighting display. Beautiful fixtures, a little expensive but one of my co-workers did get to use some on a job once.

This year I felt as though many of the vendors had smaller booths than in years past and less giveaways and drawings. It seems as if the economy has affected everyone. Someone mentioned there were quite a few designers there without jobs which is sad. Hopefully this gave them an opportunity to network with future employers.

The major problem I have with metrocon is a problem I have had for a few years now. The continuing education classes are BORING and some are not related to our field as much as I would like for them to be. I had a hard time finding anything that sounded interesting enough to take. I did end up having a few good classes that I really enjoyed but I had more that were snoozers. We have a requirement to have a barrier free class and I think there were 2 that were offered. A few more barrier free classes would have been helpful!

So, what was my favorite thing? Well, there was too much to say but here are a few:

Pantheon had some beautiful new tiles.

The Generation Chair by Knoll was good looking and very comfortable. I registered to win one but I didn't. I like to sit with my legs crossed under me or sideways or other silly ways and this chair will let you do all of that comfortably.

Check out this furniture from Greenplay. I hope I can use that on one of our Church projects soon!

Dunkin Donuts New Prototype

Have you seen the new Dunkin Donuts? They just put one near our house and I think they did a great job on the new look. The one by our house I actually like a lot better than this picture. It's really nice to see a chain restaurant using some modern design on the exterior of their building, especially one like a donut shop where high design isn't typically the norm. Unfortunatly, i'm not a huge fan of their donuts, their vanilla chai on the other hand is fabulous, but haven't found a donut there that I like. Their cool building makes me want to support them though so I stop by every once in awhile to grab a snack... like it's my personal goal to keep businesses with attractive spaces in business.

Umbra Loft at Target

You have to hand it to Target, they do a great job of getting well known designers in the store for an affordable price. They have recently introduced the Umbra Loft collection. I have been a fan of Umbra for awhile, we even have some umbra kitchen chairs, and it's not outrageously priced, but the pricing here is much better. Most everything in the collection is black and white right now, I'm hoping that will change as the line evolves since nothing in my house is black and white, but I can appreciate the design. I know some stores are following their lead and getting designers in at reasonable prices but I wish that even more would follow. I think everyone should be able to experience modern design at a price the average person can afford (love you DWR but sorry, there's nothing within reach at your store except the location). So check out the umbra stuff online or at the store. I'm sure there's something there you will like.

About Me

I am a wife, mom and a commercial interior designer in the Fort Worth area. I received my undergraduate in design from Baylor University and my masters in design from Savannah College of Art and Design. I've been working at the same firm since I graduated. I love commercial design and have had the opportunity to work on all kinds of projects including retail, restaurant, religious, multi-family and even some residential.  I wrote a little more about what I do HERE.

My husband and I purchased an older home a few years ago and SLOWLY I'm working on making it ours. We have learned a lot in the process and hope I can share some of that on this blog.

I draw inspiration from all styles and meld them for a modern mix.

In my spare time I do anything crafty. Scrapbooking, card making, anything. Currently I'm making custom letters for your home. You can see and order those HERE.
I love talking design or giving opinions. Feel free to email me at everythingdesign@hotmail.com

My personal blog is HERE where I talk about raising our first child (without a clue what I'm doing).