interior design: Loft Love: Design Class Research

I’m so excited about the final project our instructor has given us for my Design Class!! But I have to admit… I’m overwhelmed by the assignment too!

Important notes before sharing my project concept…

FIRST

Kelly and I would like to send out a great big Thank You to Linda at Restyled Home!! It would seem that turquoise is Linda’s favourite colour and, if you’re a regular reader of DesignTies, you know that Kelly published an absolutely FABULOUS post on that lovely colour. Well… Linda gave us a Shout-Out… encouraging her readers to drop by DesignTies to view Kelly’s wonderful tribute to that beautiful colour. Again… thank you Linda! DesingTies readers = be sure to make your way over to Linda’s beautiful blog (click on her header image above), especially if you’ve never been before; I KNOW you’ll enjoy your visit!! Visitors from Restyled Home = we hope you enjoy your exploration of DesignTies enough to come back again and again!!

SECOND

Don’t forget :-) I picked up a unique natural soap and black-stone dish while on mini-holiday in the Ucluelet & Tofino area and I’m really looking forward to giving it away to one of our fantastic DesignTies readers!! Make your way over to the post by clicking on the photo to the left and find out how you can enter!!

THE ASSIGNMENT

So… my colleagues in Design Class and I have each been charged with taking a hypothetical, 1600 sq.ft. loft space in a converted industrial building and developing a concept for living (zoning of the space [i.e., 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living, kitchen & flex space], finishings, furnishings) that compliments the personalities, needs and lifestyle of an equally hypothetical couple.

If you could see my face right now you’d note that my eyes are wide with fear!!

Okay… I’m teasing! Well… a little anyway!! :-)

For me, concept development comes from having a clear understanding of the clients, their needs/wants and the way they live their life. Our instructor gave us some particulars – for example: the couple currently live in a loft just outside the Gastown area but they feel the neighbourhood has become too gentrified so they’ve purchased a new loft in a transitioning industrial area of the city; one is an artist of some kind, the other a professional; they’ve traveled the world; they’ll have a garden on the roof of the building; they like to ride their bikes to the farmer’s market. That was a great start but I needed a little more. For example, what kind of artist was one of my people going to be? I mean, how can I accommodate a need for studio space if I don’t know that they do? Another example… I knew that they were committed to organic foods and lessoning their carbon foot print, but how would I reflect that life-philosophy in their loft?

It all came to me on our trip to Ucluelet!

Brian and I had such a wonderful time climbing across the craggy rocks along the shore – but I have to admit I struggled along at times while Brian would easily leap from rock to rock. After bemoaning my lack of rock-climbing skill Brian said, “You have to leap like a ballerina!”

A ballerina… and a loft… perfect!

With that little statement – and while surrounded by the rugged beauty of the west coast of British Columbia - the whole concept for my couple fell into place. Thanks Brian!! xxoo

Simplified: the old fir floors will be refinished and stained in an ebony to relate to the black rocks along the shoreline… the beams across the ceiling and 3 pillars in the space will remain natural wood like the rainforest trees… finishings like kitchen cabinetry and bathroom tiles/fixtures will be inspired from nature… furnishings will be neutral with hits of the colours of the wildflowers and ocean… and, of course, there will be a bar for my ballerina to practice :-)

To help me visualize the openness of the space, I’ve found these two empty industrial lofts. Love them!

I still have a lot of work to do to pull this plan together… work that I’m avoiding by writing this post!! Bad me!!

For the fun of it, though… how about I show you some lofts I found while researching this evening? :-)

The hypothetical loft I’m working with has ceilings like this loft… and a brick wall like that, too. It also has pillars like the loft below…

And this is how I envision the floors… old fir that’s been refinished in a dark stain. Gorgeous!

Another view of the same loft… I think a separation-style bookcase like this would be a perfect way to display the treasures my pretend-clients have found on their world travels AND the ideal solution for separating the living space from the dance/workout space.