Last night, after six long and tiring months of blood, sweat, and tears, I presented my final project as an interior design student. After I was finished, I got a little teary eyed because I realized this was it! I am proud of my accomplishments over the last three and a half years. Each one of my projects was a little different and with each one I challenged myself to do something I'd never done before. With this one, I challenged myself beyond my limits.
A little bit about the project: My city was Spokane, Washington and my clients were Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. The idea was to design a wine bar and restaurant below their residence. The entire thing must be handicap accessible and had to incorporate sustainability throughout. On top of all of that, our eight year old child must have a hobby.
I researched my city and found a lot of interesting things about it. Spokane is an up and coming metropolitan city just outside of Seattle. Spokane's nickname is the Lilac City from the beautiful lilacs that grow in the springtime. Their economy thrives on mining, timber, and agriculture. One interesting fact is that Spokane was founded through the Northern Pacific Railway and the original train tracks are still in tact. My traditional neighborhood development was Kendall Yards, whose motto is "Urban By Nature."
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| The Northern Pacific Railroad in 1881. |
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| Rendering of the planning of Kendall Yards. |
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| Kendall Yards completed. See the railroad in the background! |
So I wanted to pull in some of those pieces into the design of my Live/Work unit. The name of the bar I designed is Vintage Vines. I got the "vintage" part from the history of Spokane. The town is proud of its past and where it has come from. The "vines" part came from Spokane's agricultural heritage and the fact that grapes grow in vines.
The first board I have is my greeting and retail area. The greeting area has a mosaic accent wall right when you walk in with the bar's logo on it. The furniture in the greeting area consists of two tulip chairs and a reclaimed timber end table. The dining area has two rows of booth seating with a dropped ceiling for a more intimate dining experience. The table tops are the brown quartz in the middle and the seating is beside it. I brought in some fresh greenery using the city's indigenous lilacs. The resin panel in the bottom right-hand corner is a 9-foot divider wall to break up the space. It's representing the city's natural resource of gold. The lighting throughout is industrial and recycled.
The next board is my bar area, my favorite part. You can see the flow of the floor pattern by the rendered floorplan at the top right. The two reclaimed timber flooring materials are cut out and represented on the bottom right. Above them, you see the wallcovering in the bar area. It's dark and vine-looking to promote the bar's name. The beige wallcovering is for the public restrooms. The bentwood, bamboo pendants hang scattered throughout. The bar itself is shown in the two renderings on the top left. The front of the bar is a decorative laminate in brushed pewter and the countertops are recycled concrete and glass. The bar stools are in the middle and the wood finish for those are a dark walnut. The flooring for the bar itself is the recycled cork in the bottom left corner. The lounge area is in the far back corner of the bar with more comfy lounge seating. The masculine leather and dark greys help promote a prestigious feel for Mr. Anderson's most important guests. I threw in some bright color pillows and added a unique tree branch cocktail table.
As you go upstairs to the Anderson Residence, you'll notice the colors are more bright and airy. I did that so that the Andersons would feel relaxed after a long day at the bar. The materials are soft and wood tones are light. The flooring throughout the public spaces are reclaimed timber floors again, except they mimic barnwood. The family and dining rooms are next. The furniture is more rustic and whitewashed and the fabrics are soft to represent Mrs. Anderson's Southern charm. The modular sofa represents Mr. Anderson's love of contemporary design with straight lines. The cocktail table reminded me of train wheels which inspired me to give my eight year old child a hobbiest train table. It's built in to the wall in the family room. The dining room shows more rustic furniture with linen fabric and brass nailheads. The pendant light represents the history of Spokane; everything that goes around, come back around.
The last board is my kitchen and master suite. The kitchen is where the party is. The cabinets are dark with all stainless steel appliances. The backsplash is a stone and the Venetian gold countertops tie in all those colors nicely. The built in breakfast nook has a round table and two upholstered chairs. The cooktop island has the same pendants you saw downstairs in the greeting area hanging over it. The master suite is the polar opposite of the rest of the home because I wanted it to feel like an escape. I gave the Andersons a tufted headboard and brought in some of the lilac into the accessories. I paired the lilac with a kewi green in the bathroom and brought the mosaic tile from the greeting area up and in the large walk-in shower. The flooring in the bedroom is carpet and in the bathroom is a neutral Travertine tile.
So there you have it! My little child that I've nestled for the last six months. I have to say though, I might be a little biased, but I think it's one the best projects I've done since I started. It's exactly what I envisioned from the beginning of the project till the end. I joke because I can hear the music that would be playing like it's a real place. Can you imagine a soft bongo drum beating in the bar? Okay, maybe it's just me.
Anyhow, there's more to this project than just these boards but I wanted to show you my creation. I'm excited though because this is my last "fake" project. I'm on to real projects, with real clients, one that I'll actually get to see when it's finished! That is a reward in itself.
So I have one more quarter left where I'll be putting all of my work together into a portfolio. I'll probably cry when I get it all back out again, but it'll be interesting to see how far I've come. My worst through to the best.
Let me know what you think. If you don't have a Google account, simply comment/message me on my Facebook page. I like hearing comments so keep them coming.
Happy Friday everyone!
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