NAC's Prairie Scene Temporary Club Lounge !

At the request of the NAC, we were asked to design a funky temporary space for the artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc of Prairie Scene to hang out when not performing. Prairie Scene is an arts/ cultural festival that takes place in Ottawa every two years and that promotes the creative talents of our Manitoba and Saskatchewan friends such as director and film maker Guy Maddin :

So where do these folks hang out when not performing? Well one answer is their hotel room, however the NAC wanted to provide a space they could not only relax in with a book, but be able to grab a coffee or snack during the day, meet with other artists and festival staff and to party !

Our main inspiration was retro -  hipster tavern - geek chic such as That 70's Show, Ace Hotel, Douglas Coupland and Wayne's World.  Here are a few images which were included on the Look and Feel board we presented to the NAC for approval :

Here is a during photo of the set-up...notice the hideous carpet and wallpaper we had to work with at a local downtown hotel where the room is situated...and we could NOT attach anything to the existing walls, ceiling, etc. ! :

They liked all our ideas except for the "rural" aspect....guess the M & S are not amused with being grouped in with farmers and what not...so the appropriate adjustments were made to our design and voila - our temporary cafe/club as witnessed last Saturday night's after party for Guy Maddin's re-make of Tales from the Gimli Hospital :

 

 

Notice the billboard-type lit wall panels, bulletin board columns, retro lamps, faux trees and imitation crows.... not shown : hand printed alphabet pillows that spell out S-A-S-K-A-T-C-H-E-W-A-N-M-A-N-I-T-O-B-A

We hope you get a sense of the ambiance we created and hope that everyone had as great a time as we did.
Blogatchlater!

5 Great Ways to Delineate Rooms within an Open Space Concept

So now you have a loft or a nice contemporary open space ! Great, so what comes next?  What to do with all that roominess? How to make distinctive cozy areas without making your home look like a garage sale? Here are cky's top 5 great ways to achieve a harmonious living and dining space:

1]  Space planning. You must physically decide what part of the room will be the dining area, and what will be the living area. That sounds easy but it is not. Of course it is convenient to have the dining table near the kitchen, but what if you have a great view at the other end of the room like here :

At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference, lifestyle and the inherent architecture of your home.

2] Colour.

3] Rugs.

4] Furniture division and grouping. A bench, daybed or chair can usually do the trick.

5] Architectural Elements. Here are a few examples which may or may not be feasible to add after-the-fact [Attention Developers!] :

Raised floor.

Kitchen hood and built-ins.

Wall bumpout.

Floating ceiling/ceiling feature.

Windows.!!

That's it for now!
Blogatchalater.

IDS 11 Toronto Interior Design Show 2011

Let us take you on a journey through the IDS11 conference we attended in Toronto last week.

Design Within Reach

we love Montauk Sofas

interesting vintage style hinge

i have no idea where k and y are looking? Probably checking out a hot guy.

Victoria + Albert

cool....

sic pillows

the luverlee k beside a blown glass installation. My kinda room divider / art

Dinner by Design chairs

beautiful quilted acoustic wall panel

faucet sculpture

TV / mirror on a sliding wall panel hiding storage

molded integrated sinks are now vanity counters as well. Very clean and sculptural

Lots of sexy cement used for every thing from floors, counter tops to fireplace surrounds

cky will be sourcing Weaver's Art rugs in 2011 for clients

We discover this incredible line of rugs from ELTE at the show that we also be representing as a rug option to our clients. They are antique carpets from Turkey and Istanbul that have been re dyed and in some cases cut apart and re sewn together to create a new pattern. These rugs are the perfect blend of classic history and cutting edge modern

I love this one of the Union Jack flag

All in all it was world class show. Very inspiring.

10 Top Drawings to Communicate Design Concepts

aka a picture is worth 1,000 words

Did you see the Mike Myers skit he did on Saturday Night Live ? - SIMON - "you know my name is Simon, and I love to do some drawerings".....

OK, enough with the silliness. Seriously, at cky design group, we love to draw. It is our number one way to communicate our ideas with you, our clients, whether the drawings are computer generated or hand drawn. Consider these types of drawings we do for various interior design projects :

1] SKETCH - a loose, simple drawing used to communicate ideas quickly; aka napkin drawing

2] IMAGE BOARD - a design collage of the "look and feel" of the project; helps narrow down the myriad of choices to be made; can be made by us [cky] or you or both of us...we love to collaborate.

2] FLOOR PLAN - the essential drawing for all interior design projects; the main tool used to plan the space and determine the layout based on use/function of the space; the beginnings of the construction drawings

3] ELEVATION - also referred to as " Front, Top, North, South, East, or West View"; this drawing shows a wall [OR side of a product like a sofa or building] drawn to scale with all its existing features [e.g. switches, ceiling height, doors and windows, etc.]. It can be a WORKING DRAWING or a RENDERING [see below].

4] WORKING DRAWING or CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS - this is what we give our contractors, in order to obtain a quote. Once the contract is signed, these drawings along with product specifications form part of the contract

5] SHOP DRAWING - usually this is a drawing produced by a fabricator for us [cky], to confirm how the cabinet, mirror, furniture or other custom item will be made

6] RENDERINGS - realistic images of what your project will look like, from different vantage points and using different drawing techniques. These drawings are quite technical and can be difficult/time consuming to produce accurately. There are companies who specialize in producing them and charge $100's to $1,000's. Here is a synopsis of the different type of renderings :

a] 1 POINT PERSPECTIVE - HAND DRAWING

b] 2 POINT PERSPECTIVE - WIRE-FRAME

c] 2 POINT PERSPECTIVE - COMPUTER DRAWN

d] BIRD'S EYE PERSPECTIVE - COMPUTER DRAWN

e] AXONOMETRIC PROJECTION - one of the sexiest drawings and a great way to illustrate space planning and form. Click to see the Wikipedia entry

f] ELEVATION & 2 POINT PERSPECTIVE COMBINATION

Thank you for your interest and we hope this helps clarify some of our designer mumbo jumbo.

Blogatchalater!
cky