Dammit. I knew I shouldn’t have read any of the other posts before I wrote mine.  Bob Borson wrote about his favorite book as a kid, which made me think of books I loved as a kid.

I decided to highlight 2 books – one from my single digit years, and one as an adult because:

1. Bob’s post took me back to my single digit years, and
2. I haven’t read much lately (& that really should change)

A Picture for Harold’s Room (The Purple Crayon book)

Being a very visual person, this deceptively simple book rocked my world as a kid. How cool, that a line could be so many things, take you so many places, make you tiny or a giant, become something you can swim in!

Hell, if you need something, you just draw it.

It’s funny, because until I looked at it again this morning, I didn’t even remember it had words.

As an adult, I realize there are other things this book taught me that influence my design work to this day:

• Simple is better. It gives your brain something to play with.
• White space is the bomb. What isn’t there makes what is there that much more effective.
• Perspective. Is that flower 20′ tall or are you?
• It’s your world to shape as you will.

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber

I didn’t get into reading books without pictures until I was in my 30′s. Being stuck on planes & in airports drove me to it.  It made me realize I can still be visual even if I’m looking at hundreds of black & white shapes on a page.

This story of a bank robber who captured a nation’s sympathy in post-Communist Hungary is a rollicking tale told with glee and flair. Attila Ambrus sneaked over the border from Romania into Hungary in the waning days of Communist rule. After talking his way onto a Hungarian hockey team, he turned to robbery to make some cash in the Wild West atmosphere of the early 1990s in Eastern Europe.

This guy proved that you can be an adult, but still play! I didn’t know that history could be a fun subject until I read this book.  I certainly had no idea what was happening in Hungary & Romania in the early ’90′s.

In fact, he only recently was released from a high security prison in 2008-ish, where he earned his college degree to pass the time.

What’s not to love about a bad-guy-to-good-guy story?

[good], defined

Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, drywall finishers, tilers, mechanical folks – we work with ‘em all at some point during our kitchen projects.

In fact, we need them all on our projects.  And because we fast track, it’s even more important that we’re compatible.

So yeah, we’re pretty picky about our partners in construction.  Here’s what seems to work best for both us and them:

• experience. If they make difficult things look easy, it’s a good indicator they’ve picked up some good habits. And they have a firm grasp of how their work connects to others’ work.
• quality. They’re proud of their work. They might not flaunt or verbalize it, but taking a cursory look at what they’ve done before they go home that day says it all.
• reliability. They usually beat me to the jobsite. They know when to make decisions on their own & when to hit the brakes & check in with us, which is always if dollars or aesthetics are potentially  involved.
• they listen. They make an effort to understand what we’re trying to do, and they think on their feet to solve conundrums with us.
• communicative. We can reach them & they can reach us. Via phone, txt msg, email. They talk to us at the beginning and end of the day, let us know if they need anything & keep us in the loop of progress.
• respect. They respect what we do as much as we respect what they do. They know it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. If the respect is there, everybody eats.

The intangible

There’s one last characteristic that’s sort of hard to describe. It’s almost a mashup of a sense of humor & ability to focus.  They know that cracking jokes & chatter helps the mundane & repetitive stuff more fun. But they also know when it’s time to think & be careful & attentive.

Nobody likes to be micromanaged.  And nobody likes to micromanage.  If we do our homework & pick carefully, no micromanaging is necessary. Saves dollars, time & sanity. What’s not to love about that?

We’ve got your back

Some people have a good idea of how they want their kitchen remodel to go. They might have a certain color they want to use, or maybe a specific storage requirement. We’ve actually designed kitchens to accommodate freestanding work tables near & dear to the heart.

At the same time, they need guidance on things they may not know about, like

• code requirements, e.g. GFCI outlet locations
• microwave placement (over-the-range is the least ideal spot, both utility wise and reducing the lifespan of the microwave when mounted over a heat source)
• clearances of doors & drawers, or circulation issues

From the horse’s mouth

Here’s what some of our past clients have said about us:

“I appreciate that Becky gave us independence in selecting materials, but was available with suggestions if we asked.” -RB, relocated from NYC to Durham NC

“She truly listens, has excellent vision, great follow-up and a great sense of humor. Total pro. The plans were great. She patiently and clearly answered a bunch of newbie questions while we were doing the build work ourselves. The end result is a kitchen that we use and enjoy 100x more than before.” -EH Kansas City

“Her input was honest and she answered every concern I had, even if it was a ridiculous concern, she even custom made a built in shelf for my dog bowls!” -JW, Raleigh NC

It’s all about realism & the fun of the ride

“Like any major project, there were small bumps in the road, but the team had a great attitude and addressed any issues.” -RB, NYC

More testimonials here!

2 decades from now

Interesting #LetsBlogOff topic this week:  what’s the future look like?  Assuming the biosphere hasn’t completely chewed us up & spit us out, here’s what I see.

There will still be materialistic sheeple, who frequent malls that have Minority Report type ads pelting their brains. But I also think there will be a revolution of those who spurn the make & spend, keeping up with the Joneses lifestyle.

Grow Your Own – It’s the Law!

There will be pockets of communities – both urban & rural – that sustain their immediate environment. They’ll grow their own food, take care of their water systems, & recognize the connections between living things big & small.

They’ll use only what they need from the earth. They will synchronize their wake & sleep patterns with the planet, & their diet will be seasonal & locally obtained.

Level 231, please

Learning, communication, gaming and research won’t interfere with the community becoming reintegrated with their physical place – it will enhance it.

The internet will have been reinvented into a more organized information & communication system. It’ll have a dedicated layer for interactive holodecks.

And the more things change…

Margarita infusion, anyone?

It’s the design, stupid!

This round of LetsBlogOff is about what we really wanted when we were kids. After thinking back on it, I realized that all the things I wanted had something to do with design.   I’m a designer from honest roots.

The Be-All, End-All: Spider bike

As a youngster, I absolutely drooled over Schwinn Stingrays. Which I called a Spider bike, even though I think Spider bike was a sort of generic term.

I was madly in love with these bikes. They had 20″ tires, reach back handle bars, a cushy banana seat & short fenders. And you could get a mid height or super tall sissy bar behind the seat.

This baby was the boys’ model. The girls’ model just didn’t have the same awesome look.

Away from the watchful eyes of my folks, I’d live for a chance to hop on one of my friend’s Stingrays all summer. They rode wonderfully, easy to pop wheelies on, & good for skids.

Two houses down, my friend got a hot pink one for Christmas. Tall sissy bar, tassles on the handles, the works. And even though it was a girls’ bike I had to ride that thing. Of course Dad drives by & sees me on it, boom, I’m grounded.

According to Dad, spider bikes were heinously dangerous. I could never understand this. People wrecked on bikes on our street all the time & plenty of them were not spider bikes. That logic had no impact on Dad’s opinion.

Another encounter I had with this beloved object was when I borrowed a friend’s bike for a quick spin. Like an idiot, this transaction took place in our driveway.  So all my parents had to do was look out the window. And yes, I was doing all the ridiculous things pictured in this blog post. Which to me were not dangerous. They were FUN. & how one could possibly get in trouble for having fun was the most mysterious thing of all in my youth.

I swung my leg over the back tire to get on. Well, see that slight flare on the rear fender? The one that looks like a meat cutter? Yeah. 8 stitches later I was grounded yet again.

Many years later as a Responsible Adult, a friend of mine who ran a bike shop acquired a red stingray on a trade. I bought it immediately. Didn’t ride it much but I loved it as much as any I’d ever seen. I ended up selling it to make ends meet.

Maybe I’m just meant to look from afar at these beautiful machines?