Working for a Volume builder:
So I haven't been posting anywhere near as much as I should because I've gotten a second job working in the showroom of a volume builder whom I wont mention just in case it might get me in trouble! Not that I have anything bad to say of course...but you can never be to careful!
As a young designer whose been out in the industry just over a year I really cannot believe how incredibly lucky I am to have found this position and I highly recommend looking into it if you are also fresh to the industry!
The product knowledge alone is incredible. Even just knowing the colorbond colour range off by heart is an amazing skill that is crossing over amazingly in my other job contracting for an interior designer. But seriously, building processes, colour pallet practice, especially for exteriors as I'm an INTERIOR designer haha, product knowledge and continuous updates from the building world are really giving me a leg up.
Also seeing how clients react to all of a sudden having so much freedom with being able to choose literally EVERYTHING and seeing how they deal with that is a very interesting thing to watch and be a part of.
Sometimes they know exactly what they want and you cant tell them any difference and sometimes they clutch at you desperate for your opinion on everything from the colour of their down pipes to the taps they choose for the kitchen!
Being a part of the process with people like that is a very rewarding and amazing experience and I love almost every minute of it.
Also as someone who of course wants to own their own house one day, I would definitely go through a volume builder. But I would use them for an investment home before using them for my own home as its my dream to renovate a little terrace house :)
Ellen Louise Designs
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Monday, 14 April 2014
The home office
In today's world, many of us work from home. Stay at home parents, contractors in many fields like private accountants, photographers, interior decorators/designers and stylists like myself, seamstresses, florists, cake decorators and thousands of others. But what I want to talk about is what makes a home office and how a functioning one should be.
I cannot talk from experience as my home office consists of me sitting on either my bed or couch and using a laptop table from IKEA to properly rest my computer on, and that's if I'm feeling like sitting on my bed is being too lazy! and my experience and projects aren't enough paper work that they have filled more than one magazine storage box yet so I will no doubt have to invest in a desk very soon, but for those who have an established business that they run from home and attend every weekday like a real office, the info I touch on might be helpful.
The Space - The office needs to be its own space, it shouldn't be a desk in the family room, or a nook in the kitchen. It needs its own room where you can open the door and arrive at work, and shut the door when you leave so your home again.
The Lighting - The room should be well lit, bright, natural feel lights for the winter months when its darker, and a nice window for those summer days and beautiful mornings!
The Air - Always choose a well ventilated space with adequate heating and cooling should it need it. Having a fan for the summer is a nice touch.
The Furniture - Always choose this carefully. If your business is one that involves reps, clients, other workers, or sub contractors to your office, you will need a table and chair to hold meetings at. Unless your home is huge and can accommodate for meetings with these people elsewhere, like a formal living room, then a table and definitely extra chairs will be needed.
Also think carefully about your desk or work bench. Depending on your occupation, you will need different things for example, I'm a designer, so I need a desk large enough for me to have my computer plus all the drawings, plans and possibly physical models all sitting on it at one time. If I was to go out right now and purchase furniture for my home office, I would probably get a desk and a table so I can really spread out and not have to pack things away just to look at something else. But if you are an accountant who does most of their work on a computer, then a small desk and a chair may be all that you need.
The Storage - Never limit the amount of storage you'll need. Shelving is an amazing invention, used to hold all manner of items, books, folders, wine bottles, magazines, files, sample boxes etc. You will need room for all this. Never get enough storage for what you have. Always get too much, you'll be amazed with how quickly you fill it. You may be a super organised human being who files everything away into boxes and stores them in your garage or attic and that's OK too. But always over prepare.
The Equipment - Pencils, erasers, pens, rulers, scissors, paper, printer, scanner, sticky notes, pads, diary, calender, markers, white out and highlighters are all basic office equipment and tools. They are the basics you will need to start out but as you go along, your drawers and jars will fill up and overflow. Make sure to throw pens out when they run dry instead of sticking them back in the drawer and try to keep your space as organised and clean as possible. And always have spares! There's nothing worse than trying to print out a concept proposal with ten minutes until your client arrives and running out of ink!
The Decoration - When it comes to styling in offices, having beautiful images, flowers and artwork around are a must! Who can work in a boring, dull, uninspiring environment with nothing beautiful to look at? Not this girl that's for sure! Something in particular that I'm loving for an office at the moment are beautiful hand made typographic inspirational quotes! Even just a simple bunch of flowers livens up a space.
And with all that information I leave you with some of my favorite office spaces that I've been collecting for some time on both instagram and pinterest :)
Ellen xoxo
sources:
http://media-cache-ec2.pinimg.com/originals/8c/77/90/8c779043210dba665db684b315368fef.jpg
http://camillestyles.com/life-2/10-best-office-spaces/?slide=2
http://media-cache-ec2.pinimg.com/originals/8c/77/90/8c779043210dba665db684b315368fef.jpg
http://www.etsy.com/au/listing/105556219/dorm-decor-preppy-trio-home-office-decor?utm_source=etsy_success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_073112_0&euid=XCzbUDp-VrAHjjX-cYjMJnApFT7v&favorite_listing_id=105556219&show_panel=true
http://www.chictip.com/inspirational-interiors/inspiration-10-beautiful-home-office-designs
http://peltierinteriors.com/an-organized-interior-design-office-space/
I cannot talk from experience as my home office consists of me sitting on either my bed or couch and using a laptop table from IKEA to properly rest my computer on, and that's if I'm feeling like sitting on my bed is being too lazy! and my experience and projects aren't enough paper work that they have filled more than one magazine storage box yet so I will no doubt have to invest in a desk very soon, but for those who have an established business that they run from home and attend every weekday like a real office, the info I touch on might be helpful.
The Space - The office needs to be its own space, it shouldn't be a desk in the family room, or a nook in the kitchen. It needs its own room where you can open the door and arrive at work, and shut the door when you leave so your home again.
The Lighting - The room should be well lit, bright, natural feel lights for the winter months when its darker, and a nice window for those summer days and beautiful mornings!
The Air - Always choose a well ventilated space with adequate heating and cooling should it need it. Having a fan for the summer is a nice touch.
The Furniture - Always choose this carefully. If your business is one that involves reps, clients, other workers, or sub contractors to your office, you will need a table and chair to hold meetings at. Unless your home is huge and can accommodate for meetings with these people elsewhere, like a formal living room, then a table and definitely extra chairs will be needed.
Also think carefully about your desk or work bench. Depending on your occupation, you will need different things for example, I'm a designer, so I need a desk large enough for me to have my computer plus all the drawings, plans and possibly physical models all sitting on it at one time. If I was to go out right now and purchase furniture for my home office, I would probably get a desk and a table so I can really spread out and not have to pack things away just to look at something else. But if you are an accountant who does most of their work on a computer, then a small desk and a chair may be all that you need.
The Storage - Never limit the amount of storage you'll need. Shelving is an amazing invention, used to hold all manner of items, books, folders, wine bottles, magazines, files, sample boxes etc. You will need room for all this. Never get enough storage for what you have. Always get too much, you'll be amazed with how quickly you fill it. You may be a super organised human being who files everything away into boxes and stores them in your garage or attic and that's OK too. But always over prepare.
The Equipment - Pencils, erasers, pens, rulers, scissors, paper, printer, scanner, sticky notes, pads, diary, calender, markers, white out and highlighters are all basic office equipment and tools. They are the basics you will need to start out but as you go along, your drawers and jars will fill up and overflow. Make sure to throw pens out when they run dry instead of sticking them back in the drawer and try to keep your space as organised and clean as possible. And always have spares! There's nothing worse than trying to print out a concept proposal with ten minutes until your client arrives and running out of ink!
The Decoration - When it comes to styling in offices, having beautiful images, flowers and artwork around are a must! Who can work in a boring, dull, uninspiring environment with nothing beautiful to look at? Not this girl that's for sure! Something in particular that I'm loving for an office at the moment are beautiful hand made typographic inspirational quotes! Even just a simple bunch of flowers livens up a space.
And with all that information I leave you with some of my favorite office spaces that I've been collecting for some time on both instagram and pinterest :)
Ellen xoxo
sources:
http://media-cache-ec2.pinimg.com/originals/8c/77/90/8c779043210dba665db684b315368fef.jpg
http://camillestyles.com/life-2/10-best-office-spaces/?slide=2
http://media-cache-ec2.pinimg.com/originals/8c/77/90/8c779043210dba665db684b315368fef.jpg
http://www.etsy.com/au/listing/105556219/dorm-decor-preppy-trio-home-office-decor?utm_source=etsy_success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_073112_0&euid=XCzbUDp-VrAHjjX-cYjMJnApFT7v&favorite_listing_id=105556219&show_panel=true
http://www.chictip.com/inspirational-interiors/inspiration-10-beautiful-home-office-designs
http://peltierinteriors.com/an-organized-interior-design-office-space/
Saturday, 8 March 2014
St. Inspire plan design.
warning: this is a plug post!
Happy days!
One of my University besties and I have started a small business that we''re hoping will take off!
It's a styling and consultancy company specialising in events and property styling and design! We are going to start small with just consulting and concept design and advice and hopefully later, depending on how in demand we are we will expand to a full design and planning service!
Tell your friends and check out the Facebook page or even pinterrst!
St. Inspire plan design
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585541028180655
Ellen. Xoxo
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Indoor plants for cleaning the air
I know I already wrote a bit about indoor plants on here but I was just on pinterest this morning and found this really helpful site about what plants to get if you want to purify the air in your home!
If your thinking of getting something for inside it may as well be good for you or be edible like a herb or tomato plant etc. Personally I think I'll be getting an alo vera or on of the ferns, in particular the bosten.
Anyway the site has heaps of sustainability ideas for beginners so take a look!
http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/types-of-houseplants.html
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