Interior Design: sharing my first design job

Hey guys,
today I want to share with you a little bit of my first Interior Design job in 'real life'.

The client (who I'm so grateful for!) is moving into a new house and was after some design advice, so together we came up with a scheme based around a red sofa, which was key to the colour story.

I haven't worked with a whole lot of red and loved the challenge! If you are a red lover, then this is for you, because in the end I think the combo we landed on is kind of stunning.

Amy MacLeod Interior Design

Basically a blend of lovely cool turquoise and bold floral prints to offset the solid block of red (in the big couch) and add some graphic interest.

Amy MacLeod Interior Design

This picture is part of the virtual images I created for the project, to help the visualise the end result. I think the view above is my favourite because of the beautiful Kiwiana art. Also, the Chiang Mai red fabric cushions with the turquoise cushion? Amazingness.

Here's a closer view of the Chiang Mai fabric in the scheme:
Amy MacLeod Interior Design

 And with a little Brissac Jewel fabric sample...

Amy MacLeod Interior Design

The design included the room layout plan, multiple 3D virtual views around the room, and a few other sheets to give a clear picture of the entire plan. I won't show you every single page, but these basically sum it all up.

For the physical packaging, I printed the design onto cards and then tied them with string and a wooden tag. In future I'll have an actual process for this as the packaging would be incorporated into my brand, but since I haven't completed the branding process yet, I just went with what I had.

Amy MacLeod Interior Design

That's mostly it:
 a physical design package, bundled up along with a few little goodies, and packaged into a box.

Amy MacLeod Interior Design
I really appreciate that fact my client thought of me when she went about this whole interior design process, so adding some little goodies as a token thank you was the least I could do.

I'm feeling grateful for this project and being one step closer to achieving my goal. The next couple of months I will be working an architectural day-job whilst sorting out the finer details of starting an actual design company. It's daunting, and I swing between being absolutely confident, and just plain overwhelmed by all the obstacles to overcome on my way there. BUT I am committed to following God's plan for my life whatever that may be... so I guess we'll have to wait and see what the next part in the story is?!







If you would like interior design advice for your home, please contact me.

Interior Design Fabric samples

There is little in this world that makes me happier than the arrival of beautiful fabric samples from the other side of the world.

I mean other than peace, love, and happy families, of course.
...

Fabric samples - Amy MacLeod

Here's one of my favourites: I believe it's by Amy Butler and I've already decided it's going in the bedroom of my future daughter. 
Kid doesn't get a choice, yo.
Fabric samples - Amy MacLeod
 {Unless I steal it for myself, to wrap it around existing lampshades in a bulky experimental mess, that is.}

Fabric samples - Amy MacLeod
 {... or to spread on the bed and pretend it's a throw. Because sometimes you just need to see ALL THE WAYS.}

Oh, and  here's something new to me. These handy dandy coloured dots along the edge of each piece of fabric, showing every single thread colour in the fabric. Is this new or where have I been???
All you fabric buffs, holla atcha gurl.

(...just when you thought fabric couldn't be gangsta...)

Fabric samples - Amy MacLeod

Extreeeemely handy for seeing exactly how the fabric could tie into a colour scheme.

Fabric samples - Amy MacLeod
  And kinda pretty too, in a spotty sort of way.
Like m&ms.

My 2 favourites are below, by P Kaufmann and Amy Butler.
I love them both, although I have no plans for either of them just yet.
(Except for the lampshade idea above. That could be kinda amazing with a linen headboard and white duvet, yahhhh?)
Any other ideas?!

Fabric samples - Amy MacLeod

I'm slowly building my fabric empire piece by piece, hoping to file away enough of a collection that I can have some for clients, and be able to instantly recall one at the right time.
"Ohhhh yes darling, I have just the one in Citrine Brissac Jewel for you in a 500 thread count linen and it's positively gorrrrrgeous"
........is how I imagine saying it.

Because speaking that way in real life is not awkward at all.


Are you a fabric nut too?
Any favourite sources and suppliers I should know about?!



Life, business plans, and Interior Design

Sharing pictures of this creepy golden calf makes me feel like I can justify making you read an obligatory update about my life right now.

{Calf / half-price Christmas-reindeer-ornament-that-turned-out-much-more-tacky-than-I-anticipated - whatever}
For those who have been left in the lurch about where all this magical Interior Designer quest I've been on has ended up, let me just explain briefly that yes, I have completed one 'real' project for a client that was a total learning curve for me. 

{I will say here that creating a moodboard for the interwebs, and creating an ACTUAL design for an ACTUAL person who has needs and tastes and wants of their own, are two very different things. I want to write some posts solely on this learning-curve topic but as my current blog title has absolutely no SEO capabilities I'm not sure how smart that would be. New blog for sharing Interior Designer findings and start-up tips, perhaps?? What do you think??}

The final product was an actual physical package that I enjoyed creating a lot - I will share the details of that at a later date. When the project wound up I had learnt a LOT already but still had a long list of things to do:

- register a company name
-create a logo
-create a branding plan
-design a website
-network with the correct groups
-market the brand
- LEARN everything possible about the market
- develop packages
- develop a clear, professional process 
....in no particular order....

{I like to think that reading house mags is on the list too.}
I've also just started temporary full-time work in my field of qualification which is Architectural Technology. It's uber challenging and taking up most of my time at the moment.

I'm struggling with finding a clear direction for this blog. I like things to fit in boxes, and I can't tell if this is the place for interior design tips, pictures of my own house, or business plans, or what??? 
Originally 'Five Kinds of Happy' was just a place for all the varied things that made me happy, but more recently that has narrowed down to just ONE thing really (interior design). The whole concept of it is starting to confuse even myself!

I think I feel the same way about this blog as I do about furniture: I always want to change things and make it new and fresh. Obviously that means moving to wordpress and having a whole new clean design, but the logistics of that....and the POINT of all that work?? No idea.
 EERRGHHGPPFFFSH.

Do you get me, or am I rambling and sleep-deprived?



Sugar and spice and all things purty

Some prettiness is happening in our living room that I can't miss.
For one, there are multi-coloured flowers from our garden,
for two there are lollies that we bought at our one-year anniversary last weekend,
and for three there is this geisha stoneware plate and cute heart ramekin that I never get an opportunity to use.

Somehow everything has got a little pink and feminine down it this little piece of the world, and I'm liking it.

Lollies and flowers - Amy MacLeod

Also I get a little bit high every time I look at these delicious multi-coloured gladioli. 
*buzzz*

Lollies and flowers - Amy MacLeod

Colours are happiness.

Lollies and flowers - Amy MacLeod
{Where the magic happened, in the form of a $20 splurge on foreign treats.}

Are these colours as good for you as they are for me???

P.S - over exposing your photos is like, the best trick ever for making everything look like a wonderful fairy land of stylistic magic. No-one's home is this light, seriously.


How to style a coffee table: the real deal

I don't know guys, think I MIGHT have just figured out some basics of Coffee Table Styling 101.
And I think neon-peach gladioli have pretty much everything to do with it.

How to style a coffee table, by Amy MacLeod

You know how you can live with things set up a certain way for a whole year and just can't figure out why you hate them so much and feel filled with designer-angst every time you look at them?
And then one day by accident it all comes together with the help of, say, an old loose wooden drawer and a flower from your garden?

How to style a coffee table, by Amy MacLeod

I fell in love with these 2 little old loose wooden drawers that I found, and only just realised that they are perfect for containing all those boring things like glasses and tissue boxes. Because no matter how much you try to style the crap out of everything in your house, you are still going to need somewhere to put the tissues; and after living in denial for a year, you will have to admit that keeping those things in a wardrobe is simply not practical.

How to style a coffee table, by Amy MacLeod

So shove them in an ancient empty drawer, I say.
It actually doesn't bother me that the drawer is not meant to be seen from the back and therefore completely unfinished. It even has a carpenter's writing on it. I kind of like it like that - it's DIFFERENT and I'm soo over trying to make everything fit into other people's ideas and trends ala Pinterest. (Seriously, I have tried and tried to follow this tray trend, but for the life of me I cannot make them look anything but silly and out of place with jewellery and books on them. Drawers, however..)

How to style a coffee table, by Amy MacLeod

I loosely followed the rules of styling that we all know and love. 1) Group into threes 2) Something tall, something wide, 3) A mixture of angular, curved, and 'sculptural' (e.g. flower) lines.

I think all that's missing is something brass, and I really wish this white hardcover book had giant golden gilt writing on the front. Like,whoever wrote it was selfishly not thinking of my coffee table styling needs.

How to style a coffee table, by Amy MacLeod

That's it.
I think the neon-peach gladioli just make it all work - probably because they provide the height and the unexpected shape compared to all the square and straight things on the table.

I love a quirky touch that has nothing to do with current trends, and if that comes by accident it's all the better - do you agree??