Ashley Berry

Intern/Mentor G/T

Mrs. Bagley Period 6

January 17, 2017

A Splash of Color: Mock Design Reflection

While working at my Internship at Classic Interiors in Ellicott City with Carolyn

Gaughan, I completed a mock design. It all started with an architect floor plan. I used this floor

plan to create my own designer floor plan on grid paper. I used a scale of a quarter inch, meaning

every quarter inch on my drawn floor plan was equal to a foot in the house.

I designed the kitchen and great room of a beach house in North Carolina. My first drawn

floor plan was of the rooms structure. It took many tries to get this drawn to scale each room

had to be accurate, including walls, windows, and coves, as well as being connected. After I

drew my first floor plan, I made a rough hand sketch of how I wanted the furniture in the room to

be laid out. Next, I used my drawn floor plan and a magnetic board to create a layout for the two

rooms. I had a list of requests from the client, and using those requests and my own opinion, I

used magnet pieces of different furniture items to create my plan. This took many different tries,

as I was combining two different perspectives: the client and the designer.

I knew the client wanted a lot of couch space, so I used a large sectional with two end

pieces for laying down. I put a table in the middle for drink cups, food plates, and games to be

played on. Because the house is a family residence, I put a tall table behind the sectional for

family photos and decoration.

In the kitchen, I knew the family wanted a dining table and an additional countertop

separate from the wall counter. I incorporated a dining table into the island to give room more
open space. I did not include much of the kitchen appliances in this draft because I was still

unsure of what the family wanted and needed.

I did a lot of research on different furniture pieces from various companies, and I chose a

few different options that I thought would all fit well in the great room and kitchen. I created a

second layout design, making improvements upon the first. While it was closer to the final plan

than my first draft, it still wasnt perfect the ottomans were too small, the chairs were too large,

and the kitchen layout was downsized. This led me to my third layout design.

In the great room of my final layout there are two, three-sectional couches and two

chairs. The chairs face the television while the couches are perpendicular to the television. I

knew the client wanted the space to lay down and watch television, so this way someone can lay

down on the couches and still face the television. There are two, rectangular coffee tables in the

center of the room, pushed together to make a square table. This gives the family a large table in

the middle, but if they want to eat while sitting on the couches, they can pull the tables apart and

eat on both couches. I put a side table on either end of the two chairs so that everyone can reach a

table to put their drink on. There is an ottoman at the bottom of each chair, enabling the person

sitting in the chair to rest their feet. These ottomans can also serve as seats at the table if there are

more people sitting in the room. Lastly, I kept the table behind the couch for photos, but now it is

facing the staircase, making the family pictures the first thing guests see as they enter the great

room.

In the kitchen of the final layout there are two dining tables. They house capacity is very

large and I decided that if everyone wanted to eat in the kitchen, there would need to be two

tables. I included a large, double-door fridge, as well as a smaller single-door fridge. They are at

opposite ends of the kitchen, so they can serve both the corner dining table and the great room
seating. There is a six-cooktop range with a double oven, as well as an oven/microwave wall.

This gives the family two large ovens and one half oven and six burners perfect for cooking a

large holiday meal. There are also two dishwashers next to a sink for plenty of dishes.

Once I had all of the furniture selected, I had to pick the fabrics to cover the furniture.

The color scheme was cream and blue. I wanted the couches to be a plain cream fabric, but I

wanted the chairs to be a patterned fabric, giving the room a spark. I found a bone colored fabric

for the couch and a navy and light blue patterned fabric for the chairs. Since the couch was plain,

I needed the pillows to have color. I picked a beach-themed, blue and cream patterned fabric for

the two accent pillows and a solid dark blue fabric for the two plain pillows. Since the chair was

patterned, I needed a plain fabric for the pillow, but I wanted one with a texture. The ottomans

are the same fabric as the chairs, as they sit at the bottom of them.

I wanted to pull the same color scheme into the kitchen, so I chose to use the same plain

bone and plain blue fabrics for the chairs. The wooden chair is white, so I put the blue fabric on

the cushions to make it stand out. I made the full fabric chairs the bone colored fabric.

At first, it was complicated to work the two rooms together, as they required very

different furniture. Eventually, I learned how I could tie them together using the color scheme

and wood finished furniture. It led me to choosing furniture and fabrics that would work in

various settings, serving a multitude of purposes seating, dining, eating, and entertaining.