Meeting with Designers

Over Thanksgiving break, I met with a few designers from The Tin Roof in Spokane to discuss my apartment design project so far. Now that I have designed a bathroom and a kitchen for a two bedroom apartment, I am working on finishing the design for that apartment. I'm also designing a one bedroom apartment and a common space between the two apartments. I brought my current floor plan ideas and a materials board to The Tin Roof and three designers gave me feedback on my ideas. 

The meeting went very well-- the designers were able to give me helpful, constructive ideas while also praising my hard work and pointing out the strengths in my designs. One of the most helpful suggestions they gave me was to consider what type of person would move into the space. Since the apartments I am designing are located in a historic building, people who would want to move into this space likely want a unique, quirky, loft-like apartment with an open plan. My current floor plans have a lot of walls and relatively closed-off spaces, so now I plan to remove some walls and make the space more unique. The designers also helped me consider light in the apartment and how to incorporate colors that reflect my concept. I wanted to use a deep red paint color for my living room walls, but the designers pointed out that I should use a lighter color for the walls and use the deep color for something that won't detract from the room's light, like an area rug. The designers from The Tin Roof also gave me general ideas for improving my floor plan in order to make good use of the square footage.

Another idea the designers had was to add a fireplace to the common space. I chose to incorporate that idea into my design because it makes the common space more welcoming as well as adding an adventurous element to the common space, which fits with my concept.

The meeting helped me realize the strengths and weaknesses of my design so far. I think, overall, I put a good amount of thought into my floor plans and materials. The designers liked my material choices and great ideas for improving my floor plans. It was very helpful to get practical, logical ideas for my floor plans in order to improve them for their real purpose. I learned that when designing plans, I should consider who would realistically want to move into the space and what they would like in addition to what the building owner wants.

Thanks to Heather, Molly, and Nancy of The Tin Roof for your time and help!