Well, Betty Ford did her best, but it’s not quite right… I may get to design some random peoples’ apartment in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, DC. Pricey area, and somehow for that much money the apartment would be more than little white boxes. But oh well, not every architect can do more, I guess. Then it would have been a million-dollar apartment, which would just be silly for 1,000 square feet.
Anyway. Those two random people are Tom & Betty. They posted an ad on CraigsList.org, a really awesome site for late-night job seekers. Why late-night? Because that’s when I get bored enough to look through all the other extraneous job listings for the good stuff. Like Tom & Betty. An Engineer and an Attorney who don’t think they know what they want for their new apartment, but in reality, they know exactly what they want. They’re just afraid to actually put it together themselves. That kills me. They want walls in three shades of beige (sigh), they want Pottery Barn furniture (double sigh), and they want to do the shopping themselves (triple sigh). That takes all the fun out of it. Beige is too easy; Pottery Barn is, well, Pottery Barn – not that I have anything against it, it’s just too easy; no shopping for me. Isn’t that what people hire a designer for? When they can’t find exactly what they want and they don’t know exactly what else to buy to go along with it?
Basically, I think – if they like my design ideas – they’ll be paying me just to hold their hands while they struggle with what beige they want. I did manage to find some cool furniture at Pottery Barn, but what kills me about that place is it’s *so* expensive. Ikea is half the price, but for some reason they have an aversion to Ikea. Which seems strange. But hey, if they want to pay that much, oh well. Another thing, is I’ve talked to some furniture designers in New York that create some really amazing stuff for those prices, and it’s actually worth it because it’s an original from a haute couture furniture designer. Not just Pottery Barn.
Now if only those designers were in Washington… I found one place – Theodore’s – that I thought was promising, but it’s far too modern for these people. Here’s what they want, in a nutshell: Light, open, and airy. It reminds me of my favorite hotel in Bora Bora – don’t start thinking seashells and stuff like that. No, no, no. Think a posh Britishman goes to Polynesia, bringing all of his linens with him and using natural woods native to the island. Very open, very natural. It’s Modern Minimalism, but instead of concrete and steel, it’s birch and linen. Now if only they’d go for a rich mahogany, then I could have some fun. Oo, or bamboo. Bamboo would be loads of fun, because it’s pretty and that word is so much fun to say.
I’ll try very hard to behave myself and give these people what they’re looking for, even if it could be so much better. Argh, I just hate watching people pay $1,500 for a couch that’s so blah. That’s a system that’s begging to be overhauled. Okay, have to calm down. Maybe I can do something interesting with the beige walls to try and keep them from being so beige. Maybe I can finally use my subtle stripe idea.
My friend Nate arrives tomorrow for about five days of fun and catching-up. I haven’t seen him in something like three years, and if his voice is any indication, he has really changed a lot. I met him when both of us were in Italy thanks to our military fathers. He was thirteen and I was twelve. To give you a mental image of Nate – he’s tall, blonde, and thin. Normally has too much energy, too. I wonder how the next few days will go – he’ll be pinging off the walls, and I’ll be the blotto one on the couch. That should be entertaining.
It’ll be nice seeing him again, though. Three years ago seems so foreign. I really don’t think I’m the same person at all.
I think I’d better get dressed now, since it’s three in the afternoon and I still haven’t gotten out of my pajamas yet. A word of advice: stylish shoes may be cute at all, but don’t go walking around a big city in them. They never seem so stylish the next day. In other words, ow, my feet are killing me. 🙂