New offices finished

The new offices for the pediatric clinic are finished ...

To really appreciate it, let me remind you what we started with:

The main room was an empty box space when we started and we needed to turn it into a conference room with a small seating area. Unlike the clinic, we were not able to paint the walls in this space, so I used colorful art from Modern Digital Canvas to brighten it up and brought in some inspirational artwork as well.

 

To help the client visualize the design I put together an inspiration board. (We switched out the chairs for different ones then I had previously selected).

There wasn't much space and every inch had to be utilized. This room will be used for parent meetings and workshops. 

The first thing we did was place the furniture and hang the artwork ...

And then I came back in with a new rug and a few accessories to pull it all together (thank you HomeGoods!).

Everyone is happy and all they need are a few fresh flowers and they are all ready for their open house tomorrow.

Art ideas for an office space

The new office / conference room for the pediatric clinic is almost done. We are just waiting for everything to arrive so it can be installed. I like working with this client; we work mostly online as she is one busy doctor and I understand her price point - budget minded, but workable. I send her a few ideas, she comments back and we go from there. After we selected a few things, I sent her this inspiration board to give her an idea of what it would look like all together:

She asked if we could add some orange.

I like the color palette!

The space houses 3 offices where the psychologist and other therapists will work as well as a large front room that will be used for parents to meet, hear lectures, gain information and be able to network with other parents. We put three Ikea desks in each office and in the main room we put a couple of Bjursta dining tables from Ikea to use as "conference tables".  The client wanted a seating area in one corner and some artwork to add some color and break up the long blank walls that we were not able to paint. She also wanted to have the space be an inspiring place for the parents who will use it and also for the employees that have their offices here as well. 

Decor Black and Light Grey Lounge Chair | Overstock

These are the chairs that will go in the seating area - we will have four of them. 

Lucent Nesting Tables - CB2

We needed a table to go in the corner and I wanted a table to use as a coffee table some of the time but it needed to be lightweight enough so that it could be easily moved when they had a lot of people in the room. These nesting tables are perfect. One will go in the corner, one will be used as a coffee table in front of the chairs and the small aqua one will be placed on the side of one of the end chairs. I like that they are round to break up all of the straight lines of the room and the rectangle conference tables.  

Aqua - Modern Digital Canvas

The client wanted a modern / zen like feel that was also very inspirational. I also know she likes the ocean and I kept that in mind when I was selecting the artwork. We are using Modern Digital Canvas for some reasonably inexpensive large canvases - their motto is, "Cool, Affordable Modern Art."

Infinite - Modern Digital Canvas

Allow - Modern Digital Canvas

Dry Land - Modern Digital Canvas

Plume - Modern Digital Canvas

There will be a small console table that can be used for brochures or to serve refreshments on:

Lachlan Glossy Black Sofa Table - Overstock

We will add a few inspirational quotes on large canvases ...

Allposters.com

And some in frames:

Green Door Design | Etsy

I love when you can pick the colors you want!

I'm taking today off (well, kind of - I don't think I ever completely take a day off - there are always phone calls to return or emails to make...) but I am going to take a "more than long" lunch today to celebrate a friend's long overdue birthday. So today I will play and then the rest of the week is crazy ... this is wedding week ... I can't wait to share all that we have planned!

Happy Monday everyone!

Exploring a new preschool classroom idea

Do you remember the Pediatric Clinic for autistic children I designed? 

They are expanding and need another pre-school classroom. They currently have three classrooms and each has a different theme.

When we were selecting the themes, I learned I needed to be careful with the wording.  For example, for the room where I wanted to use giraffe and elephant decals and thought it would be cute to call it, "The Jungle Room" but I was informed that no parent would want their child in a "jungle" room. So I re-worded it to be, "The Safari Room". 

My sister made the room signs with the decals as her inspiration. We also had a "Marine Room" and "Forest Room".

As I thought about what we could use for a theme for the new room I came up with dinosaurs, farm, airplanes ... and then saw this:

looksugar via Etsy

The new room will be, "The Explorer Room".

GoatGrinStudio via Etsy

Danadecals via Etsy

These preschool classrooms are for children with autism and I used wall decals so that there was nothing that could be removed, broken or damaged. We kept the rooms somewhat minimal but cute so they would be inviting but with little distraction. 

Benjamin Moore Blue Haze 1667

And because the rooms have two-way mirrors installed in them we had to make sure the paint color inside the rooms was lighter than the walls outside in the hallway. The new room will have the lightest shade of sky blue. 

The space as I first saw it

When I first started this project I was quite overwhelmed. I had done a few medical offices and one pediatric office but nothing close to the size and magnitude of this one. I remember asking the doctor a million questions about her needs and what the various rooms would require and she said, "don't worry ... just treat the rooms like a preschool classroom." I had to laugh because even that was a stretch for me.  

I also didn't know much about autism or the special requirements that would be needed to be taken into consideration in designing this space, but one thing that was really important to me was that the moms and dads would find this place as special as the children they brought. I think we achieved that. 

I'm excited to hear they are expanding!

Finishing up & more decal love

It is so great to be able to actually finish a project. Not that any project is ever entirely done ... because you know, a room is never really done - it is always tweaked, improved on, and added to. But today I can say that I am (at this moment) finished with one of the largest projects I have worked on.

Do you remember the clinic for the autistic kids? I wrote about it here and here. We used a lot of decals and they were so successful that the client wanted to add a few more. That is what I finished today. I cannot say enough about decals.

The dandelion is one of my favorites. We (my wonderful sister assistant and I) added this outside the restrooms - it was a leftover from another room.

All the decals were ordered through Etsy and can be custom made in any color you want. Most can be custom sized as well! They are easy to install - some are just a little more labor intensive than others. 

The decals are an easy and inexpensive way to add interest and color to a blank wall. This tree branch was only $39.00 (from here).

This therapy room needed a little punch to the walls but it couldn't be too overwhelming. The flowers did the trick. It was nice to be in the completed office today and see it thriving and filled with children. It was gratifying to see the rooms that we thoughtfully designed for these kids to be utilized and enjoyed the way we had hoped. And nice to be finished. 

Well ... there is that one spot near the entry that could use a little color ...

Preschool classrooms {part 2}

My favorite paint color in the pediatric clinic (see part one here) are on the walls in the conference room, kitchen and restroom. Because I like the color so much they are also my favorite rooms. The color is Atmospheric AF-500 by Benjamin Moore. It is a great color to use for a powder room, laundry room or even a bedroom (I have used it for all three).  

{Paint color: Atmospheric AF-500}

Since the public areas of the office needed to be painted in a more subdued color scheme, I wanted to introduce more color in the rooms that were used primarily by the staff. The color would have been too much for the other spaces but in these rooms the color adds a nice punch to break up all the neutrals and it brings a little more life to the office. I received some feedback from one of the psychologists today who said the conference room felt very calming. I like that.

The conference room:

There will be a flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite the photograph wall. The photographs will eventually be the children from the clinic (they have placeholder children in them currently) and the frames are Ikea Ribba frames with custom mats inserted to hold an 8x10 photograph. Tip: If you are having custom mats made, make sure you have the inside measurement cut slightly smaller than the size of the photograph or artwork you want to display so that it doesn't fall through the opening.

I love the framed photographs. These frames were only $20 each ($19.99) so if you keep the mats that the frames come with (11 & 1/2" square openings) you can have quite a nice art wall for around $200. I hung my frames around 3" apart which made a total measurement of roughly 5 & 1/2 feet by 5 & 1/2 feet.  Frame a lovely calendar or pages from an art book and you have a unique and very inexpensive art wall.

The kitchen:

I love the way the kitchen turned out. We used all Ikea cabinetry and the backsplash is a linear glass and stone blend (Eclipse series) from Tilecrest.  I used the same door pulls (Ikea Vinna handles) throughout the office to add continuity and simplicity. I like that they are a substantial size and at $7.99 for a pack of two they fit in with the budget. 

floor detail

The kitchen has an eat-in dining table for the staff. The table is not extended correctly in the photos and obviously the room is not finished (I will be adding art on the walls) but you can get the idea. The table is the Bjursta table ($199) and the chairs are one of my favorites, the Snille ($22.99 with the swivel). I use these Snille chairs a lot for children's desk chairs because they come in great colors (love the hot pink) and kids love a swivel chair with wheels!

The restroom is still "in progress" as well but I wanted to show you that I used the same wall color here as in the kitchen and conference room. When I am selecting paint colors for a residence or for a commercial space, I like to keep my wall colors to a minimum. I start with a main wall color that will usually extend through the hallways and large open spaces and then I select individual room colors trying to repeat colors where I can. In this office I have also carried the blue to the more neutral spaces through decal colors, toy baskets and door signs which I will show in a future post.  

I purchased the vanity online from Modern Bathroom a local company here in the Los Angeles area. The Leto 36" vanity came with everything you see (the mirror, the faucet, the top and the pulls) and was nicely priced at $1,029.95 including delivery.  And it came in less than a week! 

We added a large Ikea cabinet that matches the other cabinetry in the office adjacent to the vanity for storage and I will be adding the decoration over the weekend. I am hoping to put all the finishing touches in the office by the beginning of next week and then I will post the final photos.