Finishing touches

Today I finished the psychologist's office that I had posted about here. Last week I had arranged the furniture and hung the existing artwork. The office is larger than the client's previous office and so when I left, the walls were a little bare. The client had a couple of large pieces of art that she was hoping to use in the office and so we were waiting for their delivery to put in the finishing details. (They arrived today!)

After reviewing the photographs I took last week, I could see I needed to add a few more accessories, small pieces of furniture and area rugs to give the office a more inviting feel. Nevertheless, I had to see what the artwork looked like in the space before deciding what was needed. Here is what the office looked like after the initial move-in day:

Upon arriving at the office today, the first thing I did was look at the artwork and assess if they would work in the office. Both pieces were stunning. The first piece that we placed in the reception area was painted by an artist named, Le Thanh Son.

Le Thanh Son was born in Hanoi in 1961 and graduated from the Hanoi College of Drama and Cinematography in 1986. His primary medium is oil on canvas. Son is a well respected artist and is famous for his distinct impressionistic style. He takes pleasure in filling his canvases with clear, bright colors and is well known for the interplay of light and shadow in his works. His works often depict life in Hanoi and in the surrounding villages.

Le Thanh Son's work is widely exhibited throughout Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. He has received numerous honors and awards and his paintings are held in public and private collections worldwide, including that of former US President Bill Clinton and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates.

Le Thanh Son was featured in "A Brilliant Life", a very successful solo benefit exhibition held at Shinsei Bank Headquarters in Tokyo in April, 2008.  {via}

Summer Rain 1

The second piece was painted by Hong Viet Dzung.

Hong Viet Dung was born in 1962 in Hanoi. He graduated with a degree in painting from the Hanoi Industrial College of Fine Arts in 1984. His paintings often depict figures standing in solitude, sometimes holding simple objects. He uses pale and distinctly muted colors to bring a sense of calm to his works.

Dung is a devote Buddhist and conveys his meditations in his paintings. He brings only the essentials into the foreground allowing the observer to use them as a stage for creating his or her own images and reflecting upon them. Dung produces a very limited number of works annually and his works are highly sought. He has exhibited around the world and his works are in the permanent collection of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum.

"I always paint people and views that surround me. This simple beauty is lyrical. In my paintings, I like to reduce details, according to the Eastern Style."  {via}

{via}

I had to move the furniture around to make room for the large pieces of art. Hanging them made a huge impact in both the rooms. After the art was placed I assessed what I needed to complete the room. I made a mental note (rugs, small benches, a small round table, new pillows to freshen it up ...) and ran up to the client's local Target. On my way I discovered (via my blackberry) that there was a Pier One Imports just down the street. I quickly shopped and came back and placed my new purchases.

Artist: Le Thanh Son

Artist: Hon Viet Dzung

The two large pieces of art were a very generous gift to the client from a long time friend of hers who had purchased them overseas. They turned out to be the perfect inspiration pieces for each of the rooms - one bright and vibrant; the other calm and muted. The art made a huge difference in the office and each one turned out to be just perfect for the rooms where they were hung. A few small pieces of furniture and some fun new pillows were all that was needed to create this perfectly finished office. 

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

A text from my client was the perfect ending: "Sherri you absolutely rocked today. You have created an incredible office space. Thank you so much for all that you did for me today."

Seriously! Does it get any better than that? 

The psychology of color

I wasn't able to get the photos of the wedding that I wanted so I thought I would show you what I was up to today (Monday). Do you remember this psychologist's office I designed last summer?  I posted about it here and here. I got a call from the doctor a few weeks ago saying the building she had moved to had been sold and she had to move again. The bad news was, she had just a few weeks to moving day and I was up to my ears in other projects. The good news was we only had to make a few changes (paint, new hardware, add baseboards and re-space plan her existing furniture). I met her at her office to take measurements and select paint colors.

While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Green is often used in decorating for its calming effect. For example, guests waiting to appear on television programs often wait in a "green room" to relax. 

We wanted to keep the existing furniture and her daughter's darling artwork so that was my jumping off point for the color selection. I chose three colors. One for the waiting room, one for her treatment room and one for a small office and hallway that connects the two larger rooms.

Her previous office had come with yellow walls so this time we decided to mix it up a little. I used Wythe Blue HC-143, Folk Art 528 and Pashimina AF-100 (all from Benjamin Moore) for the wall colors.  I had the vinyl gray base removed and replaced with 5 & 1/2 " white painted baseboard to pop the wall color and add a little architectural interest to the otherwise plain room.  We opted to leave the existing window treatments which look better in person than in the photographs. 

Blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, and orderly*.

I arranged for her office to be painted and the changes to be made and emailed her a detailed floor plan for the movers to follow as I could not be there on the move-in day. The painting took two days, and she moved in the following day. Today I just had to tweak the furniture slightly and hang the artwork. It turned out to be a fairly easy move for her and less disrupting than she had thought and she is up and ready to start seeing patients tomorrow.

She has two pieces of art that we will be incorporating and we ordered an ivory leather settee to add more seating in the waiting room.  After studying the photographs I think I would like to add a rug in the treatment room and maybe a couple of plants. 

Art Therapy 2

Previously I posted photos from an office I designed for Dr. Elle Walker, a licensed clinical psychologist who practices in Downey, California. You can view that office here. A few months ago, I designed her second office. When I first saw the space it was a one room commercial office with a large walk-in closet. I had two walls constructed to create a waiting room and a treatment room. As with her previous office, the flooring (carpet) and wall color were already in place when I came onboard and the new walls were painted to match. All the drapes and sheers came from Target. One of her requests was for a very comfortable chair to sit in while she is seeing patients. The soft leather Ikea chair is an extremely comfortable chair and she loves it. We took the two wicker chairs from the waiting room of her first office to cut down on expenses.

The artwork had all been done previously by Dr. Walker's daughter and I framed each one in Ikea Fjallsta frames. The Dr. really loved her daughter's artwork and yet she had never done anything with it. It made her happy to be able to see the art framed and hung on the walls, and it created a warm, homey environment to help put her patients at ease. It was also a very inexpensive way to decorate and the colors are fantastic.

Art Therapy

This is a psychologist's office I designed several years ago. It was the client's very first office. She had a small practice and didn't need a lot of space, but she wanted it to be warm, comfortable and 'homey'. The office was very small and we had to utilize every inch of floor space, but it worked. She recently opened up a second office and I designed that as well (still need photos).

Both offices were designed on a very limited budget and in a very short amount of time and so we had to utilize stores that carry in-stock furniture. Most of the furniture and pillows came from Pier One Imports. The wall color and flooring was already in place when I came onboard. I purchased a few tables and accessories from HomeGoods and Target. 

In the second office, I used this super cute and inexpensive sofa from Pier One Imports (699.95 Abbie Sofa in chocolate)

I wanted to use this Josette chair from Pier One Imports (199.99) in the waiting room

But because of the limited space we used 2 of these instead (a good compromise):

We added a couple of zebra chairs for the treatment room (no longer available).

I used the Jonas Desk from Ikea in black-brown

And placed a white leather desk chair I found at HomeGoods with the desk.

Here are some of the pillows we purchased and the zebra chairs:

We used this runner from Target which worked as the area rug in the waiting room because the space was so narrow. My favorite part of the entire project: instead of purchasing decorative artwork to just fill up the walls, we used the client's young daughter's own beautiful artwork. I framed each piece using inexpensive Ikea Fjallsta frames. Using her daughter's artwork made it meaningful for the client and the colorful animated art was just perfect to make the new space feel 'happy' and youthful which suited the age of the patients she sees.