Author: Marie Durrett

Marie Durrett is a registered interior designer in the state of Texas.
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All My Mistakes

LESSONS LEARNED

When I go on a site visit, I get some anxiety about what I’m going to see.  No matter what you do, it seems there’s always something we fail to communicate.  However, I always learn something new in these trips.
Know your corners.  Know what happens when different finishes intersect.  I think in our minds we though, “Where there’s tile floor, there’s tile wall base.  Where’s there’s carpet floor, there’s vinyl base.”  Sigh.  This was painful to see and it was done.  It was past the point of return.  See if we can put a chair in front of it…
Details, details, details!  In my interior design mind, all the wood grain should go in the same direction on these panels.  In the contractor’s mind, switching it up on the smaller panel is a more efficient use of materials.  I get that, but had I been consulted, the results would be different.  Again, it’s done, it’s too late…
This image shows me that we could have done a better job of communicating with the architect. We had lots of horizontal lines happening inside, they had a bunch of horizontal lines happening outside, and not many of those lines…line up.
Overall, the project looks great and the client is happy.  I can’t help but tear myself apart for those details that we didn’t give enough attention to!  Next time, next time…
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I Can Learn

Two weeks ago, I went with the boyfriend and my friend, Elizabeth to see our favorite podcasters and comedians–Nerdist (Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira)!  (Behind them are Elizabeth, myself, and Philip/the boyfriend).  They did their live show at the South Side Music Hall and it was great!  I’m lucky enough that I can listen to their podcast while I work, but I usually have to stifle my laughter to stop weirding out my coworkers.

I think of myself as mildly nerdy.  I love Harry Potter, I’m catching up on Doctor Who, I like reading business books, I’ve got the glasses, and I’m good at Trivial Pursuit.  Chris Hardwick wrote a book, “The Nerdist Way” and in it he argues that “nerdiness” does not necessarily mean an affinity for science and Star Wars, but rather an obsessive approach to a subject. Which leads me to think–am I a design nerd?  I could learn more about the Eames, I understand fabric properties, I can draft like nobody’s business (but hey, I’m here to design, not draft!)

But here’s how I’m design nerdy: details!  I love the details!  I love figuring out how to build the crazy things we design and how every piece intersects.  Show me some wood joinery, I die (a la Rachel Zoe)!  Last Sunday, Philip and I had lunch at Schlotsky’s (not a place I associate with great details) and they had plastic laminate tables with PVC edgebanding.  But not just any edgebanding, the exact kind I had been looking for on a project.  I couldn’t find any image online and I couldn’t describe it properly to anyone (many failed attempts).  I took a picture with my phone and blabbed on and on to Philip about the pros and cons of plastic laminate countertops and the different ways to to finish the edges.  He’s a really great guy to listen to my crazy.
The moral of the story is be kind to nerds.  They have a wealth of information they would love to share with you.  And find your nerdiness–you know you have one!
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Make Me Smile

My mom found this card that says, “My bologna has a middle name.  It’s Marie.”.  It really made me laugh because this is her defense whenever someone calls me “Mary” or “Maria” by mistake.  “It’s EVERYONE’S middle name!  How do you not know ‘MARIE?!?'”.  Good ol’ Mom, defending her daughter.  Now “Sainton,” that just can’t be helped…
I immediately searched for a frame for the card because it makes me smile and you should fill your home with things that make you happy.  I hung it by my bedroom door where I see it every morning.
I’ve longed for an old printing tray (or an old tray that holds letterpress letters, whatever you want to call it).  I didn’t know what I would do with it, but I had to have it.  I found the one pictured above at the Montgomery Street Antique Mall for a mere $20 (I couldn’t find one Etsy for under $45) and I realized that I have lots of silly, tiny things (again, that bring me joy) that make me sad to dust around and knock over and attempt to artfully arrange.  Now they all have a lovely home together and I don’t think I’ve dusted them since they moved there…  Whoops.
My sweet, sweet boyfriend, Philip sent me these postcards from Hawaii (we had only been dating a couple of months and he had booked this trip loooong before).  Guess which one arrived first?  I though, “There is a butt in my mail…”. These make me grin ear-to-ear when I think about how excited I was to receive them from my new guy.
Now the #1 was a clearance item from Anthropologie, you know back when number stuff was really big?  Now I have lots of random numbers in my apartment.  Remember that show “Numb3rs?”. Nothing like that.  I’m hoping to find a “2” to go with it, because these hang above the toilet and now you know what kind of sense of humor I have.  The “second place” ribbons from a 5K will have to do for now.
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Halfway Home

Welcome!  So this is where I live…

This past weekend, my friend, Meagan, lent me her super fancy camera to play with.  I’m planning to get a Canon Rebel of my own soon (my iPhone has replaced my Sony point-and-shoot, but it can only do so much).  I haven’t done “real” photography since college (meaning Photography 101–take the lens cover off..) and that was film, not digital.  I completely forgot what all the bells and whistles do!  So, for practice, I took pictures of my apartment.

I wish I had done at the last place I lived in Oak Cliff—a beautiful 1920s apartment building on Bishop Avenue.  Sadly, I only have a few iPhone pictures from my first night there with “The Office” playing on the tv.  I’ve lived in my ode-to-Arts-and-Crafts Fort Worth apartment for 2 ½ years now, so there’s no time like the present!  Even though, I’d like to put up drapes, I wish I had painted the walls when I first moved in, I hate the size of the kitchen (it’s too big, but not in a good way), my bedroom is BEIGE, etc.–I could go on and on, I’ll stop.

Technically, it’s a space I designed (other than the architecture, the wall colors, the cabinets, the layout…) so it needs to be documented and added to the portfolio!

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Thistle & Weeds

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And a happy Monday to you! My morning consisted of answering emails, unearthing submittals, and analyzing all the things in red on my calendar. As you can see in the picture of edge banding options, my desk is atrocious!

When I got home tonight I was so happy to put my feet up at my temporary desk. Last week, I spent my time (when I should have been celebrating my country’s independence) goofing off on all my Apple devices and having a “Weeds” marathon. I set up a spot in my tiny apartment where I could do both!

 

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I’ve been so comfortable at my simplified desk. Surely, I can’t clutter it up…right?

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Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise

I took the day off work to try to teach myself the Adobe suite. As you may have guess, I’m overwhelmed!

My boyfriend told me about the Adobe Creative Cloud–a subscription membership to all the programs!  I know Photoshop pretty well, but I’d like to know more about Illustrator and then you start to read the list and think, “Yes, Muse sounds like a neat program…how hard can Dreamweaver be?”  I opened Dreamweaver and subsequently closed it–too much for now.

I’m also looking at getting a digital SLR and my favorite, from my research, is the Canon Rebel T3i–ridiculously better than my iPhone pictures.  So get ready for some improvements on this site and blog!  We’re going pro!

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Everlasting Light

When my sister and I have moved, we looked to our parents to see if they had an furniture they “no longer needed.” My parents thought my sister would like this old floor lamp of theirs (that I never cared for), but she didn’t and my parents didn’t want it anymore, so…my feelings started to change. It was a shiny brass floor lamp with a glass table attached. It’s weird, right?

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I stripped it down to it’s bare essentials (in Dad’s work area over Christmas break). Dad showed me how to strip the finish with pain thinner and then some areas needed to be sanded, due to a dog of ours who had an affinity for making his mark.

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I debated getting a crazy color (kelly green, teal), but I was stricken with holiday laziness and the need for more gold in my life. In the aisles of Lowes, I managed to find a Valspar gold metallic–not shiny, not really matte either.

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It went on VERY smoothly. It made a big difference that the base was already similar to the final color.

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Can’t forget all the little pieces!

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Especially the little finial that just rolls around when you spray it!

It took me a while to find the right lampshade. I wanted something fun, but I wasn’t willing to pay much for it. Anthropologie had some great options, but no sales (except when I went in the other day, the $128 shade I loved is now down to $70)! Eventually, I had people coming over to my apartment and a bare bulb. I finally found a great $20 shade at Target (their home items are constantly improving).

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The final product in place! I’m very pleased with my new (to me) lamp and I’m glad I didn’t let it go to waste.

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Bone House

Today I had the PRIVILEGE, again thanks to Knoll Dallas, of touring The Rachofsky House in Dallas.  Completed in 1996, this is a private home designed by Richard Meier.  You can schedule a tour (two weeks in advance) with a group of 10-25 people.  Or you could be a really awesome person who attends really neat events at this place, such as Two x Two for AIDS and Art.

The art in the galleries changes about every year.  We were given a list of the pieces on the property (over 80) which in a variety of mediums.

This was one of my favorite pieces in the “living room,” Slack of Vinyl, 1970 by Jiro Takamasu.  They made sure we didn’t accidentally step on it…

The floating study was off-limits; the house is still in use by the owners on occasion.  I would love a desk like that!

The bright white kitchen is on the first floor, along with the formal dining, and gallery.  Everyone’s favorite piece was opposite this view:

you’re greedy and you’re selfish., 2008 by Ricci Albenda  That will certainly put things in perspective over your morning cup of coffee!

The exterior and sculpture garden were equally breathtaking:

The property is over three acres–in the middle of Dallas–and there’s a pond!  Those are three geese at the edge.

I loved how the more traditional property is juxtaposed next door.  Also, it’s not easy to tell with my iPhone pictures, but the sculpture in the foreground is Cave Bear Teeth, 2000 by Kiki Smith.  They are cast bronze teeth!

This was truly time well spent and an excellent break from work.  If you get the chance to go, jump at it!

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Art House Director

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a lovely evening, thanks to the great folks at Knoll, taking a tour of the Dallas Arts District led by the Dallas Center for Architecture.  The DCA offers public and private tours of downtown Dallas architecture–they are a great resource and I learned a lot about an area I’ve lived/worked in/near for my entire life!

We started outside the Dallas Museum of Art at the Flora Street entrance (that I have personally never stood outside of).  The DMA opened in 1984 and is one of the bookends of the Arts District.

The trees outside the DMA were decorated for the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit–which is a MUST SEE.  I went the Thursday after it opened and I must have looked like a fool walking around with my mouth agape.  BEAUTIFUL.

We strolled down to the Nasher Sculpture Center, my favorite Arts District building.  Designed by Renzo Piano, it opened in 2003 and is truly a celebration of all the great work the Nasher family did for art and Dallas.

Then we turned around to see the high rise for the Crow Collection of Art.  Fun Fact: this building was designed by Richard Keating, whom I’ve worked with on a recent project.  It’s a small world after all.

A look back at the DMA with Fountain Place, designed by I.M. Pei, in the background.

Past the Meyerson, past the new Museum Tower under contrstuction, past  Belo Mansion, we made it to the new Winspear Opera House.  I’m dying to go inside, but that requires tickets.  Our guide told us about the shading devices and how the architectural team at Foster + Partners did a year long solar study to see exactly where and how many shades were needed.

It’s very effective and very light in appearance.

The water feature between the Winspear and the Wyly Theatre is very cool.  We all behaved like children!  I stuck my foot in.

Isn’t that what they want us to do?  If it were July, I would be barefoot.

The Wyly Theatre is another building that an iPhone camera will not do justice to.  This must be seen and person and I must gather up all my pennies to get inside.  Apparently, there are multiple difference stage setups for different types of performances.  Some of the seating works like a “basketball scoreboard” according to our guide.

Ending at the other bookend, One Arts Plaza, home of the Knoll Dallas showroom and Tei-An for happy hour.  It was a great evening to walk around downtown especially in the mild Texas fall/winter. Contact the Dallas Center for Architecture to sign up!