I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a conversations from WestEdge Design Fair, circa 2019 that I have been holding onto for a number of reason, not the least of which is that with everything that has been happening, talking about designing around collected things seemed off to me. But now, let’s get back to collecting, shall we…
Seriously, with the office/ classroom/ yoga studio and trying to make those things work, it seemed a little tone deaf to try and talk passionately about designing around collected things. But the time is right again to start thinking about these things again.Collections make us happy. And in 2019, as I was crafting panels for WestEdge in the Convo by Design Programming Lounge, here was the inspiration.
The Collectors: Collected Clutter Made Impeccably Designed Collections
Many if not most of us have gathered and keep “treasures.” These collections represent the curiosity and vitality of life adventures and are, at least we hope, to be incorporated into our living spaces. Today’s ensemble of creatives have achieved mastery incorporating treasures into the design of their clients’ dreams. Learn strategies that make for a smoother process when showcasing collections.
Thank you George, Kevin, Laura and Jules. I loved this!
And, thank you for listening and subscribing to the podcast. I know you already know this, but… there are literally hundreds of past episodes of Convo By Design that you probably haven’t heard, especially if you are new to the show, so go check them out.
Remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design and we are going back to the 1950’s for a look back at the future… That’s right.
I recently came across a video that was made in the 1950s by Westinghouse called the Total Electric Home. It is a fascinating film hosted by Betty Furness. She was an actress, consumer advocate and special assistant in consumer affairs to the Johnson administration.Furness past away in 1994 and she was really interesting. She turned a less than stellar acting career into a significant role as consumer advocate and saleswoman. Furness hosted this remarkable film that was created by and featuring the products made by Westinghouse Electric.
Westinghouse was founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse who years earlier, in 1865 patented the first rotary steam engine. In 1869, he patented an air braking system for use on the railroad. In 1888 Nikola Tesla patented the alternating current motor and goes to work for Westinghouse. In 1893, Westinghouse beats out Thomas Edison to win the contract to power the Chicago World’s Fair. Then in 1914, Westinghouse acquires CopemanElectric Stove Company to enter the home appliance market. So in the 50’s, here they are with this fully integrated electric home. Why didn’t it take? The idea was genius. The reason it didn’t work was due to many factors not the least of which was the competition in the marketplace and to perhaps an even larger extent, the proliferation of other power sources.
Natural gas has been used in the United States since before 1836 when the City of Philadelphia createdthe first municipal natural gas company. I don’t want to go too deep here and turn this into a history lesson. Rather, let’s look at this amazing piece of history as we look forward. Some of the same basic ideas incorporated into the Westinghouse Total Electric Home are relevant and even being reintroduced as of this writing. Just listen to Betty’s introduction: So the idea for the Ring doorbell can be traced back to the 50’s. While I don’t know what “Rayescent lighting” is, it sounds pretty cool. While the idea of seeing visitors is not novel to us now, imagine how this idea was received in the 50’s? A great idea right, but how about this?
What? The idea for a home that is organized in zones is not new, but to envision a home that works together as opposed to simply trying to seamlessly connect spaces is, to this day, a revolutionary idea. Keep in mind that at this time, formal dining rooms, formal living rooms and phone niches were all ‘must haves’.
Now, I don’t want you think that this whole idea could be plucked from then and planted now… There’s this…
It appears only men are interested in the weather, but wait…
Integrated heating and watering. Not only novel, but amazing!
Not sure about multiple hampers, because let’s be honest, no kid I know is going to self-sort by material or color. Speaking of kids…
Okay, so we are getting off topic a little bit, but it’s okay because this Total Electric Home is a concept house, like many of the cars you go see at the auto show. It makes you wonder why there aren’t more experimental spaces from which to truly explore the elements that go into living well.There is cost, of course, but I always thought that was a perfect role for the design house. Of which we are starting to see fewer organized by the media and more created by developers.
I wanted to use this opportunity to share some ideas you have heard by architects on previous episodes and a few to come. We are talking about not just creating the home of the future, but the home for now, homes with spaces designed to suit the way we live now andfactor in the changes that come next. This is architect Anthony Poon referencing the Wallace Neff Bubble House in Pasadena and talking about Modern for the Masses.
That was Anthony Poon talking about concepts, this is architect Stephen Francis Jones and his use of shipping containers to build. A plentiful, relatively untapped resource for creation of dwellings. Stephen founder of SF Jones Architects talks about creating a dwelling from shipping containers.
From here we can jump to a conversation with noted LA architect Dan Brunn. Dan and I spoke at the WestEdge Design Fair ant we were talking about some of his truly transformative projects and it all started with his love for the Bauhaus style in which he grew up as a boy in Tel Aviv. Listen to Dan explain it.
Studio MLA’s Ben Feldman and I sat down to talk about his work on the LA River project and this is further proof that the modern home and the modern solution to housing truly is a multifaceted patchwork of ideas cobbled together to address many issues, changing times and conditions not to mention technologies, both coming and going. That Total Electric Home of the future wasn’t just a one off creation but ideas put into practice every day. Listen to Ben explain it from his perspective.
Quite a bit has been unpacked here. Adding another twist to the modern, technologically advanced home is a brief chat with Steven Ehrlich when we met at Modernism Week in 2018. He was giving me a tour of an amazing project in the desert using some uncommon materials for the terrain to make the house both lighter on the footprint and function better. Check this out.
Wrapping this up with architect Lorcan O’herlihy and a brief chat about LA and Detroit from an urban living perspective. Concepts, materials, style, technology, and compatibility are all crucial to the modern, livable home and one also needs to understand municipal policy, change it if you can work around it when you must and be creative stitching projects in whenever possible. Nobody understands this like O’herlihy.
This has been fun, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. Here is Betty Furness one last time with the Westinghouse pitch. It’s compelling. Makes you wonder what we can do with the advancements we have some 70 years later.
What a fun look at past design and how it affects both today and tomorrow. Thank you to all of the creatives who added to this conversation; Anthony Poon, Stephen F Jones, Steven Ehrlich, Dann Brun, Ben Feldman and Lorcan O’herlihy. Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week, Be well and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a brand spotlight on a unique lighting company that is making art with light.
I am not exaggerating nor embellishing what they do. They are a lighting company that create mood, space and time through light. Their work runs between hospitality, retail, entertainment, museums and all kinds of other projects. Light is critical to an experience and in turn, requires planning and placement to get it right. This is Brett Andersen, partner and principal designer at Focus Lighting. We are talking about lighting, and application of the craft. We’ll get to that, right after this.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture
Thank you, Brett. Love your story and the art you bring to life. For more stories like this, make sure you are subscribing to the podcast. You can find the show everywhere you get your favorite podcasts… But, you already knew that. What you might not know, is that there are literally hundreds of other episodes for you to binge on now. Go check them out.
Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener and Moya Living for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
This is Convo By Design with a look at small spaces and maximum style because it’s time to start looking at exploring space again. That’s right, we are going to look forward at making small spaces popular again. Maybe it was the nook under the stairs that has been a classroom for the past 2 years, or that breakfast area/ yoga studio/ office. How can we make those spaces functional again, as in the original function that didn’t include three slashes and four functions. Let’s get back to singularly stunning design in the multi purpose spaces with a listen to a conversation from 2021, via Zoom, of course and another exploration into small space, big style in the latest installment of the Wellness & Design Thought Leadership Series presented by ThermaSol.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture
A little history first. In 2012, I produced my first design house. A 1400 foot penthouse condo in the heart of Hollywood. 8 designers and some incredible design. I have always had a fondness for small spaces because big spaces and big budgets are great but it is, I would argue as a not-designer, a more simple endeavor. Not “easy” but far more simple. Small spaces take more work, research, planning and attention to detail. Again, I am not a designer, but I have had enough time in conversation with world-class design talent to know a few things, and this idea is one.
So I gathered a group of uber talented creatives to chat with me about this as part of the Wellness & Design Thought Leadership Series, presented by ThermaSol. Here is how I described the conversation to them:
Design tastes chan change over time. Color palette, new materials and lifestyle trends all affect the finished project. What never changes are the limitations placed on creatives by the space available in which to work. Designing in a smaller footprint presents creatives with unique challenges and often forces certain choices and at the same time offers designers an opportunity to test their mettle. This challenge can change the way we think about design, encourage experimentation and open up new possibilities.
The panelists include; Designer, Elizabeth Drake, architectAnthony Laney and designer Roxanne Packham. We are talking about space and making that space enjoyable once more. We’ll get to that, right after this.
Thank you, Roxanne, Elizabeth and Anthony. You are all fantastic and I appreciate you so much. For more stories like this, make sure you are subscribing to the podcast. You can find the show everywhere you get your favorite podcasts… But, you already knew that. What you might not know, is that there are literally hundreds of other episodes for you to binge on now. Go check them out.
Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings, Franz Viegener and Moya Living for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another installment of the Wellness & Design Thought Leadership Series presented by ThermaSol featuring a powerful, self-described “late bloomer” in her design career and is making up for lost time, this is Texas based designer, Michelle Lynne. Check out our partners while you listen to the show.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture
I kind of feel like we are all “late bloomers” at this point. I am continually adjusting the Convo By Design brand and reforming the way I do business. Because the world is changing very quickly, and “Life moves pretty fast…If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Yes, for those playing the home game, that was a Ferris Bueller quote. Not sorry. It’s true.
Michele Lynne is a perfect example and if you find yourself wondering what your next move is, listen to this from Michelle. She gets it, she did it and the point here is this. It isn’t a point to point excursion, it’s a journey of creative self-discovery. In addition to the design biz, she also trains designers about running their own business. The MLG Experience is something she is passionate about and will share the ideas behind it with you as well. We are also going to talk about her work in Dallas and beyond. Enjoy this conversation with Michelle Lynne of ML Interiors Group, the latest installment of the Wellness & Design Thought Leadership Series, presented by ThermaSol. You’ll hear from Michelle in just a moment, but first, this.
Thank you, Michelle. For more stories like this, make sure you are subscribing to the podcast. You can find the show everywhere you get your favorite podcasts… But, you already knew that. What you might not know, is that there are literally hundreds of other episodes for you to binge on now. Go check them out.
Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another episode of the Wellness & Design Thought Leadership Series presented by ThermaSol. This a look back at what we were saying about wellness in a previously unpublished conversation from the Convo By Design Programming Lounge at the WestEdge Design Fair from 2019. The last time did it. I think you will find this really interesting.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture
First a note about the WestEdge Design Fair. I don’t know if it will ever happen again. I just know that I hope it does. I have made so many friends, not the least of which are Troy and Megan, founders of the show. This conversation from the fair in 2019 features; Moderator Ben Stapleton, Executive Director, USGBC-LA and features; Brady Zaitoon, Angel City Lumber; Gordon Stott, Connect Homes; and Lori Tierney, Tierney Management, LLC
The intro read, “Did you know that air quality in your home or workplace is typically two times worse than air quality outside? Join our round table discussion on the materials and environment in the places we live and how your choices affecting the health of the space are just as critical as those affecting your style.”
So, what is so interesting to me in retrospect is that all of these issues would be of critical importance as we were all confined to our homes in early 2020, 5 months after this was recorded. It is even more relevant now than it was then with a renewed focus on air quality, water quality, noise abatement and sustainable, safe busting materials and quality building practices. The ideas espoused here are actually more important now and will continue to be so for designers and architects on behalf of their clients. Great chat and I am so happy to present it to you. We’ll get to it, in just a moment, but first, this.
Thank you, Ben, Brady, Gordon and Lori, great job. For more stories like this, make sure you are subscribing to the podcast. You can find the show everywhere you get your favorite podcasts… But, you already knew that. What you might not know, is that there are literally hundreds of other episodes for you to binge on now. Go check them out.
Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another creative from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I have been focusing on the Midwest a bit lately to share to illustrate and pull focus on the idea that nothing creative is happening in what I call the ‘design fly-overs’. Yeah, we’re going to get to that too.
The ‘design fly-overs’, any state that isn’t California or New York and cities that aren’t, Miami, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago or the others deemed as “it cities for design.” Within these non-fly-over cities lie creatives who go about their work every day creating amazing spaces that you never see in the glossy shelter pubs and online in the flavor of the month websites. If I sound a bit snarky about this, I guess I am. I have always felt that the majority of home & design editors, contributors and, dare I say… “influencers” don’t really know or love design. They know and love clicks, sales, shares and likes and there is nothing inherently wrong with that, we are a capitalist society. Without the business of design, there would be no design business.
That being said, and I have made this abundantly clear over the past 9 years doing this podcast, I am an outsider to the industry first. I can’t say that anymore. After talking about the business since 2010, I can’t really say I am not now an insider. But I came to interior design and architecture because I have always loved it and still do. That is why I don’t focus on speaking with creatives you already know. I love introducing you to amazing people doing incredible things for their clients and the brands that make it all work. SO, allow me to introduce you to Lynn Knight Jessee, principal designer and owner of Kitchen Concepts in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is an award-winning designer with decades of success producing some fantastic projects with a showroom that features some of your favorite projects for the kitchen and bath. Jessee has been doing this for over 4 decades and you are going to hear about ways the business of design in Tulsa has changed and continues to change as more people discover this stylish city with a passion for traditional and an appetite for what’s next.
Thank you, Lynn. Loved our chat and what you’re doing. For more stories like this, make sure you are subscribing to the podcast. You can find the show everywhere you get your favorite podcasts… But, you already knew that. What you might not know, is that there are literally hundreds of other episodes for you to binge on now. Go check them out.Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with designer Dennese Guadeloupe Rojas. I had the chance to chat with this DC/ Maryland based designer, and principal of Interiors By Design about a lot of things, not the least of which, authenticity.
Think about it. Being authentic in all our creative endeavors is so critical to not just the work but how we feel about our own work. One of the things I lament most in the post-pandemic era is the lack of time and focus on authenticity. Think about it for a minute. There is an art to being authentic. It means being not only true to yourself, your work, your friends and family but also to the design and creative process by which we all work. I don’t think it is possible to be completely true to any of these things in a time when every aspect of the business is so unpredictably fluid right now. At a time when the on again, off again gatherings. I was at Design Chicago but bailed out of KBIS this year. And for designers trying to do the work only to have costs boosted by 30% or more on shipping and pricing, timelines continuing to shift outward and making it more challenging to remain creative and relate to the business. But we’re also talking about how Denise stays fresh, sharp and focused. g a constant stream of reselects. It’s draining. Draining emotionally and that draws from ones ability to create.So, were talking about this and other ideas with an immensely creative designer. I think you are going to like this, I hope so.
Thank you for the time and conversation, Dennese! Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture.
I’m Josh Cooperman, this is Convo By Design and today, we are returning to one of my favorite design cities, Dallas, Texas for a chat with a creative who has mastered the art of surprise & delight!
Thank you for checking out this episode of Convo By Design. We are solidly into 2022 and the on again off again event schedule is reading havoc with travel plans and delivery dates. That being said, we are continuing to move forward with the 2022 Remote Design House | Tulsa project. Very soon, you are going to start hearing about this project and seeing some of the finished spaces… If we can get our deliveries that is. We’re all in the same boat here! First designers up are Gail Davis and John McClain with product form York Wallcoverings, Article, Franz Viegener, and others. I am so excited to share this project with you that I can’t stand it. Make sure you are subscribing to the show so you don’t miss a single episode of the podcast.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture.
Surprise & delight. Such a simple concept, so challenging to execute. It’s a matter of finding opportunities to add something completely unexpected yet adds to the overall concept while not detracting from it. Morgan Farrow and her team, do that, extremely well. Adding a unique element to this conversation, Morgan is joined by Matt Cain, president of Tatum Brown Custom Homes who works in partnership on some new development projects with Farrow and her team. Surprise and delight in partnership with a developer/ builder. This is something that comes up in conversation all the time with design creatives looking for new avenues for collaboration.And you are going to hear all about it, right after this.
Thank you, Morgan, surprise and delight, love it! Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. You have no doubt heard by now about the remote design house project I am working on in Tulsa. If you are curious about the state of design in Tulsa, this episode is for you.
Here we have another creative with a degree in something other than interior design or architecture. Marketing. She also received her degree in interior design as well, but marketing is almost a must-have these days. Lauren Johnson runs her eponymous firm in Tulsa Oklahoma with both a “creative mindset and an artistic point of view.” I like that because those ideas are open ended as it relates to creative endeavors. Tulsa is a very big small city and Lauren treats the city as a community from which the draws inspiration and gives back with soulful and meaningful design.
The design community is strong in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And it gets stronger with all the new residents who come to inhabit this amazing midwest city. The city is rooted in art deco architecture from the early 1900’s as the city grew into an oil and gas hub. With that growth, came the experimentation as tastes and styles changed. Essentially, this created an experimental design city. That changed a bit in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Growth began to stagnate in response to the oil bust. This is a really interesting study in how design trends and experimentation grow hand in glove with a city’s financial health. The city of Tulsa is growing rapidly. The 10 year growth rate is 5.4%. I would also call this a healthy growth rate, not the hyper-explosive rates of Austin, Texas or even Oklahoma City. Cities that grow too fast suffer the negative ramifications of an overheated housing market and increased competition for resources. That being said, the growth from outside is bringing in new tastes for design and architecture. And that is a good thing. You will learn more about how she works and what motivates Johnson right after this from our friends at ThermaSol.
Thank you, Lauren, I appreciate you. Thank you ThermaSol, Article, York Wallcoverings and Franz Viegener for your partnership and support. You are remarkable partners and amazing allies for the trade. And, thank you for listening, remember why you do what you do and that the business of design is about making better the lives of those we serve. Until next week. Be well and take today first.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience
Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture.
