This week I started reading Interior Design Course: Principals, Practices and Techniques for the Aspiring Designer by Tomris Tangaz, a college course book which is broken into units designed to teach the reader everything they need to know about interior design. I decided that I would read the whole book but only complete the units that applied to my project. My goal for week 5 was to read and complete chapters 1 & 2. These chapters contained 12 units total which focused on site research and building study, building a sketch book, developing an idea, survey and freehand drawing as well as technical drawing of floor plans.
I started my work by creating my sketch book, I wanted to collect interesting design ideas and consider all the options I had before starting my model. I searched magazines and the internet while also taking time to investigate my surroundings, kept notes of my findings and ideas. The one main thing that was important to me was that I wanted to create a space that unique. I didn’t want to constrict myself to one style or design type but I wanted that I wanted to keep my options open. As I explored design concepts I realized that I wanted my bathroom to be more modern than anything else. I loved the look of clean lines and the idea that this could be any kind of bathroom I wanted.
The one thing that stood out to me when doing my research was natural light, I found that bringing nature inside would help to make a confined space feel bigger. I focused on an idea I had while collecting data, our bathrooms are normally filled with mirrors as opposed to windows. We seem to have an idea that the bathroom should be private and in some instances I agree but what if you lived in a place where your neighbors were not directly next door? Would you like to be able to see nature while say relaxing in a warm bath? I thought about this idea as I began designing my bathroom.
I then wanted to focus on my tub/shower. I have always wanted an old fashioned claw foot tub, especially one that had a freestanding shower curtain. I loved the idea of being lifted off the ground as opposed to being built into the wall. I began looking for tub ideas and thinking of ways that I could construct them in my model. I was set on the idea of constructing at least one piece of furniture for this miniature instead of using pre-cut pieces.
I also wanted to focus on my sinks and cabinetry. I loved the idea of using a dresser for storage and as a counter. I’ve always liked my counters clean and to have places to put everything. I like organization so drawers are important to me. I also being bit of a clean freak have always wanted my own sink separate from other people in my house so the idea of multiple sinks seemed like a good idea. I found some interesting photos that I believed represented exactly what I was looking for so I added them to my scrapbook.
After I had gathered everything, I wanted to get started with my sketch and began measuring out my bathroom layout. I looked at and compared my ideas on floor plans to other floor plans for bathrooms to see where there were problems and what things I could change. I wanted to change the scale of this room too so I made sure to keep that in mind as I measure and drew my floor plan.