Ottawa, Ontario 2012

All I ever wanted was to work in a collaborative team environment with equally quirky individuals where I could bounce ideas around, brainstorm and be mentored while designing incredible spaces for the public to enjoy.  I was really disappointed after being turned down for some prospective positions that really appealed to me when I graduated college, so finally I took matters into my own hands and struck out on my own in an attempt to build my dream job/company, only to find myself quickly very depressed and unmotivated due to the utter loneliness of working alone.  For a number of years I thought that the only way I would get what I wanted was by building my company to the point where I could hire employees, but I have not yet been able to work through the loneliness to get to a point where I could alleviate it.

Luckily though, the universe found another way to align me with what I wanted.  I am truly amazed by this because once again it has been proven to me “Ask and ye shall receive.”  I am not a religious person at all, but I am deeply spiritual and I am constantly amazed at how the universe gives me exactly what I want/need when I express my true desire for it.

The first help the universe sent me was a lovely industrial design intern named Stephanie Dubois who came to my home to work with me on a full time basis for 3 months last spring, WITHOUT PAY.  Wow.  I wanted so much to have someone help me, but I simply could not afford it.  Next thing you know, Miss Dubois was offering to come and work with me just for the experience!!  To this day we are still great friends and I hold her in very high regard.  I hope that some day I will have an opportunity to offer her a paid position.  It was with Stephanie that I was first able to implement the very strict policy of MANDATORY DANCING at 10:00 am every day.   Unfortunately since Stephanie left I have had anyone to dance with, but at least I got to test it out with her to see how it affected team morale.  A very good team building exercise and way to boost spirit and creativity I’d say!

After Stephanie’s internship ended, things got a bit lonely again, and the finances still were’t so great.  In fact, finances were so poor that I ended up having to find full time work for a while.  It was last spring that I asked out loud for a mentor and for a team and then, last June, only 2 weeks after I started my new job, completely out of the blue, I received a phone call from Doug Feltmate, owner of  Designed Food Systems.   Doug was searching for an Interior Designer who he could pull into his team when appropriate, in order to offer clients comprehensive design services, but who would also have projects and clients to work on independently.  After a few meetings he kindly invited me to come and share an office space in downtown Ottawa with his team for FREE!!  Seriously!!  How lucky am I?  (VERY, and I know this.)  Well, it took some time for me to make the transition, but here I am FINALLY settling in at the office on Sussex Drive!  I am really excited about working downtown, even though paying for parking really sucks.  I guess I shouldn’t complain since Doug has been kind enough to share his space for me without expecting anything in return for the time being.  Our office is right in the market close to all the trendy shops and restaurants that I have not experienced as much as I’d have liked to.  We are literally beside one of my most absolute favourite home accessory stores ZONE where I know I will be spending lots of my money in the future!  Just walking in there inspires me to get my house renovated so I can display their beautiful wares!!  And speaking of inspiration – I am just STEPS away from the National Gallery of Canada!!  If am ever feeling uninspired, I don’t have far to go to get some.  (Is admission claimable as a business expense – I’d say HELL YES!!)

I know that this is just the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship and I am very excited about tapping in to the wealth of knowledge and experience that the team here at the DFS office has to offer.  I hope to return the favour by bringing my own design sensibilities, creative flair and some clients to the table to share.

More news on our collaborations to follow!!

*PS.  Dear Universe – thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you*

The orginal Mooi Random light retails for $600-$2000 depending on the size & retailer.ng VERY similar"

A few weeks ago I was on Bank St in Ottawa, with a friend, exploring some of the Glebe’s wonderful shops.    There was one particular store that I was thrilled to be able to go into called The Modern Shop –  because I always seemed to pass by when it was closed.

The store has a lovely selection of iconic modern furniture and lighting pieces for sale, and I was excited to finally be able to check out their wares.

Upon seeing Mooi’s random light hanging from the ceiling, I turned to my friend and said, ”I love that light fixture.  I am going to make one of my own!“

To which the shopkeeper scoffed, “Everyone thinks they can make that light!“

Obviously he doesn’t know me very well.

I took his disbelief as a challenge.  I like challenges. I’m feisty like that.  Besides, the weeks go by pretty slowly if all you do is sit at your desk and draft floor plans on AutoCAD all day.  I didn’t become a designer so I could be a desk jockey.  I much prefer to get dirty and make stuff!!

Turning again to my friend I said,  ”Have you met me?! I can absolutely make that light fixture, or at least something VERY similar, and probably for MUCH less.”

You see, when I was a kid my art projects often rivalled the teachers in craftsmanship.  I was so good at art, I didn’t know I was good at it.  So I didn’t see living up to this challenge as being much of a problem.

So, over the past couple of weeks at Urbanomic Interiors, we have been creating our own version of the Mooi Random light, but with an Urbanomic twist – we did it on a dollar store budget!  That’s right.  We set out to make a DIY version of this light fixture as inexpensively as possible.  The original fixture retails from $600-$2000, depending on the size, and the retailer.

Guess how much we made it for?

Keep reading to find out!  ;)

Stephanie mixes up the paper maché mixture.

Paper Maché Mixture: 1 part flour : 2 parts water, and a whole lotta glue for good measure.

I recalled one particular craft project from grade-school where we used an inflated balloon as a mould for a paper maché mask.  I figured I could use a similar approach to this project, and that is exactly what we did.

First we looked up a paper maché recipe online. Pretty simple.  Water and flour.  2 parts water to 1 part flour actually, but we decided to throw in some extra flour and a good amount of white craft glue, just for extra sturdiness.

Then my lovely intern, Stephanie Dubois, and I headed to Dollarama to purchase the first round of supplies for our Urbanomic Mooi Random Light knockoff.    The easiest thing to find was the white glue.  We had to ask a clerk where the string was (in the gardening section) and since they didn’t have any white, we settled on a lovely orange.  We initially picked up 2 bolts of string, each which had 350 ft of string on them. Next we needed to find something large, round and inflatable. I thought of using an exercise ball, but I was not sure how easy it would be to get it out of the opening afterwards, because they are relatively bulky compared to a balloon.  We also could not find any yoga balls at the Dollarama, so we settled on a HUGE ASS balloon from the kid section, which gave my lungs one heck of a workout, and made me rather dizzy.  (Maybe I shouldn’t have passed up on the $1.25 manual air pump after all.)

Suspending the balloon from the basement ceiling.

That is one BIG ASS balloon!!

We strung the balloon up to a nail in the basement ceiling.  The basement ceiling is low, and the floor is not finished, so it was the ideal place for us to do this.  We still put protective sheets on the floor, and it is a good thing, because it ended up being a VERY messy job.

The next problem we had to solve was how to quickly get lengths of the string saturated in the maché mixture while leaving our hands free for wrapping.  First we tried unravelling a whole bunch of it at a time but had to take turns holding it in the mixture because it became knotted quite easily.  Next we tried using a freestanding toilet paper holder to dispense the string, but it was hard to saturate the string as we pulled it.  Eventually we put the entire bolt of string in the bowl and weighed it down by sticking a metal object in the middle of the bolt, which enabled us to pull the soaked string pretty quickly.

Here we begin wrapping the balloon with the sloppy string soaked in the paper maché mixture.

We knotted the loose end of the string to where the balloon was tied, positioned ourselves opposite each other, and started wrapping…

and wrapping…

and wrapping…

and wrapping…

After 1 bolt of string.

On more than once occasion a bunch of the string even unravelled because the bare balloon was so slippery!! Eventually we got a technique down passing the string up and over, down and around, and holding it in place until it was secured with the next round. Before we knew it…we ran out of string.   Apparently 700 ft. of string is not enough to adequately cover such a HUGE ASS BALLOON.

Oh, and did I mention that it was VERY MESSY??! There were drips of mixture everywhere –  all over our clothes, our hair , our shoes … and pretty much every other  object within a 6ft radius of the balloon.  Stephanie ended up protecting her clothes by slipping on a  garbage bag, and I put on my apron.

on the 2nd bolt of string.

Stephanie poses in her garbage bag after 2 bolts of string

Once we ran out of string, we decided to let our lampshade dry as it was, and then a couple of days later we continued  by adding on 3 additional bolts of string. In total we wrapped 1750 ft. of string.

after 5 bolts of string

paper maché is pretty drippy stuff.

We used a roll of masking tape to form an opening so that we could reach our hand in and change the bulb etc.

After a few days of drying, it was time to pop the balloon.  It was the weekend and I was so excited that I couldn’t wait until Monday when Steph would return.)  First I pried the balloon loose in some areas, worried that the string might stick to it, and then all cave in with the force of the implosion.  I took out a tack and….POP!! As the balloon shriveled up and disconnected from it’s now hardened string shell, flakes of glue and flour fell gently, accompanied by a soft cracking sound.

After the balloon was popped!

What a mess!

I vacuumed up the mess and then carefully took the balloon outside to try to loosen some of the flakes that were still stuck inside with a hand broom.  In retrospect, the extra flour in the maché mixture may not have been a great idea, because it made areas of the string cloudy in some spots, along with a dried white film in some of the openings.  Some of the hardened openings required us to perform a small amount of delicate surgery with a blade to open them back up, but all in all, our experiment seemed quite successful so far.

there were some dried bits of glue that needed to be removed

Stephanie performs surgery on the lampshade

The "guts" for our lamp.

Next we had to figure out a way to suspend and light our lampshade.

I picked up a JANUARI light fixture from IKEA for $14.99 because it had a nice brushed steel stem. (Ok, so I kinda lied - we didn’t make the ENTIRE light out of dollar store materials – just the shade part. I also purchased a lovely halogen bulb that had the same shape as the average incandescent one.  I modified the JANUARI light by severing the plug and a lot of the very long chord so that it could be hard wired, and we left the shade off since we made our own.

We found a simple white canopy and some threaded pipe from from Canadian Tire, some nuts for the threaded pipe at lighting store (because NO ONE else seemed to have these), and some large washers with a small opening from a metal fastener store. The nuts and washers were kindly given to us for free, which made us very happy, because I didn’t think anything was free any more. It took us half a day of running around figuring out all the parts we needed for the “guts” of our lamp.

The most difficult part was figuring out how to suspend the lamp in such a way that it would not damage the delicate string structure, while ensuring it was supported. We needed a disc or a cup shaped item that offered enough surface to rest the shade on.  We ended up using a CD and sandwiching the top of the shade between it and a couple of washers, all secured with the threaded pipe and nuts. The main point of the washer was to reduce the size of the CD’s hole so that it sat on top of the stem of our JANUARI fixture once we slipped our chord through it.  It all came together very nicely!

We used washers to secure the shade on the outside

Inside the shade we used a CD and some washers for support.

Well this seems pretty sturdy!

After we wired it up!

Next we took it to the dining room and hard wired it to the existing junction box and………………………

VOILA!! We were pretty excited when we saw the awesome pattern that the shade created on the wall and ceiling!

.VOILA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were pretty excited when we saw the awesome pattern that the shade created on the wall and ceiling! I wonder if the original fixture does the same thing, or if it only because of the colour & thickness of the string we used?  It actually has a bizarre effect when the shade catches a breeze – out of the corner of your eye it will appear as though the entire room is moving giving a bit of a vertigo sensation at first.  I’m used to it by now, but I imagine it might make some people a little seasick!!

How cool is that? (Pretty friggin' cool if you as us!!)

And the clerk and the store thought it couldn't be done.....HA!!

In the end our total cost to make this lamp was $28.72 and it took about 10 hours to create, including sourcing & purchasing materials, making the shade and installing it.

And the clerk at the store told me it couldn’t be done…. well, I think I proved him wrong – don’t you agree!?!?!

If you decide to try one of your own we would love to hear about your results!!

Or, if you would like us to make one for you, let us know and we can talk about a price.

Good luck!!

Heidi Helm

Urbanomic Interiors

www.urbanomic.ca

So, what exactly is the difference?

An interior decorator is concerned with coordinating the treatments of surfaces within an existing space (paint, wallpaper, flooring and trim), unfixed elements (furniture, artwork, accessories) and semi-permanent elements (window coverings, decorative shelving). Decorators generally add finishing touches to spaces, but do not alter their structure or overall functionality.  Interior decorators work more often in the residential field.

The role of an interior designer, on the other hand, is to thoroughly plan and co-ordinate the construction of interior spaces, in an aesthetically pleasing manner, with the purpose of safely supporting the specific activities that are to take place within them.  Interior Designers can be thought of as “interior architects” who modify the built elements within a space to create an interface which enables people to effectively utilize that space for a specific purpose.  Some of the factors that an Interior Designer must take into consideration when planning a space include:

• Existing building elements (which may or may not be modified)
• Building Code
• Public Safety & Accessibility for persons with disabilities
• Aesthetic vision
• Suitability of finish materials (in terms of durability, aesthetics, fire resistance & price point)
• Psychology/perception of space
• Special needs of the end user
• furniture & equipment requirements
• “Green” Building techniques
• Budget
• Timeline

Interior Designers can work in the fields of residential and/or commercial design, and may chose from a number of areas of specialization in order to offer value and specialize knowledge to their clients.  Some areas of commercial specialization include:

• Office Planning (small offices, large corporations, high-tech)
• Restaurant/Foodservice Design
• Hospitality Design (Hotels, Motels)
• Personal Services (Hair Salons, Spas, Nail Salons)
• Health Care Design  (Hospitals, Long Term Care Facilities, Health Clinics, Dental Offices)
• Retail Design
• Institutional Design (laboratories, schools, libraries)

Interior Designers usually constitute part of a larger project team which may include:

• Architects
• Structural Engineers
• Mechanical Engineers
• Architectural Technologists
• Lighting Consultants
• A/V Technicians
• Computer Networking Specialists
• Furniture Specialists
• Project Managers

In summary, a professional Interior Designer:

• analyzes client’s needs, goals, and applicable building code requirements
• integrates findings with knowledge of interior design principles
• formulates preliminary design concepts that are both functional and aesthetically appropriate
• develops and presents design recommendations through presentation media
• prepares working drawings and specifications for non-load bearing interior construction, reflected ceiling plans, lighting, interior detailing, materials, finishes, space planning, furnishings, fixtures, and equipment in compliance with universal accessibility guidelines and all applicable codes
• collaborates with professional services of other licensed practitioners in the technical areas of mechanical, electrical and load-bearing design as required for regulatory approval
• prepares and administers bids and contract documents as the client’s agent
• reviews and evaluates design solutions during implementation and upon completion.

For more information on the profession of Interior Design in Canada visit:http://www.idcanada.org/english/about-interior-design/about-interior-design.html

Written by

Heidi Helm  :: Urbanomic Interiors, Ottawa  http://www.urbanomic.ca/

Our work:  before & after http://www.behance.net/urbanomic

Heidi Helm is a professional Interior Design Consultant living Ottawa, ON

Welcome to the home of  the new Urbanomic Interiors blog on ALL THINGS DESIGN, but mostly pertaining to Restaurant and Hospitality Interior Design and our experiences running an interior design business.  We have poured the foundation and are working on the bones.  We hope to have some interesting and informative posts for you VERY SOON!  The ideas are brewing and there is a ton of information and ideas in this l’il head of mine, and I hope to benefit others by sharing them! Our blog will cover everything from general information about design, to specific issues that we run into during our projects, to tips & tricks, to our inspirations, to information about our favourite products and projects.  Yep, we will pretty much be all over the topic of Interior Design, which is a very complex and multi-faceted discipline.

See you soon!

Heidi Helm