Codie Donahue Interior Design

I love this Sale!

Codie Donahue — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:02:32 +0000

International Market Square

September 22nd at noon starts one of my favorite sales. The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Annual Sample Sale at the International Market Square in Minneapolis. If you live in the area I highly recommend you check it out. The normal To the Trade Only Showrooms will be open to the public September 22nd to the 24th. You will find furniture, accessories, artwork and area rugs at 50-80 percent off retail pricing.

New this year is the opportunity to have a 30 minute one-on-one consultation with an Interior Designer to make the most of your shopping experience. Check out more info here.

Happy Shopping!

New Website!!!

Codie Donahue — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:32:10 +0000

Today is the launch of my re-designed interior design website Codie Donahue Interior Design, LLC. The goal was to freshen and modernize. I hired Angela from 13Thirtyone Design. She was great to work with. Together we updated the color palette for my logo and website, we re-worked the portfolio page for clearer viewing of my work and we added a contact form to make contacting me nice and easy. I think the new design and color palette captures me perfectly.

My new website

Take a look! www.codiedonahue.com I hope you like it.

Working Mom Wednesday

Codie Donahue — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:24:02 +0000

Today is beautiful and I’m glad that I spent last night working to get my project completed for my client meeting later this afternoon. The boys and I can enjoy the nice weather that has finally reached Minnesota. We were outside enjoying the spring flowers when I realized that we have more weeds than flowers…must find time to clean up the weeds!

Sadly the only flowers in our yard

Wait do dandelions count as flowers?

Nice Boots!

Note to self – pack away winter gear. Happy Wednesday!

New Product Monday

Codie Donahue — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:00:03 +0000

I would like to share with you a non-traditional chair designer and manufacturer that I’ve come across. Mind of Couture does seating and does it very well. Their seating is what I would call unexpected with brilliant pops of color and clever color combinations plus they look really comfortable.

Swan #701

Club #801

French Ribbon #305

These chairs may not fit into everyone’s decor but I can definately see them in the lobby of a high end boutique hotel or a funky lounge room.

Regent #601

Now this Regent chair would be a real show stopper in a dining room. I love the formal style of the chair revved up by the gold finish and polka dot fabric.

The Ambassador #109

I can see the Ambassador chair sitting pretty as dinette chairs or in a sunroom. Do you think you could go out on a limb and bring some bold pops of color into your home?

Working Mom Wednesday

Codie Donahue — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:00:59 +0000

One of the challenges of being a working mom is keeping a balance between work and home life. Staying organized is key. Because I am busy juggling so many things, I always try to find help. Good help is hard to find. Everyone wants coffee breaks, smoke breaks, or just plain spends too much time Facebooking. But I got lucky and found a team that is great at organization and amazingly isn’t even on Facebook ever!

Cheap Help

Hand-blown Lighting

Codie Donahue — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:53:17 +0000

While working on a project I came across a company called CX Design in New York that makes the most beautiful hand crafted murano glass light fixtures. I was first attracted to the color palette (lime, aquamarine, amethyst and mango) and then the unique shapes. The designs are very universal and can fit into many different styles. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Odalisque Scavo

Spada II Scavo

A great idea would be to combine different styles. Like hanging 3 different shaped pendants over a kitchen island instead of all the same. It would be a gorgeous and unique statement. CX Design even tells you what light fixtures work well together.

CX Design

Here is the light fixture I am proposing to one of my clients for their kitchen remodel. They are looking for a Tuscany feel. I chose this light because of the translucent appearance and the beautiful glow it produces. The finish would be antique bronze and along with the mounting chain will give a little bit of the rustic feel the project needs.

Maya Cristallo

I hope they will love this pendant as much as I do.

MinneMarket

Codie Donahue — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:56:50 +0000

Today the International Market Square in Minneapolis hosted the 1st ever MinneMarket for Interior Design Professionals. The event allowed the showrooms within the International Market Square to feature some of their product lines and new manufacturer introductions.

I think Interior Designers in the Minneapolis area are extremely lucky to have such a fantastic design resource as the International Market Square. Not to mention what a beautiful building it is.

The Ultimate in Green Design

Codie Donahue — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:46:57 +0000

Shopping around lately I noticed a style of area rugs that had a vintage look with a bold color. I thought to myself that they were somewhat cool but how would I use one in a design scheme. Then I received an invitation to preview a new collection of recycled area rugs. Although the preview luncheon was not local for me to attend, it gave me some more information about the types of rugs I’ve been seeing.

The style of rugs is patchwork design which is re-using remnants of vintage wool rugs, blending them together and putting on an over wash dye. Each rug is unique and a contemporary work of art. What a fantastic concept. I’m very intrigued and I’m definitely going to try to incorporate into a future design project.

Amadi Carpets Vintage Patchwork Rug

Amadi Carpets Vintage Green Patchwork Rug

Amadi Carpets Vintage Patchwork Rug

I think that re-purposing old vintage area rugs is the ultimate in being “green”. What do you think?

Beautiful Friday…Beautiful Fabrics

Codie Donahue — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:20:37 +0000

I discovered a new fabric and wallpaper line while shopping at the design center the other day. I fell immediately in love with the textures and patterns.

Chivasso, based in the Netherlands, launched their first collection in 1991 and later partnered with the Jab Anstoetz Gruppe to expand globally. Their fabrics are high quality, young and modern but still timeless and classic. The sheers are some of the most beautiful I have seen.

Gorgeous Paisley Sheer

Check out the details...

Chivasso also does linen flawlessly. One may actually find a new home as a sheer roman shade in my laundry room.

This pattern is striking

Look at these patterns!

Look how Chivasso does color

Fantastic color combination

Check out the chandelier

Yummy

Happy Friday!

Codie

Gilt’s acquisition of Decorati. A game changer or just a new game?

Codie Donahue — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 03:19:47 +0000

Flash sales giant Gilt Groupe acquired an interior design home décor and design oriented site Decorati. For those not familiar with the flash sales concept, it is a relatively new type of online shopping experience where high quality merchandise is offered at dramatically reduced prices in limited quantities and limited times (typically 24 hours). Many of the flash sales sites are oriented towards private, invite-only group members to create a sense of exclusivity. Several of the sites specialize in merchandising categories like fashion clothing or, in the case of One Kings Lane, furnishings, fabrics, and other home décor related items. There are a lot of flash sales sites but few as big as the Gilt Groupe.

Decorati was started a couple years ago by interior designers as a trade-oriented social networking site, offering professional advice and services to match consumers looking for designers with designers in their growing database. Decorati also provides information on furnishings, fabrics, and pricing.

Having worked in the design industry for a number of years, it is clear that this is a very fragmented industry with many levels of wholesalers and showrooms representing few lines. Much of the industry is closed to the public and oriented toward trade sales. Decorati is trying to help break down some of the barriers to working in and buying within the industry.

Gilt sees an opportunity to combine their flash sales model with Decoratis’ social networking, in concept, a very forward thinking move and similar to social shopping sites like Groupon or Kaboodle. The acquisition is being hailed by both companies as revolutionary in the industry and I am not completely convinced.

I like flash sales sites and am members of a few. Flash sales are really oriented towards impulse purchasing. There is pressure for quick decisions as you usually have limited details about what is coming up the next day. There is not a lot of planning and not a lot of time to think. The model is really the opposite of how good design usually works.

As a designer, I spend a lot of time with my clients understanding their needs, working on design solutions, and finding the perfect products for each project. Good design can be quick, but it should never be rushed.

What this industry needs is an improved product and acquisition process. Interior design still relies on print catalogues, faxed purchased orders, and outdated product availability information. I think web commerce can do a lot to improve the information flow and purchasing process and Decorati was partly about improving this, as is Gilt. I’m glad to see these two groups trying to solve difficult problems and hope they can help innovate.

I don’t believe that this acquisition will hinder our industry and I am not worried that this is a new competitor for professional interior designers. For instance, a while back I had a few clients that were members of DirectBuy. They had access to designer brands but had no idea how to pull a room together or what type of fabric to put on a chair. Having access to what designers have access to does not make one a designer. It will not give one the ability to see how to pull a look or room together based on the love of a lamp during a sale.

I hope that this deal brings innovations to improve merchandising/purchasing. Ultimately this will probably compliment the interior design industry not necessarily replace it. Congratulations to the entrepreneurs at Decorati for their success.