ASID tactics leaves acid after taste for designers

AN ARGUMENT WHEN LEGISLATION BECOMES TOO MUCH.
Can you guess which of the four designs shown below became a criminal act, the GUILTY design firm slapped with a court order to cease and desist and faces criminal penalties and fines for design work?

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, a world class luxury resort, recently refurbished the Forum Tower Suites.

Atlantis Phase III, The Cove Tower, Paradise Island, The Bahamas

The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore

Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens Greece

The answer is none. These beautifully appointed and awe inspiring public facilities are the work of internationally known hospitality design firm of Hirsch Bedner Associates.

And yet, by designing equaling thrilling spaces in Florida and the same design firm faces criminal charges. Yes, criminal charges and fines for practicing design. And so it goes the highly acclaimed firm, Hirsch Bedner Associates, joins the growing list of design firms and other notable national designers, namely Kelly Wearstler from Los Angeles, hired to redesign the Tides Hotel in Florida; and Juan Montoya of New York, named to Architectural Digest's Top 100 Designers list, all who have been accused of designing without a certificate in the state of Florida, subject to criminal charges and fines.

Is it possible the building inspectors in Las Vegas, Singapore, Athens, the Bahamas were remiss in approving these stunning places? Were engineers, fire inspectors, architects, construction contractors, plumbers, electricians, city planners completely ignorant? Absolutely not. Designed and built according to local enforceable building codes in place, without which a project will not be issued building permits and a certificate of occupancy. Space planning and specifying materials must meet local fire, electrical, plumbing and municipal building codes without which a project will not pass inspection. This is to say that there is REGULATION in place for commercial and residential building projects by states and local municipalities.

Is this the effort of the state of Florida trying to protect the public's health and safety? Is this to say that Florida's existing codes are not adequate protection to ensure the health and safety of it's citizens? One must read the comments at Cote De Texas: ASID an agency out of control and http://brentwilliams.wordpress.com/ for further comment on Florida's ASID's heavy handed legislation.

If Hirsch Bedner Associates obtains the certificate to practice design in the State of Florida, will this ensure that the public is safer than it was without the certificate?

In the 30 years that ASID has been pushing for regulation, no evidence has been presented that the unregulated practice of interior design places the public in any form of jeopardy.

See Probable Cause Panel Meeting at Florida's, BOARD OF ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN (click link to view the design firms in the thousands who have been accused of designing without a certificate). How much is this costing the citizens of Florida?

Here is the Hirsch Bedner Associates citation below:

Hirsch Bedner & Associates

Howard Pharr

Case No. 2007-068978

Probable cause was found that Hirsch Bedner & Associates of Atlanta, Georgia, is not licensed to practice interior design in Florida and contracted to provide interior design services on a commercial project. Further, Hirsch Bedner & Associates is offering these services without a certificate of authorization. An Administrative Complaint seeking fines will be filed and a Notice and Order to Cease and Desist will be issued.

American Society of Interior Designers, ASID, is hard at work to legislate their competitors out of business in the name of protecting the publics’ health, safety and welfare. ASID’s attempt to install Design Practice Acts in every state stands to create design cartels through a single-entry method into interior design. According to ASID’s own website, they retain a staff of full time attorneys and three lobbyists registered with the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. ^{Source: http://www.asid.org/legislation/.}

ASID is up against a fight. When the goal of a few is to dominate the profession of the majority with anti-competitive and anti-consumer legislation, even ASID’s cadre of attorneys will not be able to counter the growing opposition. The public and several organizations who oppose anti-American, anti-freedom design cartels refuse to be silent and will oppose the legislation at every turn.

The National Kitchen and Bath Association, NKBA, has many concerns about these attempts to co-opt the interior design market.

“While interior designers are deserving of respect for their role in the design process, special legislative consideration is not warranted based on an objective review of the facts. In truth, these bills protect the economic interests of a few within the interior design community and in no way promote or advance any rational, justifiable or necessary public policy. As such, NKBA joins with the vast majority of the design community in opposing these unjustifiable attempts to monopolize the interior design profession.” Ed Nagorski, General Counsel, NKBA

^{Source: http://www.kbbonline.com/kbb/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003806153}

As the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies put it, there is "no evidence of physical or financial harm being caused to . . . consumers by the unregulated practice of interior designers."

In vetoing interior design legislation last May, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels explained that the "principal effect" of the law would have been "to restrain competition and limit new entrants into the occupation." Mr. Daniels noted that interior designers were "hardly the only profession" seeking government protection from potential competitors.

^{Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120701341410579079.html?mod=djemITP}

Institute for Justice’s communications team provided key support, this time by bringing ASID’s cartel’s nationwide efforts to the attention of nationally syndicated columnist George F. Will, who wrote a devastating column about it entitled “Wallpapering with Red Tape.” The column left quite an impression on our friends in the resistance and even more importantly on our opponents, who were still reeling from IJ-backed battles in New Hampshire (where Clark testified against practice legislation in March) and in New Mexico.

^{Source: http://www.ij.org/publications/liberty/2007/16_3_07_c.html}

Additional Opponents to Interior Design Legislation includes:
BSA (Boston Society of Architects)

NKBA (National Kitchen & Bath Association)

RAM (Retailers Association of Massachusetts)

NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses)

Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts

Massachusetts Building Inspectors

IJ (The Institute For Justice)

Live Free and Design

Massachusetts Fire Chiefs oppose Interior Design Legislation

^{http://www.interiordesignfreedom.org/pdf/fire_chiefs.pdf}

Massachusetts Building Inspectors Oppose Interior Design Legislation

^{http://www.interiordesignfreedom.org/pdf/bldg_inspectors.pdf}

More cases against this legislation can be found at http://www.interiordesignfreedom.org/

http://www.reason.org/ps361.pdf

http://www.azidalert.org/

http://interiordesignbusiness.net/category/careers-and-job-outlook/

WHO OPPOSES SB 1312? (California’s Practice Act that failed to pass in the Senate)
The opponents of this bill are

CLCID

NKBA

IDS

IFDA

IDPC (Interior Design Protection Council)

AIA

CAB (California Architects Board)

CALBO (California Building Officials)

Los Rios Community College District

WHFA (Western Home Furnishings Association)

Lumber Association of California

NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry)

AIBD (American Institute of Building Designers),

The Home Depot

California Retailers Association, and several others.

The California Council for Interior Design Certification, CCIDC, issued a statement against a practice act in California.

“It is the opinion of the CCIDC board that this bill does nothing to improve the current certification program in California other than create a parallel registration program that is under the control of the state government and paid for at taxpayer's expense.”
^{Source: http://www.ccidc.org/eNews/sb_1312.html}

ASID contends that interior designers are asking to be allowed to practice their profession through means of a practice act. ASID would like to convince the public that a practice act is a necessary means to protect the publics’ health, safety and welfare.

The Practice Act does nothing to further the protection of public health, safety and welfare. It is merely another layer of legislation. The increased costs will be passed onto the consumer.

If there is any issue of placing the public in harm’s way, it is the interior designers who strive to be interior architects, without having received the proper education or experience.

According to the article in Interior Sources, May 2008, ASID Update: A Goal of Licensure, Not Limitation by ASID President Rita Carson Guest, FASID, ASID’s argument in favor of legislation is a moot point by the author’s own admission.

The author states: “…we are asking to be allowed to practice our profession.” To those who say to us, "Why do you need a law for interior designers?" we say, interior design is already regulated de facto. The law is there to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, and we support that. But those laws are preventing interior designers from fully practicing their profession. We simply want states to grant interior design professionals who meet the necessary qualifications to be permitted to offer their services. We want to loosen the restriction on interior design professionals, not add a new one.”

What double talk is this? No one is preventing interior designers from fully practicing. What law is Mrs. Carson Guest referring to that is preventing interior designers from practicing their profession?

The only limitation is ASID’s legislative lobbying efforts to limit other designers from practicing. Look at the witch hunt ongoing in Florida. Currently, three states have practice acts in place –Louisiana, Washington, DC and Florida. Alabama’s Supreme Court ordered a stay against the practice act, which deemed it unconstitutional. In California, we’ve succeeded in fighting back the lobby’s efforts in the Senate. Senate Bill 1312 was struck down because it did not garner enough support in the Senate to consider the bill.

The practice act legislation is a circular argument and flawed. CIRCULAR: 1) By admitting there are laws in place that protect the health, safety and welfare of the public is an admission that a practice act is redundant to existing codes. FLAW: 2) No one is preventing designers from practicing their profession. Yet, the ASID proponents of the practice act, by asking for permission to practice by passing the NCIDQ exam will limit who can take the exam. In California, The NCIDQ exam does not test for knowledge of California Codes and Regulations as provided by current state law.

ASID's Practice Act is anti-competitive and anti-consumer.

The legislative proposals advocated by a small handful of designers which would create a restrictive practice act to control who may provide interior design services and discriminate against thousands of existing interior designers and students who are currently enrolled in college interior design programs and will not be able to become licensed under such proposals.

In California, several qualified Kitchen designers I know, some who hold CMKBD status, would have to go back to school to earn the right to take the NCIDQ Exam, find work (which could be hard to find), as an intern under a Certified Interior Designer to earn work experience credit. Currently, previous work experience for a Kitchen and Bath design firm does not count. This may proof wholly ineffective for a Kitchen and Bath designer who would have to work for a commercial designer that specifies system interiors for offices. How does this push for regulation protect the health, safety and welfare of the public ? It only serves to devastate the earning potential of a qualified designer who must go back to college and take a pay cut to work as an intern to sit for the expensive NCIDQ exam. NCIDQ, which has a historically low pass rate of arond 40%, is not the standard for minimum competency. It is just one of several exams that are equally valid, and arguably, the NCIDQ is not even the best.

Few designers even bother to take the NCIDQ exam because it is generally considered irrelevant by designers and more importantly, by their clients. Perhaps this lack of initiative is the true reason for trying to legislate what should continue to be a voluntary certification process.

Watching the disaster of Florida’s practice act, it is inconceivable to grasp the millions of dollars lost and construction projects halted as alternate design firms must be selected who are certified to practice in Florida. This is anti-business. It is the industry at large that depends on the work from design firms. The consumer is affected with this anti-competitive and anti-consumer practice act. The draconian Practice Act in Florida is nothing less than outrageous. ASID is most definitely an agency out of control. This is a situation that calls to mind the poem “First they came…" by Pastor Martin Niemöller about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

Fortunately Americans don't take kindly to injustice. Grass roots efforts have been effective in fighting back legislation in California, Texas and Arizona. More work needs to be done to overturn this Draconian law in Florida and prevent laws from passing in New York.

The ASID Practice Act legislation is too broad. The CKD and CBD exams are not considered a legitimate substitute, despite the fact that these are the prevailing standards of kitchen and bath design expertise.

“The definition of "interior designers" is very broad based,” contends Ed Nagorsky, general counsel for the NKBA. “It encompasses all aesthetics of room design – from painting to hanging artwork. The mandate from the ASID is to obtain a practice act with a very broad definition, so as to require that all who practice within the design trades must take their exams and attend schools of their choosing.” Reference: Kitchen and Bath Design News, May 07.

WHAT IS A PRACTICE ACT?

Obtaining a license would require a designer to take the NCIDQ exam and study at institutions mandated by ASID and other allied organizations.

In California, SB1312 Practice Act would discriminate against many current professional interior designers by requiring licensing through an out of state organization that will not recognize our qualifications. This bill would not protect the consumer and adds an unjustified layer of bureaucracy to the already overburdened state budget.

California's SB1312 Practice Act will raise exam and licensing cost which will result in higher prices passed on to the consumer. It will only add additional cost to the services that an interior designer provides making it more exclusive and out of reach for many consumers.

California's Senate Bill 1312 has no provision for a registered interior designer to submit plans to local building officials and state agencies. It will not add any protection to the consumer.

California's SB 1312 will exclude many designers from becoming registered because of hard-to-meet requirements. Further, it will “criminalize” certain acts. Section 5751 states any person who violates any provisions of the law, is subject to severe penalties; guilty of a misdemeanor, and fines up to $10,000.

Section 5800 of the Business and Professions Code already establishes the Certified Interior Designer Law and the California Council for Interior Design Certification (CCIDC). California certification already requires an interior designer to follow a “Code of Ethics” and pass an exam covering California Codes and Regulations (CCRE) to become a Certified Interior Designer.

To become registered, Senate Bill 1312 requires an interior designer to pass an exam (called the NCIDQ exam) given by a private organization based in Washington D.C. This is an expensive exam over which California has no control. Senate Bill 1312 says prior experience will qualify a designer to become registered but the NCIDQ exam ignores experience in the profession to even qualify to take the exam.

If you can’t take the exam, you can’t become registered. The NCIDQ exam also does not test for knowledge of California Codes and Regulations as provided by current state law.

The impact of such a law would have far reaching consequences on the design community. This sort of regulation law would put many thousands of designers, decorators, contractors and retailers out of business without any demonstrable showing of harm to the public from the failure to license the interior design profession.

LEGISLATION IN CALIFORNIA. SENATE BILL 1312

In California, we've succeeded in fighting back the lobby's efforts in the Senate. As we suspected, the interior design lobby has not given up on their quest to limit interior design services to only a handful of designers who support their efforts and can pass the self-imposed requirements for licensure in the State of California. Designers and business owners oppose the “gut and amend” tactics to revive SB1312 and will continue to oppose it as it may be reviewed in the Business and Professions Committee.

Would consumers be affected by regulation of interior design?

Yes -- and in an extremely negative way. The Federal Trade Commission concluded that regulation would result in fewer choices and increased costs to the consumer. Regulation would take away consumers' freedom to choose a designer based on their needs. Currently, consumers have many avenues to determine the qualifications of interior designers -- portfolios, websites, resumes, interviews, private certification programs such as NKBA-CKD and CBD, CQRID, NCIDQ, and state code exams. The public does not lack the ability to make informed choices and regulation would take this choice away from consumers and put it in the hands of the government.

References:
SB Senate Bill1312
Kitchen and Bath Design News : The Right to Practice. May 2007
http://www.ccidc.org/eNews/sb_1312.html

BOARD OF ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN

http://www.kbbonline.com/kbb/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003806153

Interior Sources, May 2008, ASID Update: A Goal of Licensure, Not Limitation

Cote De Texas: ASID an agency out of control
http://brentwilliams.wordpress.com/
http://www.interiordesignfreedom.org/
http://www.reason.org/ps361.pdf
http://www.azidalert.org/
http://www.interiordesignfreedom.org/pdf/fire_chiefs.pdf
http://interiordesignbusiness.net/category/careers-and-job-outlook/
^{http://www.interiordesignfreedom.org/pdf/bldg_inspectors.pdf}
http://www.ij.org/publications/liberty/2007/16_3_07_c.html

Verify everything in writing

At the scene of an auto accident,
the one thing for certain is that there will be numerous versions of what lead up to the accident.

At the scene of an accident, every witness and every party involved in the accident has their own version of what took place. What is perceived as each persons truth will never really agree with the next persons story. Explaining what happened varies: speed of travel, weather, amount of cars on the road, color and type of cars involved all are subject to interpretation. The accident happens so fast, that everyones recollection will be weighted based on what they were doing at the time of the accident.

Don't let your remodel become a scene of an accident.

A home improvement project can become an accident without proper documentation. I got a call today from my sister complaining about a home improvement project that is nearly completed. There was mold and water damage in the kitchen. The insurance company had a specialist come in to handle the mold remediation and repair the cabinetry. One of the workers promised, "a verbal promise", that he would install all new roll out trays in the pantry.

Listening to this story, my red flag alert went off.

Does a a verbal agreement between an employee of a company constitute a valid
contract change order? No. Anything discussed verbally, requires a written change order detailing additional time, materials and labor that will be added to the project cost.
Should a company honor a verbal agreement? It becomes a problem at this point. There is the interpretation argument of what was promised versus what was in the contract.

The issue is, that this employee's promise of roll outs was never written into the contract originally and a change order adding the roll outs was never submitted for her to sign off after that discussion of roll outs. An employee of the company can promise an item all he wants, but the homeowner must ask for this in writing so that there is no "he said/she said" dispute.

Imagine you were to explain your story in court, you are before the judge and you explain, "Your Honor, he told me he would install new roll outs for me. How was I supposed to know this was not in my contract , I was under the impression it was included based on what the salesperson said." It is a homeowners responsibility to know what they are signing for, what they are buying, and if not, they need to ask questions and have it explained if they are unclear about anything. Whenever your sales person starts explaining what they will do in a contract, have them take the time to show you where this is in your contract. Signing a contract, no matter how much paperwork you have to read, and no matter how tedious it is to read, you cannot ignore this step and plead ignorance later.

Get it in writing.

Now that it is time for the project to end, she is asking for the roll outs installed based on a verbal promise made by an employee of the company. The owner of the company is saying this wasn't billed into the contract and he will not do it. So the employee who made the promise is now denying he said that, the owner is not willing to supply the roll outs, and my sister is going to demand they be installed because they were discussed and requested originally. The whole reason she went with this company was he was the least expensive and the sales man said he would install roll outs where others who bid the project did not include them in the cost. The problem is that roll outs are not written anywhere in the contract. She is insisting it is the companies obligation to make good on that employees promise. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Get all promises in writing.

So who is right and who is wrong?

There is a customer belief that they would receive roll out trays because of a verbal promise. The problem is there is no documentation of roll outs in the contract. You can't go on the assumption that a verbal agreement will be honored. Most likely, they were never included in the original charges. If the owner was willing to make amends for his employee promising items he had no authority to do without charging for it, he could split the cost or reduce the cost of the roll outs and install them to keep the customer satisfied. My sister is right to be upset, the employee was wrong, but all this could have been avoided if she checked her contract and got the change order in writing. If it sounds like I am taking sides with the owner of the company, I really do not want to, but my sister should have made sure to get the sales person's verbal agreement in writing that it was included, she would be in a better position to ensure that work gets done. Saying she trusted the sales person is not good enough.

Put your wish list in writing and compare it to your written quote.
Question anything that is vague.

I put a bid on a project where the client had a cap on what she wanted to spend on her kitchen remodel. (Who doesn't? Every one has a budget). We crunched the numbers and came up with a plan that accomplished what she wanted in her project with a few exceptions. We could not honor the whole wish list without breaking her budget; but we provided a very nice complete project for the budget.

To keep the project on budget, the wish list items that didn't make it into the project were relocating the water heater and going tankless; adding an exterior door into the kitchen plan; adding a desk; adding a glaze to the cabinets; changing the door style to a more expensive door; adding custom cabinetry; adding more cabinetry and molding in general.

What I discovered was that the client was not willing to compromise on excluding anything from her wish list. Incidentally, she was not willing to expand her budget to include the wish list work.

The wish list made it's way back into the plan.

In the end, the client added her whole wish list back into the project.

This was all detailed by me in writing with a change order form detailing the costs and additions to the project.

Drawings were resubmitted for approval, and explanations of where the additional charges were added. This was all explained to the client in detail, and was approved by the client and signed off. Now that all of this was approved in the last meeting, the cabinet purchase order was painstakingly reviewed and submitted to the factory for order processing.

After all of this, the client had a change of heart, admits she does not understand why these changes were not included in the original estimate and cannot justify spending the extra money on her wish list items. One aspect of this is that she could be getting more estimates from others who will down play the construction costs, underbid items only to throw change orders at her later, throw doubt into her mind. Someone can always do it cheaper. One thing I know is that I never have to apologize for quality.

Adding more construction and adding more materials costs more. If anything was not included in the original quote, it can not be assumed to be included.

What I know for sure is that my original budget friendly design gave her a great design for the budget. It was a perfectly doable project. It just could not include the fancier details.

The reality is that getting everything on your wish list will cost more.
If you are willing to add more details, be prepared it will cost more.

Managing a client's expectations is probably the most challenging aspect of my job. Normally, my time with a client during a design meeting and a contract signing is very thorough and can last on average for two hours to make sure both husband and wife are very clear on what they are buying.

In managing your own expectations, write it down exactly what it is you want in your project, convey that to your contractor or designer. Then write down a separate list on what items you are willing to compromise if it won't work with your budget. There has to be some give and take in what can be accomplished for the money.

In an auto accident, there is no time to think of all the details leading up to the accident. In a construction project, you have the opportunity to review and make sure you are clear about all the details in the project. Don't rush the details. Read your estimate, read your contract. Have details explained if you don't understand them. Taking the time now, prevents the problem later of dealing with the disappointment of what you thought was included, when it wasn't.

The Power of Restaint

Here is a picture I have added to my clip board of my favorite kitchens right now. I have the one from the magazine on my clip board in my office since April. It is getting a little tattered. I found more photos of it on line for you at House Beautiful. Designed by Suzanne Kasler, photographed for House Beautiful, April 2008. For more gorgeous views of this Normandy styled home please visit the link here to House Beautiful. It is wonderful to dream of having a new kitchen, isn't it? If I could own more then one home, I know what style kitchens would be in my dream homes, what would yours be?

If money were no object,
wouldn't it be a dream to maintain at least three homes?
Each would have a theme of it's own
My three dream homes:
(1) would be in a quaint beach community with views of the ocean and have an herb garden outside my kitchen door. It would be a cottage styled painted kitchen. Easy access to the outdoors. It would be a Green Built home, energy efficient and chemical free. I could bike ride to the weekly farmers market. I see this dream cottage on a hillside in Pacific Palisades.

(2) would be located in a luxury high rise building. Dark cabinets, high gloss off white Silestone or Caesarstone counter tops, glass tile back splash. Simple, small and modern. Located in Las Vegas, like the Turnberry Luxury Apts. at the MGM or a hip and modern loft in New York City. It would be my weekend escape to shop, catch a show and enjoy the nightlife.

(3) My third home has got to be in Sedona, Arizona. The kitchen would have cool adobe walls, simplicity of materials, rustic woods, an ancient kitchen table instead of an island in the kitchen. A gorgeous view of the mountains for tranquility and a place to paint would be all I would need.

What I like about this kitchen is the restraint of color. It is friendly and time worn. (Somewhat, read below for my comment on the sisal rug). Off white cabinets, white dinner ware, plaster hood, white tile splash, Bone white paint by Benjamin Moore. This is classic and I can't see this ever going out of style.

What works so beautifully in this kitchen is the restrained use of color. The boldest use of color comes from the tangerine color of the tulips. The formality of the Louis XV chairs dressed down in Donghia's relaxed linen fabric in storm, against the rustic antique farm table adds life and warmth to the neutral palette. Silver leaf chandelier by Niermann Weeks.

The counters look to be made of limestone, although honed Caesarstone could be used in place, for easier maintenance. Grey Herringbone Sisal area rug on the floor; well that is the only item I fear will be an agitation. Tripping over it, staining it, I am afraid that would drive me crazy trying to keep it clean. I would stain the hardwood floors slightly darker and leave it at that. I love this kitchen.

It is easier finding green building materials, wish the same was true for cheap gas.

It used to be finding earth-friendly, energy efficient products was harder to source out. Now, there is a buffet of green options before us. The options are within our reach; energy efficient; recycled content; fsc certified wood products are easier to find and closer to home. See the latest articles and products shown in ECOHOME.
While we have freedom of choice to order the best, most energy efficient and eco-friendly products. The disparity of choice has never hit us harder than it has with the cost of gas.
As I waited at the freeway off-ramp to get home tonight, several thoughts came to mind. The insane price of gas at close to $4.50 per gallon makes me extremely grateful that I live less than five miles away from work. Others don't have it so easy. Commuting to Los Angeles and the surrounding cities in grid-lock traffic is a way of life for many. 50 to 60 mile round trips are common travel distances for Southern California suburbanites. People I talk to everyday are telling me they are rethinking how they are getting around. The wait lists for carpools is increasing. Others have to rethink sales trips to the city. My vendors are faxing notices that they are forced to add fuel surcharges to our orders to offset the cost of delivery.

All around me, I am witnessing people adapting. Water rationing is another thing we need to be aware of here in California as we face news of an impending drought. As I sat there idling at the jammed offramp I noticed a rider on a new motorcycle in the lane next to me. I quickly took note of the new bike and the fact that the rider was a women. I wondered, did she trade in her SUV for the motorbike? Would she have purchased that bike if it wasn't for the crazy cost of gasoline?

We live one city away from the agricultural farm lands and another unusual trend is coming about. There is a long stretch of farm land from Camarillo to Ventura where the strawberry, lettuce, avocado and orange crops are grown. Commuters are trading in the gas hogs and the farm laborers are buying these these newer and bigger SUV's and trucks because the prices of these vehicles are becoming more affordable.
So what does this mean to us? Adapting to the changing times is a way of life. The choice to go green will be the new desired trend. Remember when real estate ads read "gourmet kitchens with all new stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops" were all the rage?

I predict in five years from now, it will be the norm to see real estate ads describe homes for sale as "green built, energy efficient homes". Energy robbing appliances, single pane windows, non-low VOC paints and particle board cabinets will drive the cost of homes down, while installing the more expensive energy efficient building materials will bring a higher return on investment.

Now, you are probably wondering about the symbols above. Maybe you have seen some before. Do you want to know what they mean:
Here you go, read on. Next time you come across one of these symbols, you will know what they mean.
ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
Green Seal works with manufacturers, industry sectors, purchasing groups, and governments at all levels to "green" the production and purchasing chain.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization that certifies sustainable businesses, homes, hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods. USGBC is dedicated to expanding green building practices and education, and its LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™.

The Alliance to Save Energy promotes energy efficiency worldwide to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security.

For businesspeople focused on evaluating, selecting and manufacturing environmentally preferable wood and paper products, Metafore is a source of tools, information and innovative thinking.

How to Choose Patio Furniture: A.K.A. The Education of a Kitchen Designer

It is summer time and the news papers are full of ads featuring patio sets for sale. I want to remind you about the importance of avoiding tropical hardwoods for your patio furniture.

It's funny the way things come about. Life is circular in so many ways. A cause and affect motion is set into place in our lives, like it or not, the same way a pebble hits a pond of water and has a ripple effect.

For me, my ripple effect was something as simple as shopping for a new patio bench last year. It brought my attention to the destruction of tropical rainforests. I was aware, yes, but it didn't really impact me, so I thought, until it was about to impact me in my own backyard, literally. I felt small really on what impact I could have. Ultimately, I did not purchase a bench from Target made from nyatoh. What could I do, I am just one person among billions on our planet. Nevertheless, I researched this and wrote about it for the first time here in my blog October 15, 2007, Woods to Avoid and Alternatives. The impact to the environment is too big to ignore.

As far as my work as a kitchen and bath designer, well this is where I can have a bigger impact. Specifying materials for a project, I have an obligation to inform my client and my team on alternative options to exotic woods in a project. Where can these materials show up: hard wood floors, cabinetry, bannister's, windows, timber, decks, siding and patio furniture.

As far as my patio bench realization, it was literally a benchmark in my education as a designer. Choose to take action, avoid local and global apathy, make good decisions when selecting materials for your own home improvement project.

Since my patio bench story last year, I am happy to check back with you and tell you who is making a difference and who is not. Source: Rainforest Relief.org.

1. PROGRESS MADE: Significant progress had been made with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation over the last decade, in moving the agency away from the use of old growth tropical hardwoods. For the full article, read the New York Post article, Wood Free Boardwalk
2. PROGRESS MADE: Watch dog groups like FSC-Watch were founded to highlight problems within FSC and help move FSC to clean up its system.
3. PROGRESS MADE: Barnes & Noble ends the use of mahogany and other rainforest wood in new store construction. In 1996 Rainforest Relief targeted this bookselling giant for their ongoing use of mahogany and other tropical hardwoods in store construction. At the time, B&N was building approximately 100 stores a year using mahogany for foyers, doors & railings, jatoba for flooring and Shorea sp. for furniture. They now use domestic second growth for foyers, railings and flooring, and steel doors. Way to go Barnes and Noble!
   
4. NO PROGRESS MADE: Banana Republic is not making the grade: Banana Republic, owned by GAP, has used Sydney blue gum for flooring, a temperate wood logged from the old growth forests of Australia. Banana Republic is now using jatoba (Brazilian cherry) for flooring in new stores.
5. NO PROGRESS MADE: This Old House gets a failing grade. The PBS show, This Old House (TOH), promotes the use of tropical and temperate rainforest woods, thus encouraging the destruction of rainforests — the world's oldest "house". On October 23, 2005, TOH aired a segment promoting the use of tropical and temperate rainforest woods for siding in their current project. The materials suggested for replacing siding included only tropical and temperate rainforest woods, with the host never suggesting the use of more sustainable alternatives, such as recycled materials, salvaged or reclaimed lumber, or even certified domestic woods.
6. PROGRESS MADE: Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Linens-n-Things and Improvements.com have announced that they will no longer carry nyatoh furniture and they are working with organizations to find more environmentally sound alternatives.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

1. Send a message to Wal-mart, Sears, K-mart, Target, Pottery Barn, Cost Plus and Vons. Tell them it’s time to join with other forward-thinking companies like Ikea, Improvements and others and cease selling furniture and any other products made with wood from endangered forests.
2. Plant a tree. Look for service organizations to get involved with. Tree People. Trees for the Future
   
3. Join Rainforest Relief. Donate to a worthy cause making a difference.
   
4. Bring Rainforest Relief to Your School, Civic Group or Event.
   
5. Watch video information on the rainforests to see what is happening.
   

You Tube Video:
Tropical Timber Imports.
The Destruction of Our Forests.
Rainforest Destruction and Human Apathy

MY RIPPLE EFFECT.

I can answer my own question on what difference one person can make.

If I can have an effect on one person this summer to avoid purchasing these beautiful patio furniture sets made from wood cleared from endangered forests, then my small contribution has made a difference. If you are on the fence, I challenge you to open up your patio catalogs and look at these while watching the video links I list above. It is pretty dramatic. What legacy do you want to leave your grandchildren. Make a difference, get involved, plant a tree, educate yourself before you buy. Apathy is not the answer.

As a consumer, and as someone closely tied to the design/build remodeling industry, I know it is real easy to be swayed by the sale and the beauty of nyatoh, available at many retail stores right now, but ask yourself this: is it really worth it? I hope you join me and answer no.

What to watch for when selecting Patio Furniture.
A fantastic source you need to know about is Rainforest Relief. They have a wealth of information on what to look out for when selecting wood.

From their web site, I have captured the following information from their outdoor patio furniture campaign:
Rainforest Relief began campaigning on outdoor furniture in the mid-1990s, starting with municipal and institutional site furnishings. They did this by engaging towns, cities and educational institutions, attempting to persuade them to end their purchases of benches and other site furnishings made mostly from teak and ipê.

More recently, as teak supplies have begun to dwindle and teak has become more expensive, other woods have come into vogue as replacements. As well, Rainforest Relief began to engage companies selling outdoor furniture to the home market. They began this phase of the campaign targeting those companies selling nyatoh, as they saw the popularity of this material rising quickly.

The demand for teak, mahogany, nyatoh, balau, kapur, keruing, jatoba, ipê, garapera, western red cedar, jarrah, cypress, redwood and other woods is driving the destruction of endangered rainforests in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Brazil and the dwindling old growth temperate forests of Australia, Canada and the United States.

Rainforest Relief has begun to engage a number of retailers about their sales of furniture made from nyatoh. These entities include Wal-mart, Target, Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, Cost Plus World Market, Vons (Safeway) and others.

Nyatoh, balau, kapur and other woods are being logged from rainforests mostly in Indonesia but also in Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Logging in Indonesia is a nightmare of illegality, unsustainability and conflicts with indigenous peoples. In Malaysia indigenous people such as the Penan are being displaced by loggers. A recent study showed that much of the wood exported from Vietnam was being illegally logged in Cambodia.

Jatoba, garapera and ipê are coming from the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, where 80% of logging is being done illegally and loggers even employ slave labor. Loggers are bulldozing new roads into pristine rainforests, thus paving the way for their total destruction.

Jarrah is being logged from old growth temperate forests in Australia. Western red cedar is logged from old growth temperate rainforests of Canada and the United States. Cypress is logged from old growth sub-tropical forests of the southern United States.

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When shiny and bright will not do

Here is wonderful picture of a very old and original German silver sink. The homeowner was able to preserve the original sink from the butler's pantry.

The homeowners were updating a 100 year plus home in Maine. It is quite an accomplishment when you can remodel by adding modern day conveniences and still maintain the character of the home. For the full article please see House Beautiful online article, Kitchen of the Month.

Pillow Talk

Now that spring is before us, we look around our homes for a fresh approach.
Short on cash and big on ideas does not mean you are limited for a fresh look.

Human beings have an innate desire for change. We want to try out the newest restaurants, see the latest movies, we change our clothes to fit the season, we change our hairstyle to lift our spirits and remain current, why not freshen up our furnishings to welcome the new seasons?

Fresh flowers are temporary, paint is a weekend project, slipcovers are costly.
Pillows are the answer. Pillows are one of the few items you can count on that is easy on the budget and delightful in your space to bring in a fresh design statement. Pillows in the kitchen? Well, but of course!

Feel free to try something new. Do you have a banquette that could use a little more comfort? Add two or three toss pillows for cushy back support.

Has anyone been able to sit in a Ladder Back or Windsor chair and can say without wincing that they are comfortable for more than 15 minutes? A little back support goes a long way on a Sunday morning while reading The Sunday Times from cover to cover. I added a new toss pillow for my desk chair at home last month and love the extra comfort level and like looking at a cheerful new pattern. Will I keep that pillow forever? No! They are so inexpensive, I bought mine for under $20. I will toss when I am tired of the look and select another.

The pillows shown here are from a lovely web store called Pillow Decor. I am impressed with the multitude of colors, patterns and shapes. Great store. Have a visit and see for yourself.
Cheers!

Go ahead, Write on the Walls

I came across the product that can have some kitchen applications too. Cover a pantry door panel. Cover the side of a wall cabinet, add to a plain painted backsplash.

Write a grocery list, write a message, let your kids draw their art.

Each kit contains 4, 19”x24½” chalkboard panels that can be used separately or combined for a large 38”x38” chalkboard writing surface.

For more information contact Wall Candy Arts.

Kitchen Sociology and Home Tours

Yesterday I took my Mom out to the Pasadena Highlands Home Tour in Pasadena, CA.
Home Tours are a lot of fun, a chance for homeowners to show off their flair for home keeping and their remodeling savvy and a chance for the general public at large to take a peek at how others keep a home, what taste they have and of course taking note of ideas they can use for their own homes.

We had a great time touring through other people's homes and laughing with a little guilt that that we have a lot of organizing to do before we would dare let anyone tour our own homes. We fell in love with the color schemes, the architecture, the gorgeous tree lined streets. And finally, we gained a new appreciation for our circa 1980's tract homes. Albeit, our newer homes can never compare to the charm of the historic Pasadena homes, we have to content ourselves with the fact that our cookie cutter tract homes have bigger closets and wider hallways. As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side until you get there. So yes, we will have to wait for our trees to grow to full maturity and yes we will have to add the details in to get the good bone structure the builders omitted, we are still house proud for what we do have and love touring others homes for planning what we want to add to our homes.


The homes on tour, in the historic Highlands neighborhood in Pasadena draw from a diverse style of architecture in the neighborhood. What is clearly self evident in the Highlands neighborhood is the dedication each homeowner displays to the craftsmanship of the home. The dedication in restoring the homes to their original beauty and also the care taken to make certain that any addition to the home is in keeping with the original style.

Society has a natural inclination to know about Home Keeping. There have been thousands of books written on the Home, on Kitchen Design, on Entertaining, and on Home Keeping. There are entire television networks devoted to the subject of the Home.

What is it that makes the Home a popular topic? The answer is simple. We are interested in making our houses a home. We naturally want to know how other families keep a home and in particular, the kitchen is always a popular topic. The kitchen, the heart of the home, is where we nourish body, mind and soul. The kitchen is where many pinnacle events take place in our lives. The kitchen is not just about food preparation and meals. We share stories with family at the kitchen table. We celebrate, we mourn, we play cards, we doodle while on the phone, we pay the bills, we help with homework, we wrap gifts, we fold clothes, we make grocery lists and plan major events from our kitchen table. No matter what your lifestyle, we live a majority of our lives in the kitchen.

Many people are looking for solutions on how to keep a better kitchen in the same space where major renovations are not an option. Not everyone has the opportunity to have large scale exhibition style kitchens.

So here it is, a compilation of new sources on real living kitchens from real people just like yourself. Have fun and have a peek into other's living kitchens. Enjoy! This is Kitchen Sociology at it's best.

By the way, Electrolux is looking for 90 homeowners throughout Europe to be included in the Electrolux Kitchen Stars photo exhibition, an online gallery and a book. What a fun idea! A chance to have you and your kitchen immortalized forever. Why you may ask? Electrolux is gearing up for celebrating it's 90th anniversary in 2009.

This is Cristian, at the Electrolux Blog.

Electrolux is spreading the word to our American audience. No doubt we have all caught the cute Kelly Rippa commercials showing off the glamorous side of Electrolux appliances. But that is not all. I love Electrolux's idea of making you the superstar! “Consumer Insight forms the basis of all product creation and development at Electrolux. We go into peoples home and study how they live and interact with their appliances. In this way we understand how lifestyles, eating habits and design preferences reflect how consumers select and uses our products” says Ulrich Gartner, Vice-President Communications at Electrolux.
Gartner continues, “For many consumers the kitchen is a dynamic area: efficient and functional during the week; welcoming and entertaining at the weekend. The kitchen has also become the hub of the home, a place where we eat, sleep, work, and even make love. To celebrate our history, we want to celebrate our consumers and their kitchens – what better way than to have
them tells us about their kitchen star moments?”

How to become a Kitchen Star? Send a photograph of yourself in your kitchen with a short description of a “kitchen star moment” – perhaps a perfectly cooked meal on a date, or when
you redecorated your kitchen, gave birth on the kitchen floor, proposed to your wife at the breakfast table, or just cooked that very special meal for a very special person. The selected 90 Kitchen Stars will all receive the iconic Electrolux ErgoRapido in addition to being featured in the online gallery, the photo exhibition as well as the book and any other material developed
around the Electrolux anniversary celebrations. To become an Electrolux Kitchen Star or to find out more information about the competition, please go to www.kitchenstars.net


Below are more kitchens homeowners have submitted on line at different web sites. I prefer the pictures where people and pets appear in them. They don't appear so cold. Don't be afraid to appear in your pictures.

The following pictures and additional information can be found at
Apartment Therapy Home Tours.

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