A creative vision transforms a concept into reality- fresh, exciting, never duplicated.

MARLA’S CORNERMARCH 2010 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2

Furniture 101

I can remember the time as a young Interior Design student when I had to design my first chair. Aside from drawing and detailing all of the specifications we had to make it ourselves! The only criterion was to be creative. My chair had to fall into my budget. I didn’t have a lot of extra spending money. So, I used what extra money I had for some inexpensive and durable light brown fabric. I bought a few yards and set out to design my creation. An overstuffed bean bag chair with a semi attached roller booster like back to wrap around you, complete with past like tassels at bolster ends. Since I didn’t have a sewing machine available, I had to sew it by hand! The filler was another story I gathered up lots of newspaper and started stuffing the chair. When I ran out I began to use plastic bags, and any other good stuffing material I could get my hands on.

Carrying my final product across campus to class, I had to pass the all important Business Building. There were always people milling around and sitting outside on the steps. As I walked by I could feel the stares and hear the comments. “There goes one of those crazy Interior Design students again!” Finally, I made it to class, my moment had come. I stood up to present my creation. The professor walked over and sat slowly in my chair as the sound of crunching newspaper filled the room! Everyone began to laugh. So in a strong voice I proclaimed, “This is a prototype, if your company accepts the design and orders my chair I will use the best filler available.” He loved it! The chair became a permanent fixture in my brother’s room in college If you would like to ask Marla a design question she can be reached at: marla@jaffeinteriordesign.comWE’RE NOW ON THE WEB! www.jaffeinteriordesign.com

ECO-FRIENDLY THOUGHT:“If every home in America replaced just one incandescent bulb with an Energy Star qualified CFL (compact fluorescent) in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes. That would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of 800,000 cars.” -Energy Star.govFact:CFL will last an average of 5 years which is 10x longer than an incandesant CFL saves $30.00 or more over its lifetime CFL will generate 70% less heat, keeps cooling cost down drawing less electric.Tip:To get the most savings replace bulbs in highly used areas of the home such as the Kitchen, Family Room, Living Room, Dining Room and Patio.

COLOR OF THE MONTH: GREENGreen while it is the color of money runs a close second to blue as a favorite. It is a refreshing color, one of peace and serenity; it is in harmony with ecology and growth. It is everywhere around us placing us in the hands of all that is natural. We are reminded daily to Go Green, Build Green and develop a Green thumb. This is easier for some than others however our mindset and awareness has been changed forever. Green like Red can be both positive and negative. Green is life, growth, renewal, forever evolving. While the color of balance and stability its calm restful resolve can have the opposite effect because it is both warm and cool. Time will move faster in a green room hence the birth of institutional green. One can be Green with envy, jealous and lack experience. However, Green is used worldwide to represent safety.