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What you'll find...
HiP & COOL: Learn, Baby, Learn · Old School
INSiDE SCOOP: You're Hired! · Road Trip · Design Speak · Say What? · What In The World?
GOiNG PUBLIC: Go Ahead... Ask Me · Rant & Rave · Light Reading | |
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Our mission.
To bridge the gap between the student / educational community and the professional / manufacturer community of the interior design world, and not to die of boredom while we do it. | |
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 P&C FAQ - with Podcasts
Over the past two years, readers have emailed us with some of the same questions again and again, so we’ve decided to publish the answers to a few of the PLiNTH & CHiNTZ Frequently Asked Questions. Not satisfied to do so in mere written form, we culled some specific sound bites from a spring 2006 talk that Founder Laura McDonald gave to interior design students at The Art Institute of Dallas, where she happens to be a member of the Interior Design Department’s Advisory Board...
Go here to read more, listen to mini-podcasts, and find out why feeling uncomfortable isn't always a bad thing.
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contributed by Christopher P. Hodges, P.E., CFM [Principal – Facility Engineering Associates / IFMA Fellow]
 What’s Your Motivation to Be Green?
Whether it’s saving money or saving the planet, being green can be rewarding in many different ways. We’ve all heard the endless debate over the past few years about the cost of being green. The key word here is cost. These debates almost always focus on initial cost, do not look at life cycle cost, and often do a poor job of ever quantifying benefits. In some way, I think we’re missing the point. Though the motivation for being green is not always money, the funny thing is that it will almost always turn out that being green will actually allow us to put some green back in the bank…
Go here to find out why you should shift into green gear. | |
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contributed by Nigel Foley [graphic designer / thirty-something / undercover agent]
 Nigel, Redux – A Cranky Analysis
EDITOR’S NOTE: We received so many emails about Nigel Foley’s “Learning From Your Cranky Elders” article that we invited him back for comment. The vast majority of readers applauded his advice that younger designers tap the wisdom and expertise of older colleagues. (See this month’s RANT & RAVE.) Cranky as ever, Nigel decided to address the following, uncharacteristic response from a (presumably young) reader named Stephanie: “I recently read the article ‘Learning from Your Cranky Elders’ and I was amused by her wit but saddened by her narrow-mindedness. Not all twenty somethings have brains cross-sectioned out between my space and booze and not thirty somethings are necessary wiser.” Needless to say, Nigel was eager to respond…
Go here to peruse Nigel’s precise, persnickety prose. | |
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contributed by Amy Johnson [style dominatrix / idea machine / sidekick]
 Queen for a Day – A Romp Through Victorian San Francisco
Gobble Gobble, my petite Cornish game hens! I’ve been off on yet another edu-taining adventure, and I can’t wait to fill you in on the Victorian side of life as I learned about it in that most fabulous City by the Bay, San Francisco. Today I’m chatting about a particular era and area of “The City” (as it’s known to all Northern Californians) – the historic Victorian homes of Pacific Heights...
Go here for some San Francisco treats. | |
November 2006 additions to DESIGN SPEAK: evidence-based design, motif, section, transom, and systems furniture
Impress your professors / interviewers / co-workers / friends. Visit DESIGN SPEAK. | |
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November 2006 additions to SAY WHAT?: bête noire, dichotomy, and precipitous (We’ll even show you how to use each word in a sentence related to the design industry.)
Just remember: Expand your vocabulary, and you expand your opportunities. Visit SAY WHAT?
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Question for November 2006: I have just decided to go out on my own with a design business for interiors. I need to know what the going rates are for designers in the DFW [Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas] area. (submitted by C. J.) As answered by Laura McDonald, ASID / IIDA
Go here to read the A to this Q.
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Your comments make us feel warm and fuzzy, so keep ‘em coming. Speak your mind by submitting your RANTS & RAVES to contact@plinthandchintz.com.
Thank you for having such an amazing website – I am an avid “googler” and have not seen anything like it. You present real issues that I am dealing with as a recent design school graduate in an easy-to-follow, fun-to-read format.
- Emily Rowe, Interior Design/Project Management
Go here to read more accolades. | |
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by Laura McDonald, ASID / IIDA [Interior Designer / Founder PLiNTH & CHiNTZ and CLUB CHiNTZ / laura@plinthandchintz.com]
Design Dichotomy
Anyone involved in a creative field – i.e., a career in which one is paid primarily for one’s artistic talents and inspired imagination – has run into what I call design dichotomy. It’s the concept that most everyone wants to reach an elevated aesthetic, but many are reluctant to pay someone to achieve it. Interior designers, artists, graphic designers, photographers, writers, and stylists – they all echo similar experiences of frustration. Let’s look at a couple of examples…
Go here to see if you’re a victim or a culprit. | |
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Going to be doing a little holiday shopping soon? Then do us a little favor and enter Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com through our links. When you do, a portion of your purchase no matter what you buy - book, waffle maker, or Bugs Bunny slippers - helps to keep PLiNTH & CHiNTZ up-n-running. The best part: It doesn't cost you anything extra and it helps us not have to charge for access to PLiNTH & CHiNTZ. THANKS! | |
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