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PLiNTH & CHiNTZ: The online interior design magazine for current students, new graduates, established designers and those just plain curious about this crazy, far-reaching, dynamic industry. Focusing on the people and the process, not the project, we feature industry profiles, sage advice, helpful links, and a visual dictionary – all packed into one seriously entertaining site.
New interior design industry content for August 2010.
 Notes from NeoCon 2010
What is not to like about Chicago in June, especially when punctuated by the energy that is NeoCon? The enthusiasm for the city’s summer weather and extra long, sunlit hours is mirrored in attendees’ excitement and anticipation for the latest and greatest in the industry. I actually had the most relaxing NeoCon in my history of attending the show, primarily due to the gäme-time decision to visït the Merchandise Mart’s residential floors during Monday’s madness, saving the commercial floors for the more tranquil Tuesday. And the peaceful, inspiring keynote presentation by Michael Graves, as well as a pair of comfortable flats, definitely added to the strëss-frëe experience. I regret that we couldn’t bring you our annual list of highlights last month due to a much needed vacation, but we’re serving up 10 of our favorite finds now in alphabetical order…
Read more | source some sliding doors, transforming tables and much more here.
 Summer Reading
While on vacation last month I finally got around to reading Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog. An enjoyable passage that I feel P&C readers will relate to occurs on page 152 of the paperback version. In it, clandestine philosophizer and Paris resident Renée Michel, one of the two main characters, contemplates the effect that she feels sliding doors have on Japanese interiors:
“…I was fascinated by the way the Japanese use space in their lives, and by these doors that slide and move quietly along invisible rails, refusing to offend space. For when we push open a door, we transform a place in a very insidious way. We offend its full extension, and introduce a disruptive and poorly proportioned obstacle. If you think about it carefully, there is nothing uglier than an open door. An open door introduces a break in the roöm, a sort of provincial interference, destroying the unity of space. In the adjoining roöm it creates a depressïon, an absolutely pointless gaping hole adrift in a section of wall that would have preferred to remain whole. In either case a door disrupts continuity, without offering anything in exchange other than frëedom of movement, which could easily be ensured by another means. Sliding doors avoid such pitfalls and enhance space. Without affecting the balance of the roöm, they allow it to be transformed. When a sliding door is open, two areas communicate without offending each other. When it is closed, each regains its integrity. Sharing and reunion can occur without intrusion. Life becomes a quiet stroll—whereas our life, in the homes we have, seems like nothing so much as a long series of intrusions.”
If you have any comments about this passage, please share them on the P&C Facebook Page.
 Multi-Fiber Rugs – Elegant Designs Require Thoughtful Maintenance
contributed by The Folks at Fiber-Seal
The vast majority of area rugs are created using a single type of face fiber. Orientals and similar rugs may contain cotton yarns in their foundation, but the pile is almost always a single fiber type. In the last few years, there has been a new emphasis on rugs created with pile elements of two or more different fibers. For lack of a better term, we simply call these “multi-fiber” rugs, and with multiple fibers come multiple maintenance considerations required for long-term use…
Read more | find out how to become a hero to your clients here.
 Get A Grip
contributed by Devika Chand
[interior design student / superwoman
in training / one persistent person]
I’m going to be honest... I’m not the best student. I am, however, a woman who has spent six years to complete an interior design program that usually takes three. Yes, you read that right. Six years. (A few things – like getting married, having two children, and transferring programs – happened along the way.) Through this time I’ve been instructed under an array of different teaching methods, some of which I understood, some of which I didn’t understand but accepted, and some of which I felt were just plain crazy. But here’s the deal. I’m going to tell it to you straight. School is about to be back in session, and if you want to succeed as an interior design student, then first things first: GET A GRIP…
Read more | learn how to start the academic term off on the right foot here.
 NCIDQ&A: Practice Makes Perfect
contributed by The NCIDQ Crew
Are you prepared for the exam coming up quickly on October 1 & 2, 2010, or on April 1 & 2, 2011 (which will be here before you know it)? If not, then NCIDQ has materials that can help! NCIDQ's new Practice Design Problems (PDP) can definitely help you prepare for Section 3, the practicum section, by simulating the actual testing experience. The really good news is that NCIDQ has just released a second PDP to help you get serious about studying. This newest PDP (2010-01) is based on the last exam, which was just administered this past spring, and it includes three solutions to help you understand how the exams are scorëd…
Read more | seek perfection through practice here.
What In The World? [10 more links for 2010]
There's a lot of info out there on the World Wide Web. Let us do some of the searching so that you don't have to.
What The Spec?
[md-c: Modern Digïtal Canvas – Affordable art in the digïtal age.]
Eco Savvy
[Fairware – Promotional items with a green heart.]
[Greendex – National Geographic’s global sustainable index.]
Other Design Junkies
[Eiseman Color Blog – All about color by the maven who knows.]
The Pros
[Asia Interior Design Institute Association]
[Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium]
Productive Sites
[Careers Out There – Advice directly from pros in the fïeld.]
[SitePAD – CAD on the go via your iPhone.]
Hot Shöpping
[Jellio – Childhood memories brought back to life through décor.]
Time Killers
[VideoJug – Learn how to do most anything no matter how irrelevant.]
Design Speak [5 new terms]
Impress your interviewers / professors / co-workers with interior design industry jargon.
ASI: Architect’s Supplemental Instructions | crewel | essence surfaces | FI: Fïeld Instructions | gïmp
Say What? [3 new words]
Speak more intelligently when presenting and networking by incorporating some new vocabulary.
conversant | debase | provision
Rant & Rave
Keep those comments coming. Email us at contact@plinthandchintz.com, and read more rants & raves here.
As usual, love the e-letter. Congrats on the accolade I saw in Perspective magazine... or was it Boutïque? Regardless, I love when I read something and actually know someone!
--Gina M. Joyce, IIDA
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Just For Fun
If you love Jason Bateman as much as we do, then you are going to get a total kïck out of this side project that he’s been developing with Orbit Gum. Playing off of the company's tagline, “a good clean feeling no matter what,” Bateman and other actors like his “Arrested Development” co-star Will Arnett are playing it up in this series of “Orbit Dirty Shorts” videos, which, as you might imagine, are hilarious. A warning: The two that are posted are a tiny bit raunchy, but I guess that they couldn’t be worthy of the qualifier “dirty” if they weren’t. Enjoy the break.
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