0 7 iPhone Apps Every Interior Designer Needs

First of all, let me apologize to all my Android loving readers. I know nothing about your phones, and I can't really apologize for it. I've been #teamApple since Apple was Macintosh and I fully admit to drinking the Koolaid; I'm hooked! All my devices are Apple products so I can only speak for iPhone apps.

Second, I have to admit that although I love my iPhone, it's an iPhone 5. I'm a couple generations behind, because I'm really frugal and refuse to go get the new phone version as soon as it comes out. But I do maximize the power of my little smartphone for what I do, and I think every designer should use these 7 apps on their iPhone.

 

TOGGL TIMER

As a designer, I'm constantly juggling multiple projects within a day. I may spend 15 minutes on the phone with a project manager, 3 hours on a schematic design plan and then 10 minutes talking to a client about paint colors. It's so hard to keep up with how much time you've spent on which project, but crucial to have an accurate account of time for billing purposes. Toggl Timer is awesome because it allows you to easily create a project and track your time with one click. The app also automatically sends you a report each week with the time you entered, making it easy to keep up with your projects.

GENIUS SCAN

Genius Scan turns your iPhone camera into a scanner for any document of photo that you want to save. I've used this app countless times to sign a document by hand, "scan" it and send it to someone via email. It's also great for handwritten notes or drawings that you make on the fly and don't want to lose. There is a free and paid version of this app and I've done just fine with the free!

COLOR SNAP by SHERWIN WILLIAMS

Inspired by the beauty of a sunset? Love the color scheme of a certain pillow? Color Snap allows you to take a photo and pick Sherwin Williams paint colors directly from it. A great resource for creating color palettes! 

COMPASS

This is an app that comes with the iPhone but I don't think most people know that not only is it a Compass but it's a level! Swipe to the right on the compass and it brings your to the level feature! Having a level on my phone is so convenient for checking hanging frames or making sure horizontal surfaces are actually level. 

5 CLICKS from MOMENTUM TEXTILES

For commercial designers, this app allows you to select fabric from the Momentum collection and place it on furniture from pretty much any commercial manufacturer. It narrows down the gigantic variety for you by grade, color and type of pattern. Once a fabric is selected, the app tells you the price per square yard, how much you'll need and it's availability. This saves me so much time and communication between myself and a fabric/furniture rep.

TRELLO

My friend Dana introduced me to Trello and it's such a great tool for organizing! Similar to Pinterest, you create boards, but instead of adding photos, you add cards. These cards are interactive and can "hold" photos, pdfs, hyperlinks and more. Super useful when you need a digital file of all the elements you're curating for a project. If you're like me, the less paper in your life, the better!

PINTEREST
If you are a woman, a frequent internet browser and reading this blog, more than likely you are a fan of Pinterest. This now $5 billion valued company has captured the attention of so many for keeping a virtual scrapbook of what you love, but have you used it for client projects? Recently at one of our team meetings, one of the architects raved about how one designer in our firm used a Pinterest board on her iPad to present to a major client. She printed off a screenshot of the entire Pinterest board and used that as handouts, and then talked about each pin while displaying them via her iPad through a projector. How cool is that? I challenge any designer to use this app for more than just your favorite photos.

The best thing about all these apps is that they are FREE. And I've included download links in each of the descriptions above. If you're reading this on your iPhone right now, simply click the link and it will lead you to the App Store on your phone to download. Do you have favorite iPhone apps that help you in your design business? Please share them below!

0 Lessons from Linwood

It was so refreshing to scroll through social media networks yesterday and see all the love for fathers. With so much craziness going on in the world, I think we are all starving for a celebration of love. Personally, this year was the first year in a long while that I was able to drive 20 minutes down the road to see my dad on Father's Day, and I am so thankful for it!

I started to think about the lessons that I've learned from my dad that carry over into my career in design. Some of these lessons he instilled in me purposely, while others I gleaned from his example.

HAVE FUN
Linwood prioritizes having fun in life. He loves to cook and entertain, ride his motorcycle and hang out with his friends and family. I'm not as good as he is at making time to just have fun, but have realized that it truly does increase my productivity. If I don't take a break to laugh, enjoy some good food and people that I love, my work becomes dull.

DIVERSIFY
Even though my dad has been working in healthcare for half of his life, he also created businesses for himself outside of his formal education. He's previously owned several businesses all while maintaining his specialty in radiologic technology. His entrepreneurial spirit has made me think about how I can expand my design services to help more people in various ways.

KNOW YOUR SKILLS
Spend more than an hour around my dad, and I can guarantee that he will tell you that he has 756 skills. What exactly are all these skills? I'm not sure and I don't think anyone really is. The point is, HE knows. He knows what he's great at and what he's not so great at. (Most of the time) he sticks to what he does well so he's more beneficial to others. When I'm designing, I stick to what I'm great at and rely on a team of experts in areas I'm weak in to support my vision.

VALUE YOUR OWN CREATIVITY
I admire my dad's confidence in his own ideas and vision. When he comes up with something, he doesn't hesitate to share it and believes that people will love it. So many times as a creative we are our own worst critic. There have been so many great ideas that never came to fruition because they were cut from a vision before they were given a chance. Whenever I start to question whether my idea is "good enough" - I think of Linwood and at least take a second look!

WORK HARD(ER)
No professional can succeed without giving 110% to what they do. Growing up, my father taught me that nothing worth having comes easy and pushed me to keep going. Quitting was never an option, and being tired was not an excuse. I appreciate my dad teaching me this at a very young age, because it's definitely got me through when I felt like giving up.

What has your father taught you that helps you in your career? I hope y'all have a great Monday!

-Niki

1 dig a little deeper

A recent dumpster rescue that I later discovered was quite similar to the latest Veranda magazine cover.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may see me post a find or two from my thrift store adventures. A lot of people ask me, "Where did you find that?" or "How do you do it?" Well my friends, I don't have any secrets to share. All I can tell you is that I am a frequent thrift store shopper and I don't discriminate. If it says THRIFT STORE (not Goodwill (see why here), not consignment shop, not antique market), I'm in there! It doesn't matter what part of town I'm in or even what state I'm in really, I'm always looking. If there is one "tip" that I could give you, it would be frequency is key.


Another thing that I believe gets me awesome finds is looking a little deeper. One of my most favorite pieces in my apartment is this brass etagere that I found literally buried under a mess of faux flowers. The store as a whole is not an easy one to shop. They have a ton of stuff, but the organization and display is less than spectacular. However, while circling the store, I spotted this beauty that wasn't even for sale and immediately asked the owner what their price was. Not only did they sell it to me for a reasonable price, they delivered it the next day! It had all of the glass shelves still intact and the brass was in near-perfect shape. I can't wait to show you how I've styled it now. I'm using it as a mini office! The left side is perfect height to pull up a chair and use my laptop. Ironically, I'd pinned the exact piece of furniture here and here months before.

I'll post a before shot as soon as I finish styling up this corner, but this is what it looked like once I got it into the space!

What was your best thrift store find? What are your tips for getting to the good stuff?

Check out The Knight Twins talking about their thrift store finds here:

0 11 ways to make your space bigger

I love this little infographic about how to trick your space into appearing larger. I would give these tips to any client!

8 easy no-sew tableskirt

Usually, the art of interior design requires a mix of an eye for style, creativity, research and strategic planning. In this case, I can tell you that I used no planning whatsoever to do this project! I decided to revamp my home office this weekend, but I had no idea what I was going to do until I did it.

I had my desk and computer set up in the closet of my guest bedroom. My reasoning for that? I hate seeing all the paperwork, chords and such associated with work and having my desk in the closet allowed me to just close the doors and see none of it. The problem with that? My back was always turned from the window, and the heat from my BIG iMac in that tiny closet would make it very warm in that tiny space.

When it was in the closet, I had some fabric that I found for a bank-breaking $3.56 at Goodwill hanging on the inside walls of the closet as "curtains". It was cute but, didn't really have an impact on the room. After taking these pseudo curtains down, a stroke of inspiration made me realize that I'd cut them the perfect width to be a skirt for my desk! Instantly, I pulled out my scissors, tape and glue gun and went to work.


What I am using as a desk is actually an IKEA table. First I wrapped the perimeter of the table in one half of the striped fabric and taped it to the top of the table to make sure there was a snug fit. I didn't need to cut anything! It was already the perfect size. :)


Once that was done I laid the second piece on top of the table and trim it to about 1" + the tabletop size. Then I gently folded the fabric along the front side of the table at the black stripe to keep the pattern. I put a little hot glue every inch or so right in between the two pieces.


Once the first side was done, I let the glue dry before starting on the others so that I could pull the fabric taut as I went. I simply wrapped the corners like a present and *TADA* brand new desk :)



Here's what my guest room/office looked like when we first moved in...


Here it is now! Not nearly done but here's a first look. The two bookcases are the perfect size to fill that wall, and also from IKEA. The lamp is one of my favorite finds from one of my fave Raleigh vintage stores. The small piece of art on my desk was a gift from Blayne for my birthday last year, I love it! And the roses are left over from Valentine's Day!


click for a bigger view

I'll be sure to post the finished room soon. I'm on a mission to finish it now! What DIY projects have you done lately?