Goldchalk Update

all images Mark Tuckey

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks, sourcing lots of samples, color swatches and just playing with color for my latest projects. I have also been busy hunting and gathering specific items for different looks that I am trying to convey, whilst trying to get all the things going on in my head down onto some paper! wish me luck with that one. In this job a lot of time is spent researching, sourcing and co- ordinating samples. But I love this line of work and right now I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have also been working on and finishing assignments 1 and 2 for school. The subject is not at all as boring as I originally thought - in fact the teacher is so good, time flies in class. I am peeping on lots of building sites and taking photos of each stage of the building process, at times I feel like I am working for a story on "A Current Affair"!!!!!

and whilst all of this has been going on, I have still found some time to drool over this guy - OMG!! does he do some seriously good furniture and he is an Aussie, and he loves David Bromley too!!!

school update

busy working on my last assignment, I have progressed a little since my last post. I am much happier with my mood board and I am about to start on the floor plan for the kitchen. I hope to do a lot more this week, but for now here is the completed mood board - it should give you a feel for what is to come........

school update two.....

It's back to school tomorrow and with only three weeks left for the year, I need to get a wriggle on - hasn't this year gone speedy fast!! I have started my final assignment which is to design a kitchen. Here is my mood board to get me started. My client brief is to create a "user friendly hub of the house, to be used by many children, a cook and wine enthusiast". The materials have to be interesting and durable, and the overall look fun and casual.

I will post updates as I complete more.

school update

you may recall this assignment I submitted for school - well the results are in, I got a high distinction - I am so happy, and not to mention very excited!

school update

back to school tonight to hand in my second Photo Shop assignment. I choose to do a mood board about the Art Deco phenomenon that swept the world in the 1930's........after the war. It was a decadent time, it was the style of the flapper girl, the streamlined luxury ocean liner and sports car, the Hollywood film and the skyscraper. The style represented a move away from traditional values and was typically characterised by clean, geometric and elegant lines.

school update

its back to school tonight, I have been working on a Art Deco project, here is a sneak peek, although I have not finished it yet.

Industrial Loft

You may recall my first assignment for this subject was to create a mood board based around this chair. After some thought, I decided to create a space that was "Industrial and Loft" inspired. I wanted to give this monochrome palette a POP of colour and decided that orange and yellow would work beautifully with the black and white (and timber). I have loved pulling this together, I am really happy with the result, bring on more of this!!!

all I can think about is............

my moodboard

I am sitting at school playing with photo shop and all I can think about is blue and orange - it's everywhere I look. These two colours work for me, they are opposite on the colour wheel but complimentary, i think this combination would work beautifully in a bedroom or even a babies room.

school update

This week we received our first assignment for Photoshop. We need to design a living space based around a specific chair and present it as a digital mood board using photoshop. This is my chair, The Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia, I am busy thinking of some ideas......stay tuned.

school update

it's been a little while since I've done a "school update" post - so here it is....... very exciting to have just finished my very first photo shop mood board - inspired by one of my all time favorite designers, Trisha Guild, and really just some of the things I love. I love the creative license this subject is giving me - I have never used Photo Shop before, but it is fantastic and I can see I will use it lots, even if that means just playing around with it like in this pic. There are lots more students in this subject compared to my last, and not as much homework which has been nice, I've met some new gals, who happen to live really close and so it's been nice to have someone to chat to on the way in and on the way home......more photo shop soon!

school update

last night it was back to school - this semester's subject is Photo Shop - I think I am going to love what you can do to images with this program, most importantly its going to help me produce great sample boards for clients - something that I love to do. Last night was also results time - I got my results back for my bathroom project and my marks for my very first subject - Material and Finishes , I got a.........



I am one very happy little chappy!!!!!

school update

well, it feels like forever since I was last at school - these holidays have gone so fast, but I also feel like I have had a really good break - looking forward to getting back into it tonight - will let you know what goes on in this new subject tomorrow! for now take another peak at my look book...I love those lanterns hanging in the streets of the Milan for their recent Furniture Festival, bottom left hand corner.

school update

well, as we hear of one female making news today, there is another chicky who has just completed her first subject in Interior Design and although I know I won't be making news, it is a big achievement for me. So far I've learnt that this really is for me and although it is time consuming and really hard work - I love it and that's all that matters. I presented my bathroom concept last night, my sample board looked really good, but my elevations (working drawings)were pretty ordinary, working drawings is a subject that most of the class has already completed - I think I will be doing this next year, so hopefully if my teacher can look past that and see my vision for the bathroom I should pass. Next semester I am enrolled to do "Produce Digital Images", but for now it is two lovely weeks of holidays.........hope you enjoy yours too!

"THE" bathroom!

it's taken a little while to get to now- lots of looking, reviewing, sourcing and most importantly, learning, but here is the end result. Remembering that the client wanted a really moody and earthy space that incorporated some timber for warmth, but also needed to have lots of light......



I have decided to use this 300mm x 300mm taupe porcelain tile for the floor and extend it up one wall - behind and around the bath and walk in shower. It will also be used to build a vertical wall column in the shower which is lined with stainless steel shelves to hide each of the family members shampoos and soap - love that idea!



The rest of the walls in the bathroom will be tiled with an off white matt 300mm x 600mm tile - this will be used vertically since the height of the walls are 2700mm, these tiles will help widen the room since the ceilings are quite high. They will also allow lots of natural light to be reflected around the room.



A custom built floating vanity will be used with a 30mm Caesar Stone top in Ginger. there will lots of draws to cater for the storage of the family.

I have also decided to keep the tiolet space seperate - this will be tiled with the same taupe tile again, The back wall of the toilet will have a gloss taupe tiled feature wall - this tile is featured on the sample board above.

school update

No school tonight, only one week to go to my bathroom project is due - I got a big chunk done last night, still not tackled the elevations yet! Do you know what they are? I tell you..... they are very hard drawings done to scale!!!!. I have a materials budget of $12,000 (plus 10% either side) to work to, I have just scraped in. I have to say, I didn't realise that bathrooms can cost as much as, if not more than a kitchen renovation once you include labour. I have learnt how to calculate tile coverage, and how to be thrifty when sourcing a specific look whilst working to a budget. I have a new Caesar Stone favorite - it's called Ginger - works really nicely with Tassie Oak. I will work on my sample board and post some pictures, stay tuned, i might even post my first attempt at an elevation!

school update

this week was spent researching more bathrooms, vanities, taps, shower heads, baths and tiles. With only three weeks left of this subject, it was time to call in the big guns!
Both Andrea and Marlene have been so helpful and kind to me, I can't thank them enough. I have learnt so much from both of them and feel confident to tackle this Bathroom project head on. I really enjoyed getting an insight into the tiling business, it's a fashion story all of its own.
here are some of the ideas that I really liked:

Rectified Edging in tiles - very contemporary, but much harder to lay!
Larger tiles - tiles are just getting bigger and bigger
Tiled feature walls,
Earthly looks - especially taupe and dark grey
Glossy tiles in the shower area and Matt tiles in the rest of the bathroom - very nice!

school update

it was back to school last night and I was so pleased to see that my assignment was there waiting for me, I did really well, it is an ongoing assessment, so the final mark will not be known until the end of semester, but at least I am on the right track and it was really reassuring to know that....

I also put forth my first cut draft on the bathroom project. I have my client brief and the space I need to work with. My client is a family of five with three children under seven (sounding familiar???). Now I need to source the products and supplies to get the bathroom started.....stay tuned.

school update

I'm not going to mention my assignment, other than to say it has not returned to its rightful owner - there is always next week!

Bathroom Project, is underway - this is worth 50% of my total mark and so it is pretty important I get it right. I am working on my client brief and will fill you in once complete, but I think I am leaning towards a modern space with clean lines, warmth and light. Ideally I would like to use natural stone on the floor and walls(to the ceiling),and keeping with the rest of the house, I would like to introduce some floating timber cabinetry, but I will have to wait and see if that works in with the $12k budget......stay tuned.

quick school update.

no assignment again! this is getting very silly now - I am a little over this, she claims she is very busy - I bet she is, but does she not realise she has one very new student waiting anxiously for her results!!!!One can only hope it will be this week.

school update

well I arrived at school last night and was hoping to see the fruits of my labour, but no, Julia did not finish marking all the assignments, so we have to wait another week. I am most anxious to see how I did, but patience is a virtue!

We are going Environmentally Friendly (isn't everyone) next week, with each student having to present a 4-5 page document on an "Eco Friendly Interior Product" - my choice - Cork Flooring, I've sourced some samples and I'm ready to go,and just in case you didn't know, here's a little bit about CORK!

Cork flooring is environmentally friendly and a renewable resource. The cork oak tree is not destroyed when harvested but rather the bark is trimmed from the tree every 9 years, leaving the tree and the forest undamaged. Its not unusual to have a 200 year old tree still producing cork bark. Cork flooring is actually made from the waste of the cork wine stopper manufacturing process, so cork flooring is a recycled product.