New Year, New Location, New Goals

Happy New Year! I can still say that...right? I'm so excited to be writing from my new office! Our studio is located in my home, which used to be a 700sf condo in Alexandria.  My husband and I found our #countryhouseinthecity (follow me on Instagram!) in Annandale, just barely inside the beltway.  We fell in love with this house because of the lot - heavily wooded and half an acre (which if you live in the DC area you know that is hard to come by).  The house is a 1957 American Rambler which I intend to turn into a 1957 American Farmhouse.  It has solid bones (literally...our floor beams are made of concrete...not wood) and a great layout, best of all a huge wood burning fireplace which was a must for the Pennos.  Ok scratch that.  Best of all I have an amazing office.  I now have room for samples and a work table to spread out and brainstorm! It is still a work in progress so photos will be posted once a little more getting settled is done.

My New Goal (professionally) for this year is plain and simple.  I don't have a list of ten or even five things I want to do.  Just one.  I want to perfect sketching like this:

Steve Giannetti



Steve Giannetti - you may know the name from the very popular Velvet & Linen blog is a very talented architect and I drool over his homes...not to mention, his actual home.  Brooke, his wife, is the author of Velvet & Linen.  Brooke is a very talented decorator and often posts many of Steve's projects, including his sketches.  I used to free hand sketch a lot more when I worked for Custom Design Concepts because aside from interior design I also produced interior architecture drawings which often came from sketching to help work through the interior of a home.  I feel very strongly that this is a lost art.  Students now learn to draw in 3D using computer programs like Sketchup but you lose all emotion when looking at a computer drawing.  So by the end of 2014 I am going to get back to the drawing board (literally) and start sketching again.  If you were my client, wouldn't you love to receive a drawing like this to help visualize your home? I would!