Monday, April 14, 2008

Project 101-Design Process and Drawings...

I am one of those lucky artists that has a full time job in addition to my Etsy shops and blog and social life...I'm busy to say the least! But I love my day job as an interior designer and wouldn't trade it for anything! I get to help our clients obtain the homes of their dreams and see the fruition of long hours spent designing, drawing, dealing with conractors and vendors, writing and managing orders and dealing with the many headaches that come up day to day. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it!! I thought I would start occassionally showing projects that I have worked on and give you a glimpse into what it takes to be an interior designer!

The first project I'm going to share was in a condo building on Michigan Avenue...it was a gut renovation that we did for a family of three. The place was original to the building (built in the 70's) when we got our hands on it and needed a lot of updating to say the least! My initial job was to take a field measure of the space and draw the plan in CAD in order to do a set of construction documents from start to finish. In my first post, I'm going to share those documents with you readers so you have an idea of the amount of work that goes into each project! Let's begin!

The first drawing in the set (after the title page) is the demolition plan:

Demolition Plan

The demo plan is just what it sounds like. On this plan, the contractor sees the original space and is told what we want him to "demolish" as well as what is staying. In this project, we moved the kitchen to the window wall and reconfigured the bathrooms as well as one of the bedrooms.

The next drawing in the set is the parition plan which shows the contractor what we want him to build (i.e. new walls, new plumbing locations, millwork locations, etc.):

Partition Plan

The third drawing is the reflected ceiling plan or RCP which shows the new lighting layout as well as any changes we are making to the ceiling:

RCP

The fourth group of drawings in the set are the enlarged plans, which are portions of the smaller drawing blown up to a larger scale in order to show greater detail to the contractor (I'm not including these...don't want to bore you!).

The fifth set of drawings are the elevations which usually include the kitchen, bathrooms and any other areas we are having the contractor build something special. These are the most fun for me to do because they're a glimpse of what the place is actually going to look like (and they're really fun to draw!). There are normally three or four sheets of elevations depending on the project:
Kitchen Elevations

Master Bathroom and Library Elevations

Secondary Bathroom Elevations

I'm going to skip the sixth set of drawings which are the plumbing, appliance and door schedules...just lists of items that will be installed and where they are going.

The final group of drawings in the set are details and sections. These are blown up sections of various areas where we need to show the contractor exactly how we want him to build something. These are extremely important in making sure that the final outcome is what we are envisioning. Here is just one of the sheets of details for an idea:

Details

Well, there you have the set of drawings in a nutshell!!! I'm actually going to post the second half of this project tomorrow...I'm sure you're all tired of listening to me ramble on about the drawing process!! Stay tuned...I'm going to post before and after photos!

15 comments:

Cindy said...

Totally fascinating to see what you do every day! I can't comprehend how long it must take you to do all of that. I am in awe

Anonymous said...

Jen, I can tell how much you love what you do by how you write about it. That's so awesome. Though, it made me tired by simply just thinking about all you have to do. It's a good thing you do love it!

Can't wait for the before and after pictures:)

Jenn Jorgensen said...

Beautiful blog, beautiful work.

Unknown said...

I love this post! I could look at blueprints and floorplans all the live long day. If I had to do it all over again I would have gone to school for Interior Design. I agree, you can see how much you love what you do in this post. Thanks so much for sharing.

p.s. If you are ever looking for an assistant just let me know! :)

Jane said...

How long does it take to get all the drawings done? How many times does it go back and forth from designer, to you, to client, to contractror, etc until everything is approved? And (I hate to ask) how many times do things fall between the cracks?

I am totally impressed by these drawings!

Jane

Ivey Handcrafted said...

I can't wait till before and after photos! This looks like it is going to be awesome!

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

I drool over floor plans and I'm so jealous of your job... had I considered it earlier in life, I definitely would've put my heart into this career.

Moonsilk Stitches said...

Jen, this is fascinating. I love blueprints. It's amazing to see all of the details. I'm also interested in the answers to Jane's questions. Thanks a bunch for posting this, Marjorie

BlueCitrusArt said...

wow, you draw this?! that's wild..i love blueprints too, so much detail!

JLC Studio said...

Thanks Cindy, Melissa and Jenn! I do love my job (and it takes quite a while!)...

JLC Studio said...

T-I would love an assitant!!! I really need one!!!!!!! LOL!

JLC Studio said...

Thanks for the comments girls! Makes my day!!!

JLC Studio said...

Okay Jane and Marjorie-I will attempt to answer the questions for you!

How long does it take to get all the drawings done? Once the design has been finalized, the drawing sets take about a month to complete, during that time, we send out a preliminary set which has to get approved by the building. Once the drawings are complete-we send them out to three or four contractors to get bids from...It's a long process and it can get even longer if there are changes made along the way! (believe me, that happens way to much for my taste!!!).

How many times does it go back and forth from designer, to you, to client, to contractror, etc until everything is approved? We finalize everything with the client before it is sent out to the contractor for bid. We usually present a few options at the beginning of the project and hone in on one to develop. There can be no changes or 10 changes...it really depends on the client. Once the project is started, there are always things that come up that are discovered during demo and we usually have to make adjustements to the plan. Those adjustements are re-issued as "changes." I think the most Issues for Change I've had to do on a project is three!

And (I hate to ask) how many times do things fall between the cracks? Things always fall through the cracks on projects this large! The good thing is, there is a contractor who handles these things and is responsible for bringing these things to our attention...

Hope this answers your questions!!!

Jane said...

Thank you, that is very clear! I appreciate your time in answering. Next time I hire a designer, I'll know what to expect!

Jane

Janee Martin said...

Your blog is very impressive and interesting.