Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I am really proud of the way that everything came together. I based the style of my senior project off of a talk show, and it really did feel like one. I was a little scared to speak from a couch rather than doing a full on power-point standing up because I felt like my audience might loose interest in my presentation, but it actually turned out to be something that I felt engaged them much more than a regular power-point presentation would. I was glad I went out and tried something different and new for my presentation. The time I spent practicing and preparing for my presentation has led me to have a very successful senior presentation that I find to be one of the best presentations I have ever done throughout my four years at iPoly. Overall, I was proud to see my audience members actually being able to understand and apply what I was presenting into their activities, I was proud of myself for the way I presented my senior project, and I was proud of how much fun both me and my audience members were able to have while learning about this topic through my talk show presentation.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE    

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE   

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

Doing my presentation in a talk show style really worked out for me.  My mentorship was amazing also because they helped give me real life experiences in which I was able to learn from and apply my research into. Through my mentorship, I was able to see what it is really like to be an Interior Designer, which gave me a better understanding of my topic and also helped solidify answers to my EQ. My independent components worked for me also because it allowed me to act as an Interior Designer by decorating the interiors of my room and patio and putting into practice the different information I learned from mentorship and research.

(4) (What didn't work) 

If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

Everything pretty much worked out for me in my senior project. I had trouble with my mentorship because of distance, but I would never go back in time to choose someone to be my mentor other than Rey. 

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples. 

Because of my senior project, I have come to realize that I want to be a designer. Maybe not exactly an Interior Designer, but I definitely want to do something where I can be a designer. I always enjoyed the days spent at mentorship and I loved the process taken in completing my independent components. These two things have sparked my interest in pursuing a career that would allow me to design. If I ever do become an Interior Designer, I will know what path needs to be taken and how much work will be needed to go on that path. 

Blue Tiles

Completely loving this Azul Macaubas stone that is going to be used for a client's powder room.m.

Mission Tile West

Received new tile samples at Rey 3 Design Collaborative from Mission Tile West this week! Excited to see what projects they're going to be used for.

Inspiration

One of the most important things as an Interior Designer is being able to gather inspiration. When I talked to Deb Longua, she recommended I checked out this website, http://www.houzz.com/. On this site, you can look at over a million different designs for inspiration. It gets even better because if you see bedding or carpet that you like in a photo on this site, they might have a link telling you what store the item is from and how much it costs. So much inspiration on this site.

Revolution Fitness Plan

Last time I was at mentorship, the Rey 3 Design Collaborative team was brainstorming design ideas for this fitness studio. The sketches for the place have been done and so are the color palettes! We are now ready to show Revolution Fitness the next greatest thing since sliced bread. 

2 hour Presentation

2 hours lesson plan

Posted upon Ogden's request.

Rey3 Has Made it to Youtube

If you want to get a glimpse of what people do at my mentorship, watch this video! 

Mentorship

Literal

·     Link to Mentorship Log

·     Rey Viquez, 1(310)739-9096

   

 Interpretive

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I gained from the experience is learning what it's like to be an Interior Designer. At first, I just thought an Interior Designer went and looked inside some rooms in a home, then to some furniture store like IKEA, put the furniture into the room, and moved it around until it all looked nice. I mean, they do that kind of stuff too, but there is a lot more work that gets put into making the best out of a room for a client. I now realize how much time Interior Designers have to spend with their client. They have to know what their client really likes. They also have to have some artistic abilities to make sure they can draw out plans for their clients. They don't just go out and buy furniture from IKEA, but Interior Designers get their furniture custom made also! They design the furniture for a room, and then have a specialist make it. As an Interior Designer, you have to be there for all of the instillation's to make sure everyone does what they're supposed to. Depending on how big the project is, Interior Designers need to get the approval from the city for their plans. Then there's all the billing you have to make sure you take care of. Interior Designers also have to keep track of all their samples of wood, paints, fabrics, and etc. They also have to make sure they order more and keep up with all the latest trends. There's so much to think of! It takes a lot of work to be an Interior Designer. This was the most important part that I took from the whole experience because I saw this as a career choice possibility. I still do not know if I want to become an Interior Designer in the future, but I will at least know what it is going to be like if I ever do, which is a huge possibility because Rey hired me for a paid summer internship! :)

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  

This mentorhsip has helped me answer my EQ question by providing me with answers through hands on experiences. My first answer: Know what changes you want to make to a room,  was shown every time Rey had to sketch something out, or had me help put together pieces right before pitching a project for a client. My second answer: Furniture, was shown whenever I saw the before and after sketches and plans for a room. I also got to overlook some of the furniture Rey was trying to get custom made for a room, and helped arrange the furniture in places like our outdoor lounge. My third answer: Walls, was shown through sketching and plans for a room also, just like it did for my previous answers. We had the walls painted in our mentorship office while I was there, so I got to see the effect walls in a room had in our office as well. This experience  has helped me find answers to my essential question more than the research did. Not only because of the hands on experience, but because of the knowledge the people I worked with had about the Interior Design field, and their generosity in sharing that knowledge with me whenever I needed something to be explained. 

Finished my hours today!

I finished my mentorship hours and my mentor tweeted me about it.

They are all so sassy and high tech at Rey3. So awesome.

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

(1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?
My essential question is, "What is most important in redecorating a residential bedroom?"  
My best answer is knowing what changes you want to make to a room. This is my most important answer because when you have plans to start making changes in a room, you have a starting point to build off of.  Also because those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

It was my first independent component that really showed me the importance of my first answer. During my independent component, I planned to redecorate my patio. I knew that changes needed to be made, but I didn't know what I wanted to change about the place exactly. Not knowing where to start resulted in me not starting at all for the longest time. After I talked to my clients (my parents), got inspired, and sketched out my plans for the patio, then I was able to go forth with the changes I wanted to make.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

The biggest problem I faced throughout my senior project was transportation to my mentorship. I don't drive and Rey, my mentor, is located in LA. My Dad is the one who drove me, but there were moments where he couldn't take me for weeks, and that started to become a problem because Rey was expecting me to be there every week. The way I resolved this problem was by telling Rey that I would have to leave if not being able to come in every week was becoming a hassle for him. After hearing this, Rey did not want to let me go and told me to come whenever I could. After that conversation, things were solved. Sometimes my research would be a problem for me because I wanted to find research that would tell what is most important in redecorating a residential bedroom, but a lot of them were tips on how to redecorate a room, or journeys that were taken by other designers when they redecorated a room. There was no step-by-step plan for me. This was not a major problem for me because I learned through experience in my mentorship and independent components.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My first most important source was my mentorship. Rey, my mentor, and Andrew, a designer that works for rey. Through my mentorship, I got to first hand everything that happens in the office as an Interior Designer. I also helped them prep for some of the biggest presentations. My second most important source is a book called Sketching Interior Architecture by Norman Diekman and John F. Pile. This book helped support the importance of my first and most important answer, which is know what changes you want to make to a room, to the essential question. This book opened the doors to know how much you could do with sketching. I always thought there was a certain way that sketching had to be done because of the way I see my mentor do his sketchings, but through this book I realized that you decide the certain ways that sketching is done. It was the book I applied to my senior project the most, especially when I was working with sketching the patio of my first independent component.

(5) What is your product and why?
Because of this Senior Project, I have been more aware of the interiors in both commercial and residential areas. For example, I was at the Souplantation last week and I noticed how they had tomatoes on their carpet and how they had paintings of tomatoes on their walls because a garden tomato was their theme. I learned to become more aware of these little details because they were something I had to consider when I was redecorating a room. Through my mentorship, I also gained long friendships and connections with other designers, and I gained more experience of what it is like working as an interior designer in an office. I also got published into my first magazine with the people I work with. My room has finally been redesigned too. The reason I chose interior design as my senior topic so that I could finally redecorate my room, and I'm glad I finally did it!

Blog 23: 2014 Interview

1.) Who did you interview and what house are they in?
 Robinson Baron, East house

2.)  What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
I would most likely end up volunteering and focusing on ER's in a hospital, as I have worked there before and find interesting. Also growing up with most of my family in the medical field makes it sort of comfortable to me

3). What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
As I do not believe I could actually ask the head emergency room to be my mentor, I do know several people I have worked under that I believe would be willing to do so (RN's, RNA's)

4.) What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?
 I'm honestly not sure what to expect, I know that it's been played to be something very big as lower classman, I hope to be sort of relieved and take note of how well I must perform as well as learn what will be expected of me

5. ) What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?
I don't have any questions, senior year is something I've heard being talked about since day one at ipoly, I'm just ready for my turn to be a senior. 

Blog 22: 3-Column Chart

3 Column Chart

Blog 21: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) “I, Natalie Ovcharenko, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b) -Rey Viquez: rviquez@mac.com, 1(310)739-9096,
-Interview 4 with Deb Longua, dlzinteriors@gmail.com
-Einsiedel, Andrea Von, and Johanna Thornycroft. Dream Homes: 100 Inspirational Interiors. London and New York: Merrell Limited, 2005. Print.
-"Fuck Yeah Interior Designs!" Tumblr http://fuckyeahinteriordesigns.tumblr.com/
- Pinterest and Google also provided me with many images and ideas of how to do things.(c) Independent Component 2 Log Hours 
(d) I redecorated my residential bedroom. 

INTERPRETIVE 
With my second Independent Component, I was directly going towards answering my EQ by trying to find the answers to what is most important in redecorating a residential bedroom. The first thing I did, was try to get inspired by gathering ideas. I searched the web and checked out books from the Cal Poly Pomona library to look at ideas to I could use for my room. After getting an idea of what I could possibly do, I sketched it out. My first idea was to move my bed to the middle of the room, get rid of the desk, get a new shelf, and have a chair in my room by the window. I told Rey about my ideas and he told me I complicated things too much. He told me the most important thing I had to focus on first was getting rid of everything that I did not need anymore. He recommended I keep the furniture where it stands because the arrangement of the furniture gives me the most space in the room. There was a vintage lamp he also recommended I got rid of. I started off doing what Rey told me I needed to do most, which was get rid of as much stuff that I do not use anymore. I went through EVERYTHING in my room, and took any items I did not use anymore to Goodwill. I still wanted to try to get a new desk so I did some searching at a couple of Goodwill stores and on craigslist  I was not able to find anything I liked, so I decided to keep and work with the desk I already had. After cleaning and getting rid of everything, I was left with what I needed to work with and that's when the real decorating process kicked into gear. While redecorating my room, I made three things myself: The curtains, headboard, and a poster frame. The rest of the things were found around the house, or given to me from people that I knew. 

My three adjective goals for this patio were:
-Russian
-Comfy with space
-Vintage in California

To sum it up in a sentence: A vintage themed comfy room in California for a Russian with enough space for all her wildest dreams.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I computerized my final sketch instead of having it done by hand this time.

The lace in the curtains really brought out the vintage in the theme. I also tried to have a lot of natural wood in the room which made my desk chair perfect. The desk chair is a lot smaller than the one I had previously had, so it gives me more space in the room also.

I added that knitted thing on top of the desk to go along with the vintage.

I down all of my trophies from the top of the bookshelf, and instead added some art pictures on top. I also added some encyclopedias into my bookshelf to make it look nice. 

I love my bed.

I took down the metal bar I had on the back of my door because I wanted the natural wood to be seen.

I made this little frame of myself and hung it up.

 HEADBOARD:

The original plan was to have a carpet in the room. I washed the carpet in the beginning of the week, and it ended up smelling so bad after the wash that I think I might never be able to use it again. I tried searching for a new one, but I couldn't find anything that was both in my price range and went along with the theme.

APPLIED

This Independent Component helped solidify my second answer, which is the important of furniture. Through this project, I came to realize that the most important piece of furniture in a bedroom is the bed. The whole room wouldn't be the same without it. The bed is the piece that dictates the theme of the room strongest. The chairs, and curtains, and natural wood in my room let you know that I'm going for a vintage theme also, but if the bed had purple tropical palm trees on it instead of the white, chocolate brown, and maroon red, then the feel of the room would drastically change into something that probably isn't even close to vintage. I used colors for the bed that would work with all pieces of furniture, and that gives a universal feel around my room. My third answer is walls, and hanging the headboard on my wall gave a different feel for my room also. It doesn't leave my room feeling as empty anymore, and it gives your eyes something to focus on. My first answer also played a role in this independent component because I also had to figure out what I wanted to do and make plans to the room before things kicked into gear. I did many sketches and drew many ideas on ways to rearrange the furniture in my room. After figuring out what changes I wanted to make to my room and the ideas I was going to do, the rest was just putting the pieces together. I also tried to draw my sketch of the room out on the computer just like all the pros at my mentorship do. What I got most out of this component, was the realization of how important the role of a bed is in a room.

-

Making History at Rey3

I helped arrange the first ever outdoor lounge at Rey 3 Collaborative. 

Then, I sat on it to enjoy life for a moment.

Blog 20: Three Column Chart

3 Column Chart

Blog 19: Senior Project and ESLRs

1.  What ESLR have you excelled in most in your senior project? 
I feel like I've excelled in the effective user of technology category the most.

2.  Please explain why you think you have excelled in this ESLR.
I feel like I've excelled in this ESLR most because I have been going to the internet in order to help me find ideas that I could apply to my senior project. Through usage of technology, I've been able to go to the internet and find many pictures or videos that trigger ideas I should use for my room that I would not have been able to come across in books as easily.


3.  Provide evidence from your senior project to support your claim (evidence is a photo of something you are doing, photo of something you made, etc).

That is a folder I made on my computer where If I come across an idea I like in a photo on the internet, I will put in there and refer back to it.

This is one of the photos in that folder.The suitcase idea by the bed is something I hope I could do in my independent component- which is redecorating my bedroom. 

Blog 18: 2-Hour Meeting Answer #3

1.  What is your essential question?
What is most important in redecorating a residential bedroom?

2.  What is your third answer to your essential question?
Walls are an important factor in redecorating a residential bedroom.

3.  What are three details to support or justify your third answer (details are examples or facts)?
1.)You could paint walls
2.)You could put up paintings
3.)You could put up tapestry on the walls

4.  What source helped you prove this answer is justified for your essential question?
Sanders, April. "Ideas for Decorating Bedroom Walls." EHow. Demand Media, 03 July 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.ehow.com/way_5150784_ideas-decorating-bedroom-walls.html>.


5.  What do you plan to study next and why? 
I plan to figure out what I want to do with my walls in my room since I am going to redesign my room.

Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions

1.What is most important in redecorating a residential bedroom?
2. What is the first thing you do when redesigning a bedroom?
3. Would you rather sketch a room with a pencil or pen? why?
4. How do you decide what furniture to reuse?
5. How else would you incorporate color into a room if you cannot paint the walls of the room?
6. What's the best thing to do with an empty wall?
7. How do you decide what colors to use for a room?
8. What is your favorite place to buy furniture from?
9. If you want to buy furniture on craigslist, what are some things to watch out for?
10. How do you decide where you want to place your furniture in a room?
11. What are some ways to help you stick to a budget?
12. What was the most interesting thing you did when redesigning a bedroom?
13. What are some tips you could give to someone who has a small room?
14.  How do you decide whether you should throw something out, or keep it for the room?
15. What are some things you would suggest someone shouldn't do to a room?
16. How do you usually decide what theme a room should have?
17.  How do you gather ideas for a room?
18.What do you do when you have something you absolutely love, but it doesn't go along with the theme of the room?
19. What is the hardest thing in redecorating a bedroom?
20. What makes a room look good? 

Blog 16: 2-Hour Meeting Answer #2

1.  What is your essential question?
What is most important in redecorating a residential bedroom?

2.  What is your second answer to your essential question?
One of the most important things in redecorating a residential bedroom is furniture. 

3.  What are three details to support or justify your second answer?
-Rearranging furniture can transform a room completely.
-You can't fully redesign a bedroom when you don't have any furniture to design with. 
-Once you know what you want to do with a room, (which is my first answer) the second part to it is going out and finding or transforming the furniture you need in order to express your idea in the design.

4.  What source helped you prove this answer is justified for your essential question?
-My Independent Component 1
-Mayhew, Elizabeth. FLIP! For Decorating. New York: Ballantine, 2009. Print.
-Third Interview with Andrew Clark


5.  What do you plan to study next with your second answer and why? 
 I plan to continue my study of answer 2 by redesigning my bedroom because it will help answer my EQ.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.
I am planning to redesign my bedroom.

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.
I will be spending a lot of time gathering ideas and inspiration for my room by looking at online photos, magazines, books, and much more. I will then have to sketch out my ideas. After sketching, I will start redesigning my room. I might have to visit some stores, antique shops, and places for furniture. I will also have to go through all the stuff in my room and organize to see what could be used, and what needs to go.

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ?  
My EQ is trying to find an answer for what is most important in redesigning a residential bedroom, and that is what I literally will be doing. I will redesign my residential bedroom.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

• LITERAL
  (a) “I, Natalie Ovcharenko, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
  (b) -Rey Viquez: rviquez@mac.com, 1(310)739-9096,
  -Baker, Martha, and Chuck Baker. The Outdoor Living Room. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2001. Print.-Diekman, Norman, and John F. Pile. Sketching Interior Architecture. New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1985. Print -Baker, Martha, and Chuck Baker. The Outdoor Living Room. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2001. Print. - "Fuck Yeah Interior Designs!" Fuck Yeah Interior Designs! Tumblr, n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2012.
  -Google also provided me with lots of images.
• 
  
• (c)
  Independent Component 1 Hours Spreadsheet.
• (d) Explanation of what you completed.
  I redesigned my patio like an Interior Designer.
• INTERPRETIVE 
  
  I had to get rid of a lot of things in my patio. Since the beginning, I had to deal with unnecessary items being there because my Aunt had just moved into a smaller space, and so she gave us a lot of the things she had no more space for. I spent a lot of time getting rid of them with my Dad. I also had no clue what I wanted to do to my patio. I knew I wanted to change it to make it look nicer, but I didn't have a color or theme set in mind. To help me figure out ideas, I spent time looking through books and I looked through a lot of photos on google. I also had to spend a lot of time sketching. It wasn't until I learned to sketch that I was able to start physically working on things. A lot of cleaning was done to make the place look nicer. I rearranged furniture to provide the most convenient space for the patio. 

My three adjective goals for this patio were:
-Family Gathering
-Light & Bright
-Being at home
-Exciting

To sum it up in a sentence: A place where a Russian family can gather around in the patio to make themselves feel at home for an exciting evening that would lighten and brighten up their day.

BEFORE:

Sketchings.

AFTER:

This is where the couch used to be. I didn't want to leave the space empty so I put those chairs there. The carvings on that chair gave it a nice Russian looking touch!

I rearranged the photos and added the lights. I put curtains that I got from my sister on top of the lights. I'm really glad  these curtain were red because the first color that pops into my mind when I think of Russia is red, and that went towards what I used as an inspiration for this component.

These are pillows that my Grandmas knitted a long time ago. Since this is where my family gathered most, I thought it would be a neat addition to the place.

• Applied:
  
  Through this component, I got to experience being an Interior Designer. When you are being a designer, you really want to make the space personal to your client by showing things that relate to them through the designs. I thought the main goal was to make things look nice, and you had to do it using things you would find in the Martha Stewart homes edition magazine. That was completely not the case with this project. When I first showed my mentor photos of my patio to start looking at what changes should be made, I was quite embarrassed because it was nothing close to cute. We started talking about the paintings and I told him I would probably throw them away. He looked at me and said," Are you kidding me? No, keep them."I was quite surprised about this, but having paintings hanging in the patio are one of the reasons this one is so unique. Yes, you do want to make the space look nice, and the best way to do that is by using things that make your space personal. You want someone to walk into a room and know it is yours. I tried doing that by making this patio Russian looking since my inspirations came from Russian objects. You also want to stick to your sketches. The sketches helped me a lot. Once I sketched out my plan for the patio, it was easier to start working since I knew what I wanted. I also got to see how it feels to work with clients. I got to experience the moment when your clients get their first look at the place you have designed, and the "WOW" they shout out is worth every moment of work. To get that kind of reaction I had to learn how to communicate with my clients. 

  My main goal was to spend no more than $200. My favorite part about this whole project is the fact that I spent $0 redesigning it. Everything there is stuff I found around the house, or things people gave me. Making a space look nice does not mean you have to spend a lot of money.
  There were two things that made a major difference in this room. 

  1.) Getting rid of unnecessary things.
  2.) The rearrangement of furniture.
  Those are two things that can make a difference in any room.