Week 5: All Smiles

On Monday I finished up a last few touches on some of the contractor boards from the previous week. Next I proof read a furniture specification package (it wasn’t as dreadful as proofing an English paper!). I also got the opportunity to do a Photoshop rendering. Matching the paint colors to what actually printed out was a bit tricky. Monika kept saying, “You’re so close.” I did finally get the colors to look pretty similar, but don’t we all wish the actual print color and the color shown on the computer screen would just matchup? Tuesday was busy! Two people from the Bradford Group (the marketing group I mentioned last week) came to the office Tuesday morning. When I got done printing labels for a presentation board, I was stolen to do a mini photo shoot! It was fun, but I was not picture ready. Check it out here. After the people from the Bradford Group left, a man stopped by with his dog Sunni (see picture below). Also on Tuesday I had my mid-term review! I can’t believe how fast the summer is going. After lunch do you ever get that afternoon slump where you feel tired? Well at Inner Design Studio there is always someone who gets everyone out of their afternoon slump and on Tuesday it was Sarah. She livened up our afternoon! Also Tuesday afternoon I put together a flame spread folder of all the different materials specified in a project. When I was reading through some of the warranties this one stuck out the most: “Our warranty does not cover any act of God,...”. I thought that was funny. Wednesday morning I finished up pulling the flame spread information together and put away some materials in the library. Then I compared a presentation board to the specifications and made sure everything shown on the board was specified. I also did a few floor patterns in AutoCAD for a project. Thursday I scanned in some materials, so they could be use to render a few of the floor patterns I had done on Wednesday. Then for lunch a Wolf Gordon rep gave a presentation. After lunch I worked on exporting some Revit files into AutoCAD so I can use them for a rendering. I also sketched out some floor pattern options for another project. Thursday evening was a special treat, as the local Maharam rep, Jean Marie, along with the regional sales coordinator, Kristie took us to eat at Wild Ginger. It was so good! If you are ever in the Franklin, TN area you should go there. Did any of you watch the Justin Bieber concert on the Today Show Friday morning? Friday was pretty quiet in the office because a few people where gone on vacation. But Grady, the groundhog that lives behind the building, made a morning appearance (see picture below). Friday was my half day, so I worked on floor patterns in AutoCAD, and before I knew it was noon. This past week at the office I laughed and learned a lot!

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day and is ready to get back to work!?

Grady eating the leavesFloor pattern exampleRebecca sporting her newest accessory, Sunni

Rebecca is the Principal of Inner Design Studio. She is the heart and soul behind it all. Every morning Rebecca walks in with her hands full and a smile on her face and always says “Good morning!” with so much energy. Rebecca is also a wife, a mother to two dogs, a sister, and a proud aunt to two nieces. I am grateful each day that I get the opportunity to intern under her.

Procurement and related business practices

Inner Design Studio has an in-house purchasing department that is talked about in detail here. Depending on the client and their client’s needs the company can also specify and send out for biding.

Project fees are determined by the scope of work and the size of the project.

Budgets are determined by the owner/client. Sometimes the owner/client will go to Inner Design Studio directly and ask for a budget. But before a budget can be set the designers have to determine the level (high/low end) of finishes and furnishings are desired by the owner/client.

Estimating and cost for a project are managed by staying with in the client’s budget, valued engineering, and substitutions.

Budgets, fees, and costs are all handled by the team that is on the project (client, architect, designer, engineer, and contractor). The group has frequent project meetings to make sure everything is on time and budget.