2009 - The Year of "RE"

It amazes me how everyone is adapting to the stressful economic times we are all enduring. I am seeing the changes across the board from client to real estate agents to builders to my own design studio. My projects have definitely changed in their personalities, the project scope and their design direction. I have decided to call 2009 the "RE" year: RE-duce, RE-novate, RE-pair, RE-upholstery, RE-use, RE-vise, RE-claim, RE-work, RE-paint, etc.

People are being much more sensitive about how they spend their personal funds. Plus, the general public is becomming aware of Green and Sustainable. They are much more sensitive to throwing away their old goods for new ones - a sign that the sustainable mind-set is catching on. This photo is from a current project where we designed and built a bar in a client's basement from RE-claimed wood from their barn that had blown over from a tornado. In my 30 year interior design career am I being asked the question "can we use what we have, but "RE" it (reuse/rework/reupholster) to give a new look more than ever. We have been using RE-claimed wood, brick and stone for years as architectural materials, but RE-using so much of the interior furnishings is new. I have been going through client's attics, drawers, garages, basements searching for items that we can "RE."

But on the "whole house" design front, we have had more "REnovation" work than any other year. REnovation work is much harder because you do not know what you are going to find behind walls. And many builders are leery of taking on the responsibility of someone elses work. Many clients who were planning on tearing down and building new, are RE-considering.This new direction has been positive, since we are demolishing and throwing away less, stimulating new trades and really having to be creative about what to do with what we already have. It is like the Apollo 13 movie where the astronauts get the bag of parts dumped on the table in front of them and they have to get the others back to earth with what they have. We have been getting some quite unattractive caterpillars put in front of us and have to turn them into butterflies.

This is also leading to the support of some trades that have been going out of business in years past, such as the RE-upholsterers. And we are also buying more raw fabrics for RE-doing existing pillows, furniture and bedding.Guess what? It works. The RE-year will not be known as the year of bad or ugly design, but the RE-naissance of being comfortable what you have with modifications. There is also a RE-alization from homeowners that they feel good about using what they have, being more kind to the earth, living with less and RE-thinking their desire to have the newest products on the market. They find they are actually participating in the latest design trend, which is adopting the sustainable mind-set and RE-newing the idea that RE-novation and RE-working existing is a good thing.