Written by:  Robin Pittman

Summer Sky

We have been blanketed by some overwhelming heat down here in the South for the past couple of weeks, haven’t we??  Heat so stifling, that even being completely submerged in a pool offers little relief!  I find myself looking for any excuse to stay inside in the air-conditioning…while eating ice cream, of course.

Despite my longing for the coolness of the days in early fall, I can’t help but acknowledge that we had some breathtaking displays of beauty in the summer skies for the past few days!  The crispness of the deep blues in the sky next to the whiter-than-white clouds was mesmerizing to me.  I found myself driving with my camera in my lap, snapping pictures whenever I had the chance to capture an image while out and about.  (hey, at least I wasn’t texting while driving, right?)  

Written by:  Robin Pittman

Cooperative

Function:  Adjective

1)  working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit. 

2)  demonstrating a willingness to cooperate. 

3)  pertaining to economic cooperation 

4)  involving or denoting an educational program comprising both classroom study and on-the-job or technical Function:  Noun

5) a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supplying of services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit, typically organized by consumers or farmers. 

6) Also called co-op , cooperative apartment. 

a. a building owned and managed by a corporation in which shares  are sold, entitling the shareholders to occupy individual units in the building. 

b. an apartment in such a building.

By now we’ve all seen the farming co-ops popping up around town where groups join to tend to the garden, and quite literally – reap what they sow. Taking home vegetables you have grown yourself must be such a rewarding feeling!

I think of kitchen design being somewhat of a “design cooperative”.   The combined efforts of myself, the interior designer, the architect, the contractor, the homeowner, and the rest of the team involved in the development of the kitchen project – we are all “working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit”.   Clearly that common purpose is to exceed our client’s expectations with the final installation of their new kitchen!  We all work together on materials selections, the implementation of the client’s needs and wants, as well as the technical details and specifications that make every aspect of the design come together cohesively.  

One could compare kitchen design to gardening...the initial design meetings are equivalent to planting the seeds, the following meetings for design development would be the watering/fertilizing – watching the plans “grow”, the fabrication and installation stage equal the harvesting of the plants, and finally the end product – the client enjoying their beautiful new kitchen would be like sitting down to a delicious meal created from these beautiful vegetables grown from your own hard work!

Written by: Robin Pittman

Dad/Father

Function: Noun

1) man who has begotten a child

2) one related to another in a way suggesting that of father to child

My dad is hands-down one of the greatest men on the planet.  He makes no qualms about letting my brother and I know how much he loves us, and we know who to call should we ever need any advice or guidance – we know he’ll steer us in the right direction!

As for design, spending the day perusing the treasures at Scott’s, or exploring off-the-beaten-path antique/consignment shops – well, let’s just say that’s nowhere near the top of Dad’s list of “ideal” weekend activities. He’ll leave that to me and Mom.  You’re more likely to find him on the golf course or burrowed down in the “Man Pit” watching some random sporting event on the big screen.

Where Dad undoubtedly encouraged my design career was by instilling in me the love of travel and appreciation of the wide and varied world we live in!  Growing up I was so fortunate to have a family that loved to travel and take family trips every year, whether that was to the beach, skiing out west, or someplace more exotic and international.  

Some of my favorite places my family has visted:

Hilton Head Island, SC will always be a special place to me – my family spent 2 weeks here every summer, and as a kid, those were the greatest 2 weeks of the year!

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

 Florence, Italy

 

Written by:  Robin Pittman

MUSIC

Some might appreciate the art form more than others, but there is no denying the effect music has on each of us – music can completely transform the atmosphere in a room, can change a person’s mood, and can express emotions that sometimes aren’t justly phrased with words alone.

Ever been to a cocktail party with no background music??  

Every shopped in a store surrounded by complete silence??

Absolutely not!  Music relaxes us, invigorates us, and to me, music is incredibly inspiring.  You will never find me in my house, in my office, or in my car without music playing – complete silence is a tremendous distraction for me, and I get three times the work done if I have background noise keeping me focused.

I am absolutely fascinated by the intricacies of music – I think because this is a talent so foreign to me!  The collaborative effort of each individual musician coming together to make this beautiful, layered piece of work is amazing.  Songwriting is a gift that I appreciate in others…and only wish I possessed!  

My favorite way to spend an evening is in one of the many fantastic live music venues in Atlanta – we are so fortunate!  While I am in these venues, I can’t help but think about all the finely-tuned details that went into the architectural design of the spaces to allow for the optimum acoustics.  The science behind the way sound bounces off of varying surfaces, the curves in walls in appropriate places…all of these details that have to be considered while maintaining a beautiful design!!  

I think the first music hall that would come to anyone’s mind when you think of a stunning architectural structure would be the Sydney Opera House in Australia:

Also Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan:

Written by:  Robin Pittman

Mother- Moth-er

Function:  Noun 

1)  a woman who raises a child 

I would like to use this very public forum to say just one thing:

”MOM, YOU WERE RIGHT!!” 

(See – there you go.  Mothers Day gift = check!)

Not only has Mom been right about…well, just about everything important in life, but I find myself doing little things now that I’m “grown up” (in years, anyway) that she used to do when I was a kid that I just did not understand or appreciate at the time.  I used to roll my eyes when Mom would play certain music in the car, and darn it if I don’t own some of the same albums now…Mom and Grandma used to make clothing for myself and my brother, and now I’ve started making clothes for my friends’ children (on a much, MUCH simpler level).

Most specifically, I used to cringe when Mom wanted to do anything that involved shopping for the house, and look what industry I ended up LOVING! As a ten year-old, the idea of spending a Saturday in an antique store or consignment shop was painful, but now that I’m *ahem* not ten, this is precisely my idea of a perfect weekend day.  I love the fluttery feeling of excitement while scouring these shops – I can’t wait to see what kinds of treasures I’ll uncover!  The idea of transforming a piece of furniture that someone thought unworthy of keeping into something fabulous and unique – these days, that gets me just as excited as a rousing game of Four Square did when I was a kid.  Woohoo!  high-gloss paint and new hardware!!

I consider myself so fortunate to have been raised by such creative women in my family.  Mom is great fun to shop with, and hassuch a keen eye for the potential hidden behind a thin layer of dust.  She and my grandmother were both blessed with an amazing talent for painting and sketching (the sketching ability I might have gotten a dose…still waiting on the painting gene to kick in).  Regardless of my lack of painting ability, I am surrounded by artwork created by various members of my family throughout my home.  Simply being surrounded by the products of such creativity coursing through my family is inspiring to me, and gets my wheels spinning on what my next design project might be…

Happy Mothers Day, Mom, and thank you for all the years of dragging me to the places that would eventually inspire my work on a daily basis! You were absolutely, completely right…making a house a home IS great fun. 

Written by:  Robin Pittman

Addison Mizner

Written by:  Robin Pittman

Fiacre – (fe – a’ kre)

Function: Noun

1) a small hackney carriage

Written by:  Robin Pittman

FAMILY

Every year during the month of February, it seems like we are surrounded by symbols of love – some silly and ridiculous, some truly sweet and thoughtful.  Aside from the obvious romantic sense of the word “love” that is hammered into our psyche by every advertising campaign during the month of February (“every kiss begins with Kay”…ring a bell??), I like the thought of focusing on the love between family and friends this time of year as well.

Without exception, when meeting with clients regarding designs for their kitchens, we always discuss how to best plan the space to accommodate interaction with the family.  Whether we need a space for children to sit and do homework, or two distinct work spaces for an “empty-nester” couple to cook meals together – the kitchen becomes the center of family gatherings in the home, and we want to assure that this is a special place for each client.   This is one of my favorite steps in the design process – getting to know the family to such an extent that you can visualize how the kitchen will be used in the future – from there, the design seems to develop easily!

For this client, we needed a space for the two young children to be able to do their homework, while keeping them out of the main cooking area while their mother was preparing dinner.  Designing this peninsula which perfectly lines up with the change in ceiling height was the perfect solution!

Bow and Arrow –

Function: Noun

1) a weapon consisting of arrows and the bow to shoot them

Written by: Robin Pittman

 Acai

Function: Noun

 1) a small dark purple fleshy berrylike fruit of a tall slender palm of tropical Central and South America that is often used in beverages