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The woman who helped usher the interior design industry into full flower in the United States was prolific in putting out ideas that will help freshen up today's interior design business. Look at our latest Designer Monthly, Interior Design: Look Forward by Looking Back to Dorothy Draper.

Did you ever have a problem designing small spaces?  Take a look at how top interior designers solved this common problem in our latest Designer Monthly, How to Design Small Spaces at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House.

 

 

 

 

Entries in Judy Sheridan (2)

Wednesday
Mar062013

New Sheffield Videos 

(Staged Family room in CT)

Yes, we finally have it – the new Sheffield School videos for the interior design course!  I know many of you have been anticipating its release so we’re going to give you a little preview here. The videos are jam-packed with design experts and tours of exclusive furniture and accessories showrooms, antique centers, fabric and lighting stores, and so much more. 

The DVDs feature top interior designers, including Architectural Digest icon Penny Drue Baird, Connecticut designer Catherine Cleare, South African designer Irwin Weiner and British designer Nicola Chernicoff.

Judy Sheridan, author of How to Work with an Interior Designer, reveals how designers work in the real world. Susan Slotkis, author of Foundations of Interior Design, shares design tips on color, fabric, and accessories.

Throughout the videos, our hosts Jay Johnson and Nicola Chernicoff will take you behind the scenes at major design centers – such as the famous New York Decoration & Design (the D&D) Building, antique showrooms such as 1st Dibs and Center 44, as well as the antique capital, Lambertville, NJ.  Learn staging tips from realtor Julia Brody, kitchen & bath design from kitchen consultant Dave Burcher of In-House KBH,and children's room design from interior designer Zoya Bograd.

Click above for a video peek into one of the new Sheffield interior design videos. For Sheffield students who are interested in the new videos, please contact your student advisor at the school for more information.

Monday
Feb112013

Interior Design Advice from Judy Sheridan: Staying Within Your Budget

If you don't know about interior designer Judy Sheridan's invaluable book How to Work with an Interior Designer, I can assure you that you need to get hold of a copy and learn all about home decorating, from A to Z, and the unique perspective of what a professional designer can do. Sheffield School was fortunate to have Judy give our students advice on camera; she'll be one of many interior design industry experts we'll be featuring in our soon-to-debut updated DVDs for our Complete Course in Interior Design. Here are some of Judy's gems of wisdom on how to maintain control over an interior design budget - and we all know how important it is to stay within budget on any design project!

Project a figure that will be your budget. Add 20 percent at the outset to make it more realistic.

  • Decide the timing of your project.
  • Allocate your funds into percentages based on the scope of work.
  • Keep reviewing your documents and adding up the figures.
  • Be aware of any rapidly climbing expenditure.
  • Be prepared to make comprises (call them "executive decisions").
  • If you have to, revise the early percentages. An allocation for construction 40 pecent/furnishings 40 percent/accessories 20 percent may have to be changed to 50/40/10.
  • Do not let one area move beyond a 10 percent change without sitting down and rethinking your objectives.
  • Stop saying yes to changes, add-ons, and upgrades.

 

 

 Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng ShuiWedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

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