I’m an opinionated person, for the most part. Owning and expressing my feelings about how I see the world helps me to better understand who I am as fully engaged individual and not just a shell or the shadow of myself.

As a professional room arranger, I’ve come to better understand the role designers play when they are hired to update or change someone’s home. Designers need to have a style they like, colors they like, arrangements they like so they can share those ideas with their clients. Ideally, designers learn from their clients just as their clients learn from them. When I’m hired to do a room arrangement, my client expects me to use my opinions and ideas to help them create a better place to live. If I don’t trust my instincts, or if I lack strong ideas, then what good am I to them? Every designer brings to the table their unique vision. Designers who become famous, do so because they are able to tap into an idea consisting of form and color, that resonates with a large number of people. They start with what they love and cultivate an audience that love it too.

I’m exploring this thread because for a long time, I thought designers were like politicians; always trying to reflect the voters image back at them. The reality of the situation is the more I understand my likes and dislikes, the better room arranger I became. My clients want me to be opinionated, that’s why they hire me. They want me to do something they had never thought of before and when I deliver the goods, they love it, I feel great and the trust I have in myself and my ideas soars.

I’m always pushing myself into new territories, like creating this blog. I like doing projects that I can start and finish in an hour or less because instant gratification makes me feel like I accomplished something which surely is the reason why I like to blog.

When I used to paint, my choice of medium was acrylics because it dried really fast, it was really easy to clean up; just soap and water, and they seemed all around easier to work with than oils. Later, when I started getting more serious about writing, I loved the simplicity of the tools involved, just a pen and some paper that I could take anywhere. It wasn’t messy, if I forgot to put them in my backpack, I could easily find them available in any store just about anywhere and the cost to buy them was always within my supply budget. I’m a practical gal, always looking for the easy way in to things and an affordable means of getting by.

I started making earrings a couple of years after thinking about it for a couple of years. They seemed so simple to make with endless possibilities and abundant supplies I could pick up anywhere. I finally dove in one day and went to a local bead shop and bought some tools, some wires and some beads and got cracking. I quickly discovered how fun and easy they are to make and each pair I finished gave me that instant gratification and satisfied my need to be creative.

Everyone loves a new pair of earrings, either to wear or to give as gifts and they’re an inexpensive hobby. I find a lot of beads and other resources just about everywhere I go. I’ll use just about anything that catches my eye, including striped erasers.

Of course, this raises the question: is it design or is it craft? Well, I’d have to say, it’s both. It’s craft because it’s something useful, practical and sometimes, essential; a brand new pair of earrings. It has function and immediate purpose and it’s utilitarian. It’s design because there was a thought, a plan and an execution to it. The thing of it is, I love making them. I wish I was better at marketing them but for the time being, I’m sharing them with you. If you would like to see more or own a pair, just reply to this post. I’d love to send you some. Until tomorrow, I remain your,

Design Detective,

Karen