In Detail Kitchen and Bath
18 February 2010
“Appassionata”
In the course of writing these blogs the last two years, I have often said that the biggest room in the world is the room for imagination, which is a statement I now consider somewhat ironic. It’s ironic, I think, because it’s something that is brought home to me on an almost daily basis, as I surf the Internet, which is the very instrument that has done so much to shrink the world! And to shrink it all the more, I recently encountered a blog site for a successful Florida business run by a lady who hails from my own San Diego.
“In Detail Kitchen and Bath” is located in Pensacola, FL and is owned and operated by Cheryl Kees Clendenon, whose blog site “Details and Designs” has been added to our blogroll. Every blog site is different, of course, but the best of them are, in some respects, a window into the writer of them, an item I bring up because Cheryl really does have that kind of blog. Reading what she has to say, I feel like I know her. And, of course, there is her design work, because, in the end, that’s what it’s all about.
What I find particularly intriguing about Cheryl’s output is the sheer variety of it. In looking through her many pictures, only a few of which I can use here, unfortunately, I found myself saying yes to some and no to others. But what that means, really, is that she is one who works on many palettes, which means, in turn, that just about any client is going to feel welcome there, regardless of what kind of design motifs he may be looking for.
Beyond that, of course, there is a huge body of practical knowledge that any designer needs: kitchen and bath design guidelines, new materials and motifs, new designs, old designs, old designs improved, characteristics of certain materials, knowledge of what the various materials will do once onsite. It is fair to say, for example, that there are a number of materials that can be used for countertops, but for each of them there are a number of pluses and minuses, both in how they look and in how they will hold up to daily use. A good designer is something of a walking encyclopedia when it comes to that sort of thing.
Also, having said all that about design, the other point to make is that even though there are a number of designs a body can use, each design, and each assignment, has a rightness to it that must be adhered to, an artistic vision that needs to be maintained if the finished result is to bring the desired results. I bring that up because I once did some ghost writing for a company that had an enormous difficulty in understanding that sort of thing. In the end they got just what they wanted, and the pieces I wrote were just what they should have been, but for a long time afterwards I really thought I’d done a stint in dentist school, because I’d pulled so many teeth!
Cheryl is the most important thing to be to be in this kind of business. She is passionate, and that is everything, really. It’s not a nine-to-five job, in hours, in outlook, in how one feels about it. It’s the kind of work that keeps a body awake at nights, or worse, awake for long hours in the middle of the night, thinking about a design problem, laying it out, doing and redoing, until in the end one’s body pleads for sleep. And still, sometimes, it eludes one. Actually, when I put it like that, I’m not sure if it’s passion or a sickness of some sort, but I do know that just about everyone who creates goes through exactly that sort of scenario.
On her website Cheryl says, “My clients love me because I never take the easy route and just agree with them, even though my life would be simpler and I might get to go home earlier if I did. I give them my best shot one hundred percent of the time because that is what they are paying me to do. I always have a reason why I choose something and a design rationale. It is never ‘just because it looks good.’” That’s her integrity talking, but also her passion. Ya gotta love passion. Beethoven did.
Joseph
Leave a Reply
2 Responses to “In Detail Kitchen and Bath”
February 19th, 2010 at 5:38 PM
Whoa!! Who IS this paragon of design???? Joseph you are one heck of a writer!! I think you just made my day, month and maybe year!! Thank you for such a nice blog post!!
Go check out the latest Better Homes and Gardens “Kitchen and Bath Ideas” ( pink letters and yellow kit on cover) i have a guest designer piece where you take a kit not redone and design it for save and splurge. They illustrate the drawings so is pretty cool!! I enjoyed doing it!! Thanks again!!
February 20th, 2010 at 5:15 AM
Details and more details! What matters – not just in the end, but from the outset with the commitment to see it through to an appropriate result. As Cheryl says, “Giving 100% all the time to each client”. I guess I am trying to agree that her blog stands out from the stack and is always refreshingly insightful. And your summation is spot-on!