• What is it that an interior designer does?
• How can they “see” the finished space before it is a reality?

We’re going to walk you through the steps that VANROOY goes thru, from the first spark of an idea to the final client presentation.

The Process

Creating beautiful spaces is all part of a process.  By knowing the possibilities you can envision the outcome, but to fully visualize the end result, we spend a lot of time researching, developing and carefully creating the identity of the project.  We call it “branding.”

We start by looking at the overall building to determine the best layout and usage of the space.  We also discuss with the client the project requirements and parameters.  Once we know the “problem” we can work through the design to create a solution.

When the research and layout start coming together, we firm up the design by creating a floor plan with the basic walls, built-in cabinetry and loose furniture.

From Furniture Block-outs to the Real Thing

Next we comb through the design library in search of the perfect materials and furniture pieces.  All designers have a design library which is their “go-to” resource for material samples, furniture, lighting, and plumbing and hardware catalogs.  This database makes life simpler.  By having everything in one place we can pick out most of the items that will go into the finished space.  Of course there are always showrooms to visit, but for the most part the design library is where it’s at.

While we’re picking furniture and materials out we lay them side-by-side to see how everything would look together. This is the beginning of the presentation and material boards that will be presented to the client.

Mind the BUDGET!

The sky is not the limit when it comes to design, the budget is.  That $30,000 private dining room table that looks perfect will probably not make the final cut unless the project has a $100,000,000 budget.

Design choices are always made with the budget in mind. We spend money on the most important features, the WOW factors, and keep the cost on the less noticeable stuff to a minimum. For example, do you have a sofa and sofa table you want to buy? We’d advice that you spend on the sofa, the item that everyone will see and use, and save on the sofa table ( it gets hidden behind the sofa anyway).

TIME TO PRESENT

Once the floor plan is laid out, and the furniture and materials are selected, it’s time to put the presentation together. Material boards, colored 11”x17”prints and PowerPoint presentations are the norm for an interior designer.

From here the design becomes much more understandable to the client. From the original spark of an idea to the presentation . . . no fairy dust is needed. These are the tools we use to show our vision and seek approval.

How do we do it? With lots of hard work, brainstorming, finding inspiration and defining a concept . . . all of which becomes “behind the scenes – magic”.

What’s a concept you ask? Well . . . that’s a designer’s secret! Fairy dust included.

Christine + Jerry

There has been so much publicity for this event that Jerry and I couldn’t resist booking a flight and hotel just to be apart of the VIP opening night party, September 1st. 

Crunch Time

With one more week to go . . it’s hard to catch your breath.  They are working morning, noon, and night to wrap construction, installing equipment, stocking shelfs, hiring and training employees.  On top of that, the new website is being developed, product selection is being finalized, and their blog is being updated.   (I know you looked at the website . . . did you notice the VANROOY shout out!!! oh yea!)

We couldn’t be happier about the progress of the project!  Here are a few “under construction” images to give you a taste of what’s in store.

Customized

 One thing we truly enjoyed, working with Sambalatte, was their appreciation for customization.  VANROOY got the opportunity on this project to design everything from floor to ceiling.  Custom furniture, custom graphics, full branding, architecture, interior design, the whole caboodle.  The best thing was that the customization didn’t stop with the building.  The client has made custom Samba CD’s, he’s had proprietary products developed for the store, and best of all, custom real leather invitations were sent out for the opening party branded with the Sambalatte logo.

Beautiful photography of old Braziallian coffee farms

Even this teaser link (a few months ago) on YouTube was original!!  Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l6PYsUWLQg  Turn up the VOLUME!

LOCATION: Boca Fashion District – Las Vegas, NV
WEBSITE: http://www.sambalatte.com/Old/index.html  (under construction)

PHONE: 702.272-2333 
TYPE: Luxe caffè lounge mixed with ambient Samba music
VIBE:  Sip | Savor | Socialize

Congratulations SAMBALATTE!  The VANROOY team would like to wish Luiz and Sheila many years of success with their new endeavor . . . we really had a blast with this project.   Cheers!

Christine + Jerry

Why Vegas? 

By now you might have caught on that we’re working on a project called Sambalatte, a new café concept that will open its doors in Vegas later this year.  So we headed to Vegas to meet with the client and go over the design.  But while in Vegas it’s not all work for the Vanrooy staff, there is always plenty of food and drink to be had, which is how we ended up at Todd English’s latest hot spot, Todd English P.U.B. 

THE P.U.B.:: First off, it’s a P.U.B., not a pub.  What, you don’t know the difference?  Allow us to explain…a pub is a bar that locals and frat boys frequent, drink too much at then stumble home.  A P.U.B. is a Public Urban Bar, an upscale modern interpretation of an English pub, where locals and Vegas tourists alike drink too much then attempt to stumble home or back to their hotel rooms, sans the frat boy crowd. 

Since we love all pubs and have never met a bar game we didn’t like, we figured this P.U.B. had to be on the list of places we checked out while in Vegas. 

THE LOOK:: Todd English is a brand unto himself and is known for opening well designed restaurants with great food that are instant hits, so we expected the P.U.B. to be similar to his other ventures.  But with Todd English P.U.B, a whole new concept was developed to create a more casual watering hole with modern bar food in an attractive setting.  We loved the simple British subway décor and the long bar that runs the length of the space.  Sitting atop the bar at various intervals, the signature Todd English hourglass is both a decorative element and a unique bar game. 

If you can chug your beer in under seven seconds, which is exactly the length of time it takes for the hourglass’s timer to run out, then your drink is on the house.  Sounds fun, right?  Well, we thought so too, and were equally shocked and impressed to find out that Mr. Todd English himself can beat the timer.  Looks like his drinks would be on the house even if he didn’t own the place.

THE PLACE:: When not trying to beat the timer or indulging in the raw bar and carvery eats on offer at the P.U.B., we had a chance to check out the “neighborhood” of sorts.  You see, Todd English P.U.B is situated in the newly opened urban metropolis that is City Center.  A project we actually took part in designing before we launched our own company.  Typically the building or development a restaurant is in has little to do with the interior design of the place, there may be constraints on the front façade, but the inside is typically yours to design.  With City Center, there is a twist to this. 

The whole project of City Center is LEED certified and has received LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.  This means that every ounce of City Center from plumbing fixtures to flooring and coat racks had to meet the high LEED standards.  And since Todd English P.U.B is in City Center, it had to meet those standards as well.  A truly impressive feat and one that we hope sparks a trend in the design and building industries. 

So the next time you’re in Vegas, head to Todd English P.U.B., not only is the beer plentiful, the food delectable, but the décor is also sustainable.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

LOCATION:  Crystals at City Center – Las Vegas, NV
WEBSITE:  http://www.toddenglishpub.com/

PHONE: 702.489.8080
TYPE:  English pub mixed with Vegas flair
VIBE:  Upscale bar crowd of locals and tourists alike chugging beer at record speeds

Christine + Jerry

The past few years have been interesting for us, not only with the launch of our company, but also on a personal level. We’ve been living in Long Beach for what seems like forever, but not that long ago we considered moving as far away as Seattle (which we later decided was too far).  Then we thought, “maybe we should stay closer to home” and still expand our horizons outside of LB. We pondered, Venice, CA sounds nice.  hummmm?

We filled our days working and dreaming of packing up and moving to a new city, one that might just be an even better fit for us.  But then we realized we love LB and it is already a perfect fit; we can see the ocean from our living room, we can walk to our favorite local coffee shop and everywhere you turn the city offers up architectural delights.  So why would we ever leave?  That very question is what prompted us to stay and dig our roots even deeper into the city that we love.

Today we thought we would offer up a glimpse of our LB life, a snapshot of the inspiring tidbits we find around every street corner that never cease to amaze us.

Left: Rainbow Park | Middle: 3rd & Pine | Right: Rainbow Park

Left: First Congregational Church | Middle:Security Pacific Building | Right: Security Pacific Building

Left: LBMA Anderson House | Middle: LBMA Anderson House | Right: The Pike

Love these photos?  They are from our friend, photographer and fellow Long Beach city dweller Candice Bauman.  Want to view more of her work?  Check her out at LBC Photos.

Christine + Jerry

This year is passing us by at lightning speed!

We’ve been blessed to have a bunch of projects come our way in the past few months, but that has meant more late nights and weekends filled with work than we care to admit to.  Why?  Because we want to believe that we are living the enviable self-employed life of two-hour lunches and four-day weekends, but those hardly ever happen.  More often than not, you’ll find us both either slumped over a drafting board, chained to our computers or covered in sawdust in the shop.  And you know what?  Even though we dream of long weekends, the reality is that we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We do however, have some very important breaking news to share, VANROOY has moved!  Don’t worry, we didn’t go very far.  We moved into a bigger and better place not far from our current spot in the good ol’ LBC.  With all the growth our company has seen this year, we felt it was finally time to pack up and head to new digs.  And who knows, maybe our new place will bring us even more great projects.  We still have our sights set on landing a hotel project this year and with half the year already over we are getting antsy to find one, but perhaps our new neighbors will be hotel owners in desperate need of interior designers.

Ok, we might be stretching a bit here, but a young company can dream, right?

For our new address, check out VANROOY design and click on ”Contact”.

Christine + Jerry

You may see just a ship, but we see the beginning of an idea…that ah-ha moment, a spark that leads to creativity. It might be interpreted as a wall texture in one of the projects we design, or maybe it will inspire a piece of furniture. We’ll show you the outcome soon!!

Oh the texture, the colors, the overlapping letters…what’s not to love!

We even think it has “sexy curves”!

Christine + Jerry

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So when a project came our way to design a Brazilian coffee spot in Vegas, we were, as they say, “all in”.  Our coffee loving brains are literally spinning with all the ideas that we have . . . and if one project wasn’t good enough, we got another cafe in San Fran.  More to come on that one later!!

We’ve already told you about our dream project for the year, a hotel.  But have we mentioned our obsession with coffee? You should see us when we walk into a coffee shop, we inspect them like they are works of art, and to be honest to us they are.  A coffee shop has a million and one little components.  In a well designed one every detail is designed and every item has a place all working together to enhance your coffee drinking experience.  After all, drinking coffee isn’t just about the coffee; it’s about the experience and the ritual of it all, something we know well.

In the early days of our design life, when we were just freelancers dreaming about having our own company, we would pack up our laptops and head to the nearest coffee shop.  It was our “office” away from home.  When your love for coffee runs as deep as ours and when you spend as much time in coffee shops as we do, you can’t help but dream about someday designing one.  That day has finally come, but our quest for the perfect cup of coffee continues . . .   For now, check out the new SAMBALATTE scheduled to open Fall 2010.  Click on Sambalatte Design Teaser to discover the “art of sipping” and the VANROOY design! 

Our Newest project - Sambalatte Las Vegas - opening Fall 2010

Want to know our “hand’s down” favorate coffee spots:

JERRY: Caffe Artigiano, Vancouver, BC
CHRISTINE: Cafe De Indias‎, Avenida de la Constitución, Sevilla, Spain  (Okay, okay our local favorite is Intelligentsia on Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA; however we do live in Long Beach, so our most frequented coffeehouse is Peet’s on 2nd Street.)
VRD STAFF PICKS: Sipology in the Art’s District of Long Beach.  We all head there in the afternoon to fuel up.

Christine + Jerry

Wish You Were Here

With our deadlines met we decided to pack up and head to the desert for some much needed R&R. 

A weekend at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs was exactly what we needed; it recharged our batteries and provided us with some unexpected inspiration.  If you’ve been reading our blog then you know we are both inspired by the things around us, from clothing tags to rock sculptures, literally everything gets filed into our design memory banks.  For our vacation we expected a nice hotel in a desert oasis but we had no idea that a former Howard Johnson Motel could look so cool! 

More than Just a Pretty Face

That’s right, an old Howard Johnson, circa 1965, complete with a Denny’s restaurant has been revamped and reclaimed to become the amazing Ace Hotel & King Highway Restaurant. 

Once we checked into the hotel we toured the property before finally settling in our room.  What we saw was more than enough to inspire us, and once inspired we did a little digging and learned the real beauty behind the design of the Ace Hotel.  We learned the Ace is more than just good looks, that there is actually some substance behind the hotel. 

For starters the entire property is solar-powered (thanks to the year round sunshine in Palm Springs) and the furniture is mostly flea market finds.  All of this is in keeping with the brands eco-chic aesthetic, something that has carried over from the properties first location in Portland. 

All ACES!

We always talk to our clients about branding their properties through design, making this an integral part in the decision making process from the very beginning.  Everything from paint colors, to menu design, to the overall look of the property should be in keeping with the companies brand identity.  This is especially important when opening multiple locations just like the Ace Hotel has done. 

From their original Portland location to our weekend getaway location in Palm Springs to their spots in NYC and Seattle, all have been designed true to the brand.  The incredible part is that they managed to take a design; routed in found objects; and transformed it into a brand that looks authentic in every location.  They’ve successfully kept a sense of history that is both vintage and modern!  We were speechless as we walked around the property, falling in love at every turn. 

All over the Airways

Once we got home and started googling the Ace Hotel we found we weren’t the only ones who had been smitten. We talk a lot about new ways for restaurants and businesses to use media to extend the reach of their brand.  Mostly those conversations lean towards twitter, facebook and the companies having their own branded web presence and blog.  So it should be no surprise that companies that do all this tend to be the ones we are attracted to, the Ace being no exception. 

However, there is one thing we have neglected to mention, and funny enough, it’s “being mentioned”.  While doing our google search for the Ace we found plenty of web love out there in the form of other bloggers and designers sharing via their own websites.  And while having your own web presence is important, having others create that presence for you, and spread your internet reach is the best way to advertise your businesses . . . it is “the holy grail” of FREE advertising. 

Have you been to the Ace?  Spread the love by leaving a comment.   

LOCATION: 701 E. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92264
PHONE: 760.325.9900
WEBSITE: www.acehotel.com/palmsprings
DESIGNERS: from LA – Commune, check them out HERE
STYLE: Part Motel, part Easy Rider, part MASH, 100% desert oasis
VIBE: Laid back eco hipsters 

Christine + Jerry

Have you ever wondered what exactly an interior designer does and if you really need one?  Most people think all we do is make a place look good.  We like that, but there’s more to interior design than making a space “look pretty”.  Pretty only get’s you so far, and as we all know looks fade.  A good design has staying power and makes your life easier and your business more profitable.  When’s the last time you could say that about just being “pretty”?

More than just looks, an interior designer can increase profits by laying out floor plans that you’re your space more efficient.  They can design to define space, dramatize focal points with lighting, and address design challenges like acoustics.  By making your space more efficient, designers can increase table and seat counts to bring in more money.   We all like that!!

Have you calculated the earnings from each chair in your restaurant? 

The chains do and they have it down to a science.  One seat can bring in a minimum of $10,000 per year.  Did you know a restaurant designer can project seating quantities based on your square footage, as well as, how much square-footage will be allocated to kitchen, bar, storage, BOH and dining before drawing anything. 

Would you like to know how much your space can make before you even consider the lease?

What about trying to come up with a catchy name for your restaurant’s bar?  Ever think a restaurant designer could help you with that one?  You’d be surprised to find out that they can.  A designer’s creative brain can be used for more than just the interior design of your restaurant.  With an outside perspective view, sometimes they catch opportunities you don’t see. 

Take the Dunes restaurant for example; the owner’s hated the old “restaurant” sign that sat atop their restaurant.  They wanted nothing more than to see that thing in the trash.  But Jerry’s creative brain thought the old sign could be given a new life and turned the “R” from the restaurant sign into the restaurant bars’ name.  Now successfully dubbed “R” bar.  Think more of R-bar as OUR-bar.  Repurposing what was once the bane of the owner’s existence into a hot spot that has all the locals clamoring to get in.  A 30 year old historical landmark sign now takes residence inside R-bar and locals LOVE the sense of community it stands for!

If you ever need a designer, at least now you know what to expect.  Don’t settle for just a selection of paint colors, they are a great source of everything creative . . . have some fun with them!

Christine + Jerry

What’s not to love?  The history, the architecture, the people and of course the food!  We’re hungry just thinking about it.  Since we spend most of our time designing restaurants we feel it’s our duty to check out as many restaurants as possible, and when traveling that rule is in full force.  Two of our favorites are the Salt Tasting Room and the Irish Heather, both happen to be run by the same owners, and we just learned they opened a new location.  This of course has us wanting to book a flight back asap to check it out.

Unfortunately, since we must tend to our projects here in LA we have to wait to go back to Vancouver.  In the meantime we thought we could do a virtual “dinner out” at their new restaurant, The Judas Goat Taberna, which opened March 13th.

Enter the Goat

The Judas Goat started as a blog which is how we stumbled upon it (www.newsaltproject.blogspot.com).  While many restaurants have turned to social media as a way to spread the word about the happenings at their restaurant, few do it before the restaurant even exists.  But that is exactly what the owners, Scott Hawthorn and Sean Heather, did with the Judas Goat.

Without so much as a name yet, the blog was created and the journey began to create a Spanish style tapas bar in Vancouver, taking us along every step of the way.  From the concept development to their research trips and food tastings, everything was chronicled on the blog.  They even asked readers for their opinion on furniture selections, making us feel like part of the process.

That’s definitely one way to build a following and guarantee that seats will be filled in your restaurant come opening day.  After all, by letting us in on the decisions we get to feel like we were part of the process, making the Judas Goat not just another restaurant, but OUR restaurant…no wonder we’re dying to go!

The Goat comes to Life

After much research it was time for the owners to bring the goat to life.  They found a space next door to Salt and got to work on designing the interior which mixes elements of traditional Spanish tapas bars with some Vancouver styling that makes the Judas Goat feel right at home on Blood Alley.  The long counters with high benches are reminiscent not only of the Salt Tasting Room but also of traditional standing tapas bars in Spain.

The floor tile is a classic Gastown element, a historic octagon shaped mosaic.  Due to wear and tear on the original floor the Judas Goat chose to keep the historic design by simply replacing it with a newer version of the same tile.

While the floors tell the story of Gastown, the walls tell the story of the Judas Goat.  The owners hired an artist to paint the story as a mural on the wall…just in case you haven’t read their blog and are not familiar with it yet.

A Goat on Blood Alley

We know what you are thinking, what kind of name is the Judas Goat?  It’s seems an odd fit for a Spanish Tapas bar, or at least it does at first glance.  When we looked a little deeper we realized that the Judas Goat is right at home on Blood Alley.

The name speaks not only to the brand but also the location of the restaurant.  A Judas goat is a staple at most abattoirs; it makes nice with the arriving animals and then leads them in to be slaughtered.  All the while the goat is just being friendly, unaware of what comes next for its new friends.  With a name like Blood Alley it doesn’t surprise us that the alley used to have several abattoirs that backed onto it.

When a Judas goat extends it welcome, it’s natural to be cautious, but fortunately this Goat leads to good food and drink. Learn more here!

Bring on the Goat

If you’re in Vancouver and manage to make it over to the Judas Goat before we do, (please, pretty please!) let us know what you think.  And if you know of any other great places to grab a bite in Vancouver let us know.  After all, we’ve already started planning our next trip there, and well, we gotta eat, right?

LOCATION:  Blood Alley, Gastown – Vancouver
WEBSITE: www.newsaltproject.blogspot.com
ARCHITECT: Gair Williamson, find him at (www.gwarchitects.ca).
ARTIST: Robert Chaplin
TYPE: Spanish tapas bar
VIBE: Bustling with locals

Christine + Jerry

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