The Real Deal
Late nights, missed meals and countless hours spent staring bleary eyed at a screen – sound familiar? It’s the typical life of a student, a life that I know well and will be returning to in three short months. Except I am an interior design student, and school does not just consist of going to class, studying and writing exams. A typical day for me during a semester is fourteen hours spent toiling away on projects in the studio – working on group studio projects, preparing seminar presentations, making models and AutoCAD… lots of it. If you have ever come across any posts about the life of an Architecture student, you have read about my everyday struggles. While in school – if I could sleep under my desk in the studio, I would! Except all of that changed just three weeks ago when I walked through the door at Area3 and started as a junior designer for the summer.
It all began with a phone call at midnight from my good friend Allison (she had worked for Area3 last summer) and was helping them look for another student to help with projects this summer. Little did I know that I would get a call from Lisa the next day and start working there the very next week! As exciting as it all was, I was equally as scared. From Kwantlen Polytechnic University Interior Design alumni, I have heard that working and going to school is completely different – and it is completely true! I am getting regular amounts of sleep, eating regular meals and seeing daylight (lots of it)!
Working at Area3 has opened up my eyes to a different side of interior design – the “Reality” of it. In school, we start and finish entire projects in as little as three weeks. We have fictional clients, unlimited budgets and crazy concepts that you can only get away with in school – a squirrel concept loft, anyone? Every day I am at Area3 I learn something new, from timelines to budgets, not to mention real clients – it is an exciting world that I am slowly getting to know. If you asked me three weeks ago what a James Hardie plank was, I would have stared back at you with a blank expression. The world of exteriors was something I never thought I would have to know about as an Interior Designer. Something else we do not learn much about in school – is the business of interior design. It takes a lot of coordination, communication, teamwork and of course, creativity. It takes many people to complete a project and interior designers are the important connecting link.
It is refreshing and exciting coming in everyday working with the amazing Area3 team. I have only been here for a few weeks, but it has been an amazing experience so far. I am looking forward to the rest of the summer here and sharing my experiences with you here on their blog! Stay tuned for the coming posts.
