I just received a press release from Kohler today about the company’s sponsorship of a national public service campaign to alert consumers to the “looming freshwater shortage” and encourage them to save water. Other sponsors include Lowe’s, Bosch home appliances, Proctor & Gamble and the EPA’s WaterSense program.

The need for water conservation is real and urgent. According to experts (and government reports), 36 states will face water shortages in the next two years. This is not a new statistic to me, and I have quoted it myself, but the number that did surprise me in the press release was that each Americans uses about 100 gallons of water per day.

The PSA campaign is interesting and intriguing in its approach. It addresses some common everyday habits that waste water, such as leaving the faucet on while you’re brushing your teeth or running a half-empty dishwasher. What’s intriguing about it is the overall message, Wasting Water Is Weird, and the use of a creepy recurring character, Rip the Drip, who appears when people are about to waste water and basically “weirds” them into changing their behavior. Here’s one of three videos:

The campaign launches today and will run until the end of this year. Check out the other two videos on the Wasting Water Is Weird website. You can also go to Facebook and “Like” Rip the Drip, and follow him on Twitter.

So what do you think? Is creepy the way to get people to save water?

—Alice

It’s not only homeowners feeling overwhelmed at all the choices—as a design professional, I’m feeling it, too. I’ve been joking lately that it’s not only the multiple colors, shapes and sizes; it’s also the increasing eyestrain from reading all the small print.

In a non-scientific observation, I’d say I’m spending 20% more of my time helping clients through the selection process, and another 15% reading and working through the installation quirks. None of that covers any research for products I haven’t used yet, and it all feels like an addition to the 100% capacity I’m already working at.

Here are a few things I’ve learned the hard way that I hope will help you, especially if you’re new to the design field:

1. Know your clientele. I recently helped a client select a cubix-style large-scale tile for behind the range in her conservative, suburban home—a tile that an urban client in a neighborhood of contemporary homes would have loved. My mistake was listening to the wish when I knew better, and it ended up being a waste of both of our time. While you may secretly wish that you had the clientele to design the Italian sleek you always wanted, if your area isn’t there, here’s my suggestion: move…or wait until the next generation of younger homeowners replaces the old.

2. Avoid the technically challenging, unless your trades are up to the task. The plethora of high-end designs appearing online and in magazines has led the average clientele to think that every trade is capable of installing the product. No, no and no. If your plumber or contractor (or yourself) knows nothing about the quirks of a tankless toilet, someone is going to make a mistake during that first time AND you’ll be working overtime. I recently mentioned a tale in my blog of a European lavatory console where the plumber assembled it as best he could and dropped a handful of nuts and bolts in my hand. “I couldn’t figure out where these go,” he confessed. It’s up to you to figure out what everyone is capable of…or, if you’re going to push the envelope, to know the installation inside-and-out to be able to explain it logically.

3. Study new design, but don’t show your client everything. This is really a culmination of the first two. Study at least one new product a week. Spend time in forums to learn about other trades and their challenges—but don’t show off the knowledge to your client if it isn’t pertinent. While an acrylic tub is interesting, I doubt my Baby Boomer clients in their 1980 tract homes will be interested.

What are you doing to stay above this rising flood of design and product?

Until next time,

Kelly

If you read my last post about Zero Edge sinks, then you will appreciate this post about decorative high-pressure, self-supporting compact laminate. It’s a mouthful to say but basically it is a thick decorative melamine that is achieved by fusing sheets of kraft paper with thermosetting resins.

Abet Laminati, best known for its decorative laminates, produces Stratificato in more than 500 colors, 30 different finishes and eight sheet sizes.

Standard sheet thickness is 12 mm or ½ in. and 19mm or ¾ in., but it can be made up from 6 mm or ¼ in. to 30mm or 1 ¼ in. You can also choose such options as one-sided or two-sided design and standard or flame-retardant versions.

The Stratificato is suitable for commercial applications, such as toilet partitions and wall systems, or residential applications, such as countertops and backsplashes.

Abet states in its literature that “as a rule, no edge protection is needed.” However, to improve the appearance of exposed edges, extra-fine sandpaper and lemon oil furniture polish can be used to obtain a semi-gloss finish. Its warranty guarantees against “swelling, delamination and warpage caused by humidity or proper maintenance.”

I am curious to know how this compares to PaperStone. One of the drawbacks of PaperStone is that the darker colors show water spots.

—Ann Porter

Kevin Henry’s latest blog for this collaborative got me thinking. He wrote about the amount of choices we have today, not just limited to kitchen or bath design, but across the board. And how perhaps our choices are too many. Clients start to get that “glazed over” look when he starts to review all the options that are available in materials today. He also mentioned that you can’t even get a cup of coffee today without a plethora of choices, and although we are all fortunate to be able to have all these choices in a land of plenty, it can backfire on you.

This morning I picked up a design magazine that’s strictly focused on homes in my state. I won’t mention the name of the magazine, as I really like the folks who are associated with it (not to mention the fact that they have published several of my projects in the past), but some of the content leaves me shuddering. If overblown, over-done, over-the-top decorating (I won’t call it design) is what people want, stop the world, I wanna get off…

For some reason, people seem to equate large size, overdecorated grandiose rooms with good design. I’m guessing it started back in the ’80s with the emergence of the McMansion. I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been in and admittedly designed several homes that could double as bus terminals. Thankfully, this trend has gone away, replaced with better-scaled, more energy-efficient smaller homes.

The current economy has made most of us not only scale back, but there are still a lot of people out there who equate bigger with better. And designers who will load up these homes with way too much “stuff.” I’m talking not only about the living rooms and bedrooms, but also the kitchens. Are any of you designers out there still doing those huge “French”-style kitchens with tons of corbels, crown molding and center islands that you can’t even reach across? When I’m in one of these kitchens, I feel like I can’t breathe and that I’m being strangled by stuff.

Maybe you’re already thinking that I’m shooting myself in the foot by eschewing this type of work. The more stuff you pile in, the more money you make, right? Perhaps I have too much of a conscience, but I can’t do it anymore.

As a green designer, my first priority is to deliver a well-designed space that not only meets the needs and requests of my clients, but is also kinder and gentler to the planet. I can still do this and make money without going completely crazy with an over-the-top, overblown design.

Designing spaces with high-quality materials, energy-efficient appliances and lighting, as well as water-saving toilets and plumbing fixtures, can be just as beautiful and profitable, without all the overblown “stuff.” I love designing simple, classic kitchens that work. Kitchens that give me a good feeling when I walk into them, and let me breathe.

—Patricia Gaylor