Renovations can be a lot of fun! Much of that depends on the mindset of the client. As architects, part of the role is to set realistic expectations by educating the client on the process.

Every renovation that we undertake at Ross Design begins with a close examination of the existing structure. We explore its strengths, its quirks, and the untapped potential it holds.

Whether it is a light refresh or a complete transformation, we see each project as an investment in the future. One of our most memorable compliments came from a client who told us she felt like she “had moved without ever having to move at all!”

As part of revamping the marketing strategy for Ross Design Architects, I have decided to restart my blog. I googled and joyfully found it just sitting there…waiting. I discovered it had been a decade since my last post!

Every day as I drive to the gym and back I pass a construction site for a new home. Of course I notice it, after all creating homes is the major part of my business and I enjoy keeping up with what is going on in the various neighborhoods around me.

Happy 2015!!!

This past year, I’ve enjoyed becoming acquainted with several other architects through social media. We share ideas, articles, projects, and sources via Twitter and Facebook.

After the last few years, things have really picked up for my practice. I’ve gotten to the point where I find myself working 6 days a week, including morning and evening overtime, and I still struggle to meet deadlines.

I find it hard to believe that it has been just over a year since I last posted, so forgive me if I’m a little rusty!  I have mapped out a couple of entries in advance, so hopefully you will hear from me once a month or so.  As is often the case, this topic was not on the list! Enjoy.

This time of year, I have no need for an alarm clock. The birds awaken as the sky begins to light and there is no sleeping through their cacophonous greeting of the day. It is odd that in a world where most city dwellers are awakened by traffic noises, I am awakened by birds!

On a warm February afternoon, while much of the northeast was digging out from a major snowstorm, the family and I went to visit one of our favorite local parks — Oakland Cemetery.

Color has always trended. From year to year, the palette of clothing and interior design lurches this way and that in a seemingly random way. You can clock the shifts with the seasons at your neighborhood Target or Pier 1.

It seems every time you turn around there is another social media platform that becomes an indispensable marketing tool (AKA time sink) for business. The newest rage is Pinterest. Pinterest is a virtual scrapbooking system.

Last fall purchased an electronic reader. A nook color from Barnes and Noble. I had resisted for a while, after all, you can’t turn the pages. One of the reasons (justifications/rationalizations) was it might be a novel way to engage the kids with reading. In reality, I decided I just wanted it! Isn’t that enough?

Right before Christmas a friend of mine working for the local office of a national design magazine called to tell me the office was closing. The staff had been given leave to take the books from the library if they desired and she wanted to know if I was interested.

I first met Karen Schwartz at a job site on a cold January afternoon.  She and her husband were contemplating a renovation to their home in Atlanta and something about the progress of a project of mine that she drove past everyday had intrigued her. Very happily, I won the commission and a successful collaboration was begun.

I was having lunch with an interior designer friend of mine the other day. While we were discussing what was going on in our lives and businesses, she brought up her upcoming trip to Serenbe. 

I tend to tuck things a way. I was reorganizing some books and came across a photo album from long ago and far away. Glancing through the pages, I found my self reliving events that had fallen far away from my active memory.

One of the reasons I love Georgia is that it is about as far South as you can go (north of the equator) and still have 4 distinctly different seasons. I find seasonal rhythms important. They help mark the passage of time.

As I was “stumbling” through my weekly Stumble-on suggestions, I hit upon this photoblog from the Denver Post. Entitled Captured: The Ruins of Detroit.