They were a lot of fun to do. Is there interest in reviving them? It seemed that they faded out for lack of participation. We lost some of the original group of participants, and new folks weren't joining in (reading, but not designing). I think that they though they weren't "good enough" or something, which is kind of silly considering that many of us who did participate started from a place of ignorance (both about design and design styles and about graphics and the mechanics of creating a design board).

For those of you who weren't around for them, the Design Around This threads were a bit of a game or challenge where we would (collectively) pick a theme (like Keeping the Golden Oak) and then whoever wanted to would put together a kitchen design (in the form of a digital collage or just a collection of design elements) and post it to the thread, sometimes with an amusing story about a hypothetical "client." Readers of the thread could then offer comments and constructive criticism.

Below is a link to the "About" thread for the series. It has a link to all the topics we did.

Here is a link that might be useful: About the Design Around This threads

I enjoyed participating in them, and would do so again.

me too

I'm on again off again in the forum
due to varied work/life schedules, but maybe you could try it again and see if there is any interest now.

I joined late to participate, but really enjoyed it. As others mentioned, it sometimes depends on work/life schedules, but if you started this up again I'd make every effort to participate.

I don't like design boards...I mean doing them. They're so jam-packed...and I really like the separate pictures. That being said, I do miss the posts :)

I will concede that the design boards get a bit cluttered sometimes, especially when you are trying to include small things (cabinet hardware was always a particular pain to get to scale properly). But a lot of the designs were just a series of pics--Palimpsest had a knack for laying them out in an order that helped you visualize things, but it was still separate pics.

If we are going to do this we need a topic. Here's the old list with the ones we've done removed (I added classical revival style). I'm open to new suggestions.

Materials
Knotty pine
Metal cabinetry
Interesting tile (we can do this one over and over--maybe relief tile next?)
Vetrazzo
Marmoleum graphic series
Back-painted glass
Commercial Kitchens/Restaurant Supply

Defining the Home
Spanish Colonial Revival
Classical Revival
Craftsman
Prairie School
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
Mash-up house (what do you do with a house that is already a mash-up of styles, like a Mission-style Queen Anne)

Theme/Decorating Styles
Eclectic
Starting from clothing fashions as your inspiration pic, design a kitchen that suits the era/mood/style
Scandinavian
Black & white kitchens
Unusual colors (Colors you donâÂÂt normally see in a kitchen)
All neutral kitchen

Budget/Supply restrictions
$10K budget
Ikea kitchen (all Ikea?)
Mail order kitchen
Home Depot kitchen
Architectural salvage/upcycle/recycle

Define the People
Mid-life crisis bachelor (or cougar) pad
Rabid sports fan wants to decorate in team colors
????

Presentation Strategies that Can Be Combined with Other Choices
This/Not That (Good taste/bad taste, works/doesnâÂÂt work)
High/Low (same look, different budgets)

I think we should revive these. Any interest?

I'm very interested, but, honestly, mostly in reading them voyeuristically. I am loath to sign up for stuff like Olioboard or anything that wants information from me. I don't even do Photobucket anymore. I'd like to see themes like Texas Hill Country and styles not represented much here. I'd like to see New Orleans Whorehouse. I'd like to see dramatic backsplashes. I'd like to see Art Deco. I'd like to see one wild light fixture and what people do with it.

I'm interested. My participation goes up and down based on how much time I have at work, but I will definitely make an effort to participate. (Sometimes I just play around with Olioboard for fun without even having any intention of posting.)

duplicate post

This post was edited by pricklypearcactus on Fri, Nov 7, 14 at 16:16

Anybody seen cawaps? I'm in the middle of a big project and can't play maestro.

Are there any other interested folks? Any favorites among the topics? Do any of the topics reflect the kinds of projects people have been doing recently?

How about a 1930s kitchen? I think coming up with budget saving ideas (Depression era kitchens) might be fun. I'm fine with using any materials, as long as it makes sense with the theme.

And if some want to do an expensive 1930s home (there were a few) that would be fine, too....as long as we stay true to the time period.

So many times we see a home built in the era we choose. Even an earlier home that was redone on a budget in the 1930s might be a nice twist. Just a few ideas :)

kitchendetective - yes!!! One wild backplash or light fixture - I'm in :)

Just think of the story treb will pitch :)

So are you saying pick one particular light fixture and have everyone riff off of that? Or people are allowed to pick their own wild light fixture? In general, I've found these work better when people have a little more freedom--people are less likely to participate if the theme doesn't pique their fancy.

Kitchendetective--Olioboard is convenient but hardly manatory. Folks have used Microsoft Paint, Word, PowerPoint. Palimpsest just linked to a bunch of different photos, arranging them for presentation within the post itself. The thing that Olioboard does that those approaches don't is strip the backgrounds (you can do this in Photoshop, but Olioboard is free), which can make for a nicer presentation, but it's not necessary.

I've been remarkably busy--I just got back from an international work trip that had me putting in absurd hours in the weeks leading up to it. And of course I came home sick. But I can make time to start a thread if we can agree on a theme.

I like the idea of allowing people to pick their own wild light fixture(s) but it would also be fun to see the spaces people put together, using the same fixture. Perhaps the initial DAT thread could solicit fixture suggestions, to get people thinking. Hope you're feeling better cawaps, and thanks for being up for this!

How about we start with choose-your-own wild fixture, but ask folks to post an individual fixture pic or a link, and then people can riff on each other's fixtures. How does that sound?

I think that sounds good. I'm already looking forward to this!

Anyone else....?

Okay, I went ahead and posted, so no turning back now! We're committed to crazy light fixtures.

If there's participation, we can take on 1930's kitchens or Texas Hill Country homes in future threads.

I'm not around much these days but I'd be down for it.

Good to see you, Marcolo. What ever transpired with your remodel & its entertaining mishaps? Has time blunted the trauma just a tad?

I'm crazy busy right now, but I'm up for participating as much as possible if the timeline for the posting the results is long enough. I've always wanted to use Rejuvenation's "Drake" light fixture somewhere, and would, if it weren't insanely expensive!