Berlin Designs, Inc. Blog: Design Rituals

... a passionate revelation of my design rituals ...
a passionate account from a South Florida award-wining interior designer who is blessed to celebrate her 20th year anniversary of designing "interiors that lift your spirit™"
Welcome! The search is finally over. That perfect marriage of understanding without words:one look, one image, a breathtaking view... Someone who will know how to interpret her client's wishes by listening to all the unsaid words, seeing the cues, perceiving the feelings with a simple gaze.
I am the lucky designer who will get to go into the personal spaces in your life, your office or home. That place you call your own, where you can be you. Your surroundings matter to me, my passion is to let the best of you shine through the space you occupy. No antiseptic rooms, catalog photo-shoot ready, rather the elegant comfort of a back porch at sunset is the feeling I want in the interior of your private spaces. The sink-down comfort of being in your OWN space.
Let your smile shine as you enjoy learning about my passion for design. Then, you will see why we say: experience Interiors that lift your spirit™.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Sustainable Aircraft Hangar Debuts in Burbank, California

Hangar 25 boasts a plug-in jet system, solar panels, sustainable landscaping, and electric vehicles, among other green features.

Shangri-La Construction hangar 25 photo
On December 9, Los Angeles officials and notable guests including Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa and Rick Fedrizzi, president and founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, welcomed Hangar 25 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California. If an aircraft hangar servicing planes consuming tremendous amounts of fuel can be green, the 60,000-square-foot facility is the most sustainable one in the world, with the highest possible LEED rating, Platinum.

Designed by Shangri-La Construction, the hangar is expected to operate at reduced operating costs--thanks to reduced energy consumption--and was constructed at a price comparable to other aircraft hangars, according to the construction firm. Shangri-La Construction outfitted the hangar with green features including a plug-in jet system, solar panels, sustainable landscaping, electric vehicles, and a chemical-free fire system. Walls are decked out in public art. Shangri-La Construction hopes the hangar's green design elements will be adopted as a green model for other new construction and retrofit projects.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Fireplace: to mantle or not?

We're building a modern-style home that will include a fireplace. It's not the standard kind that's placed against a wall but will instead be situated between the living room and dining room and visible from both. What sort of mantel would be appropriate with such a fireplace?

In her column in the Baltimore Sun, Rita St. Clair explained the appropriate mantel for a fireplace "situated between the living room and dining room and visible from both." St. Clair said this "type of fireplace" is "seldom accompanied by any mantel at all. In keeping with its minimalist styling, there are usually no decorative or framing elements around the firebox."

The type of fireplace you're describing is seldom accompanied by any mantel at all. In keeping with its minimalist styling, there are usually no decorative or framing elements around the firebox.

If you still prefer to add a mantel, your best option is probably to have it custom-designed, perhaps in Art Deco or Arts and Crafts styling. A local cabinetmaker should be able to create a wooden mantel of that kind with a handsome finish.


An alternate strategy involves calling attention to the wall around the fireplace. In this sophisticated contemporary setting, most of the wall has been covered with slab-sized ceramic tiles that form an integrated geometric pattern.

A contemporary fireplace doesn't need to be framed by a mantel. The main requirement is that the fireplace opening be surrounded with fireproof material to 6 inches minimum (building codes vary). This can be slate, marble or tile. Beyond that, you may extend the decorative treatment by covering a good part of the wall in tile or marble, or by using a contrasting paint.