Design Guide: The Source for interior design products, services and fine home furnishings.

Inspire! 2010 Home

SPEAKERS: Cynthia Leibrock  | Michael Thomas  | Lori Weitzner  | Karla Nielson  | Serena Cole 

Karla J. Nielson, Allied ASID, WCAA

Karla J. Nielson, Allied ASID, WCAA is Professor of Interior Design at Brigham Young University where she has taught for 36 years. She is author of three well-received  professional reference/interior design texts:  Interior Textiles: Fabrics, Applications and Historic Style (Wiley Publishers), Window Treatments (Wiley Publishers), and Interiors: An Introduction 5th edition (McGraw-Hill Publishers). Karla has written over one hundred articles for Draperies & Window Coverings magazine. She was awarded the Industry Achievement Award for authoring and teaching the Window Coverings Association of America’s “Certified Window Treatment Consultant” program. She has presented professional lectures on a wide variety of interior design topics in nearly every major U.S. city and in Canada and Mexico. She has a unique ability to educate, motivate and inspire professionals and students to higher levels of achievement through her incredible knowledge base and enthusiastic, fast-paced visual presentations.
Karla and her husband, Asa, are parents of five birth and five adopted children and look forward to welcoming their 7th grandchild in October.

Sustainable Textiles

In this seminar we will discuss sustainability in interior textiles and what it means to specify green design, beginning with responsible practices of manufacturing textiles. Renewable resources, including the newest developments in man-made fiber production will be presented. An overview of certifications will be presented, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). We will learn about Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and ways to control indoor air pollution to avoid health issues. The role of long-lived design in responsible interior design specifications, including resource efficiency, and McDonough Braugart  Sustainable Design initiatives will be discussed. This seminar will help designers be more aware of how we can each participate in the movement toward green design.

Inspirational, Practical, Safe Window Treatments

Window treatments offer creative and diverse ways to utilize the vast array of beautiful fabrics that are continually introduced to the design trade. In custom design, no two treatments need be the same. Designers can offer clients a wide spectrum of delightful, inspirational and unique ways to bring the beauty of fabric into their lives. Often overlooked are the many ways that today’s window coverings meet real needs. These include privacy, safety, universal design and emotional and physical well-being.  In this seminar, we will explore window treatments that promote good physical and psychological/emotional experiences, give comfort, and inspire through form, color, texture and pattern. We will see window treatments that carry out a style or theme and at the same time control, direct, diffuse or exclude light and limit or eliminate harmful UV rays while allowing the healthful benefits of natural daylighting. Contemporary treatments may also be motorized for ease of operation, and nearly always enhance energy efficiency. October is Window Coverings Safety month. Join us for a delightful window treatments experience and come away with many ideas for style, design, and practical, safe window treatment solutions that will help you become an even more effective designer.