Month: June 2020

How to Design a Sensory-Friendly Playroom on a Budget

Debbie A. Cunningham 2 weeks ago
Photo credit: Flashpop - Getty Images
Photo credit: Flashpop – Getty Images

From House Beautiful

When building a playroom for a child with special needs, such as autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, developmental delays, or sensory processing disorder, each design choice should accommodate learning, therapy, comfort, and play. Often, a family raising a child with special needs also needs their home to act as a therapy center, as they have a host of professionals coming in to provide specialty services.

Karri Bowen-Poole is a mom, educator, and interior designer who specializes in creating specialized playrooms through her company Smart Playrooms. She also recently launchedSmart D2, a new business that she co-founded with award-winning interior designer Denise Davies of D2 Interieurs. Karri designs these educational playrooms for clients by selecting furnishings, materials, and equipment that are developmentally appropriate, functional, and beautiful.

“About a year ago, I gut-renovated my garage and turned it into a

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Bring The Comforts Of Home On The Road With These Day-Tripping Essentials

Debbie A. Cunningham 2 weeks ago

With a holiday weekend coming up, we’re all looking to get out of the concrete jungle for some nature and fresh air. But, upon surveying the lodging scene, you may have noticed that there’s, um, nowhere to go. Every well-kept and cleaned Airbnb under the sun is booked, and crashing with friends is no longer the more-the-merrier affair it was pre-pandemic. If you’re not already sharing an established “social bubble,” even staying with family can be tricky. And then there’s the matter of travel — with long-haul train and bus rides a less-than-safe transit option, suddenly car travel seems like the way to go.

If you’re determined to mark the long weekend with a multi-mile hike, a full day at the beach, or grilling in the grassy countryside, you can still enjoy a jaunt out of the city — you’ve just got to be prepared. With

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Does Trendy Design Always Stand the Test of Time?

Debbie A. Cunningham 2 weeks ago
A bright pink kitchen decorated in the iconic style of the 1980s.
A bright pink kitchen decorated in the iconic style of the 1980s.

Architectural design comes to life in a variety of ways, often standing out against a landscape of traditional elements. Strong characteristics of buildings, houses, and other dwellings add eye-catching appeal and provide unique features that make their designers easily identifiable. This type of innovation garners attention and praise from other architects, journalists, and design enthusiasts — but of course, what might initially appear to be ingenious details can also be the very things that turn potential buyers and investors away down the road. That’s because extreme designs often come to be associated with trends, although that fact doesn’t come to light until some time has passed and it becomes obvious that the work isn’t timeless after all.

Although there will always be people with the money and appreciation for extremely unique architectural works, most eccentric features find a

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Cinema From Spain Wins Cannes Market’s Best Pavilion Design Award

Debbie A. Cunningham 2 weeks ago

Click here to read the full article.

A jury at Cannes Film Market has selected Cinema From Spain, a Spanish cinema promotion organization backed by support from the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) and the Spanish Institute of Cinematography and the Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), as the winner of this year’s award for Best Pavilion Design.

In the context of an entirely digital market, participating organizations had to rethink everything when it came to promoting themselves in a democratic, online space where the rules of a physical market no longer apply.

More from Variety

For Tito Rodríguez, marketing policy director at Spain’s Institute of Cinematography and the Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), the key was providing an online experience to match what Cinema From Spain is known for at physical markets.

“It was clear from the beginning we wanted to recreate the physical experience online,” he explained to Variety. “It

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