Design U is the pre-eminent institution of higher learning for the design-challenged. Through training and education, Design U attempts to bring out the inner designer hidden deep inside those that show no signs of design life.
The premise: Concerned friends and relatives know someone among those nearest and dearest to them who need help. By enrolling them in Design U, professional designers provide the education and training the design-challenged need to become masters of their domain.
Design U takes our students and gets them into shape by registering them for “Interior Design 101”, a crash course in design, taught by the best designers in the business. Our neophyte designers learns about colours, textures, spatial division, scale, symmetry, and even learns about different design styles like contemporary, country, and classic. After a one-day crash course at Design U, the real test begins: they must put their newly-acquired design savvy to use in redesigning a space in their home. Along with our host, Maureen Ross Neilson, lead carpenter, Tyler Hamilton, and assistants Will Mood and Christina Maureen Rice, our students are given two days and $3,000 to complete the project. At the end of 48 hours, our Interior Design Instructors hand out the final grades. Will our students pass or fail? Will they ever look at curtains the same again?
Design U is there to educate, inform and ultimately allow the final decisions to be made by the participant. Should the walls be painted in mocha or caramel? Should the shag rug be thrown out or turned into funky throw pillows? Can there be such a thing as too many lamps? These are the kinds of design dilemmas our participants face as they tackle their 'home work' with an eye toward making their space livable again. In the end, they hope to make the grade and graduate with an honorary degree from Design U.
Because a good space is a terrible thing to waste!