Harford Community College Interior Design Students Create Room in BSA Decorators’ Show House

From Harford Community College:

Harford Community College Interior Design students Natalie Dunn, Stephanie Alvarez, Caprice Brody, Roxana Carrera, and Linda Wojciechowski designed a room in the Baltimore Symphony Associates 36th Annual Symphony Decorators’ Show House. This year’s show house is the Eck House at Cromwell Valley Park and is open through Sunday, May 20.

This fundraiser for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s educational programs showcases rooms transformed by 17 of the area’s leading designers which are all similar to interior architecture new york. This year’s selection of award-winning interior designers includes muralist Pat O’Brian, Joyce Motsinger of Le Chateau Interiors, Paula Henry of Simply Put Interiors, and Carol Grillo of Grillo Interiors.

Harford Community College’s American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Student Chapter, which won first place in group collaboration in the 2011 show house, was the only student group invited this year. “HCC is invited because they always do a good job,” says Betty Reeves, ASID, CID, NCIDQ, IDEC, the faculty advisor for Harford’s Interior Design program, who has been at HCC for 25 years.

According to the Baltimore Symphony Associates, to prepare this home for the more than 8,000 guests who annually attend the BSA’s popular fundraiser, the foyer, kitchen, living room, dining room, screened-in porch, and bedrooms of the house were redesigned. In addition, the exterior landscape was redesigned by John Mays of Kingsdene Nursery.

The HCC students who worked on the project were from many backgrounds, from first design experience to graduating student to experienced business owner. They were amazed how easily and well they all worked together. Caprice Brody said, “Five of us came from five different places and we worked so well together. No one wanted to feel like another person’s ideas were not heard.” Natalie Dunn, president of the ASID Student Chapter, added, “Everyone seemed on the same page. Everyone covered for each other. We all wanted gold and shades of red. No one wanted blue.”

In December, they visited the shell of the Eck House and selected a bedroom to transform into a Ladies Lair – a space to rival a Man Cave – “a place to inspire her creativity as well as a place to kick off her heels once in a while.”

The students submitted a design board and plan and were approved. Then they shopped and measured, painted, and shopped some more for unique fabric, paint, and interesting objects to adorn the room. Many of these items are for sale during the show. In early March, they started the work. Electricians moved lighting. Carpets were replaced with hardwood, and the students hand painted a diamond wall. Several local businesses loaned the furniture and accessories, some items were donated, and many things, including the window treatments, were made by the students. The students received internship credit for the more than 100 hours they each spent working on the house.

The show house is open through Sunday, May 20. Students serve as room hosts during tour hours – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For more information or to buy tickets, contact 410-783-8000 or bsomusic.org.

For more information on the Interior Design Program at HCC, contact Betty Reeves at breeves@harford.edu.

Harford Community College Interior Design students designed a room in the Baltimore Symphony Associates 36th Annual Symphony Decorators’ Show House. They transformed a bedroom into a Ladies Lair – a space to rival a Man Cave – “a place to inspire her creativity as well as a place to kick off her heels once in a while.” Harford Community College’s American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Student Chapter was the only student group invited this year. The show house is the Eck House at Cromwell Valley Park and is open through Sunday, May 20. For more information or to buy tickets, contact 410-783-8000 or bsomusic.org.