DAConnie: Designing Woman

If you are a friend of Design Alliance and you have visited our showroom, chances are you have had an encounter with the small, but mighty Connie Bloodworth. A designing woman, she has spent over 40 years—13 of those years behind the desk at Design Alliance—helping others create beautiful environments. And at the end of May she is retiring.

Connie showed signs of a future in design as a young girl through her way with color, sparing her mother from design disasters by using her natural color-combining skills. Later, Connie’s love of interior design and her innate business sense gave her the confidence to open her own interior design studio in the 70s. After a few years, she took a break from the business to design her own life as a wife and a mother, making marriage and children her priority for a while. However, the idle brain of a problem-solver and multitasker cannot thrive when dormant, so in 2002, when a beacon of beautiful aesthetics crossed her path through a position at Design Alliance, she was ready!

She joined forces with owner Joy Solleder and co-worker Donna Erickson who had built Design Alliance over the last seven years. Connie took on the position of Fabric Showroom Manager, with wallcovering and trim, settling in to her “corner office” for the next decade. In 2013, Joy Solleder sold DA to JoEllen Collins and Joy Crowe and Connie took over the position of Furniture Manager for the next year and a half. Today, 13 years later, she longs for more time with her husband and grandchild and has decided to retire from her full time post at Design Alliance.

If you have been lucky enough to have Connie shine her light your way, you know she is your champion. Her charming smile will disarm you as she sings your praises, like your very own publicist! Having Connie on your team is always a plus. She is determined to find a solution, fearless to pursue the persons of interest, motivated by information and a directory of who’s who and what’s what in this industry.

We will miss her and her design tales from “atop her foot,” her enthusiasm for a new idea and her generous spirit with what she knows about this business of design. We know that Design Alliance is what it is today, in big part, due to the passion and participation of one DAConnie and her love of design.

We wish her well, as she is needed at home to care for her husband, John, currently on the mend.      

We also expect to see her smiling face in here from time to time as she works on her own projects and on projects for DA. After all, a designing woman can’t simply go “cold turkey!” And, if you need Connie’s help with a particular project, don’t hesitate to ask—she’ll be available for consults by appointment.

Come say "goodbye" on Thursday, May 28. We're hosting a retirement party for Connie from 11 am to 3 pm.

Think Outside the House

A few weeks ago my partner, Jo Ellen, showed me a picture of her friend’s home in Vermont covered in a blanket of snow, like a Christmas card. IT’S MAY, for snow plow’s sake! How lucky are we to be living in the perfect weather of San Diego!

When was the last time you factored in an extra 45 minutes in the morning due to weather? Uh… NEVER! Every year weather-weary Americans abandon their homes and migrate to So Cal so they, too, can wake up under blue skies at 72 degrees. It’s unacceptable for us San Diegans not to embrace, enjoy and respect our sunny coastal climate and move it outdoors.

The way we live has changed; not just inside, but outside in our yards and patios. We are now absorbing inspiration in a beautiful garden setting by soaking up the greens in a peaceful place to relax, in a shaded gathering spot for conversation, or with the alluring ambience of outside dining.

Okay Designers, you need to think outside the house! Take this newfound respect for your environment and expand your projects by helping your clients, still unaware of their outside assets, see the lifestyle waiting just outside their door. Now, if any of you have a client with a view like the one below, and they do not have an outdoor living space, feel free to use the “Shame on you!” method of selling.

Then show them the picture of Jo Ellen’s friend’s house in Vermont. For everybody else, unless your client is in a high rise without a balcony, all homes have room for at least one perch to view a beautiful day. Help them see where and how.

Use your designer’s eye to see the potential for your client’s outdoor living area. If they don’t have an ocean view, look for the “focal point” outside their home. Remember, second only to sailboats is the beautiful garden. Someone worked long and hard to create this magical nature space and it should be enjoyed!

There is also the valley view, the foothills, a pool, pond or lake, the green belt or the spotting of trees on a stretch of lawn… not long for our neighborhood!

Maybe an interesting covered area or pergola  and, lest we forget, the small space required to house the big enjoyment of an outdoor eating area!

Maybe their view is a wall… or a tiny patio. Show them where flowerbeds could be created or help them create a stylish pot garden or design a unique canvas awning! 

If all else fails, this is where the “Good Weather Guilt Trip” comes in and how the joys of the out-of-doors are many and should not be denied. Morning coffee or “happy hour” after work, candlelit dinners, Sunday brunch, an afternoon nap, a quiet reading spot, thinking spot and party spot! It’s a whole other room and X-amount of additional square footage of living space in our land of good weather!

If your clients are smart enough to have figured this out and they have outdoor furniture, maybe it needs to be refreshed. Show them the new Duralee outdoor fabric collection. Or maybe it could use some pillow accents—bring the Elaine Smith catalog over. Or they don’t have a fire pit. Tropitone does! Show them!

If the rug is faded, we have rugs.  And ceiling fans, outdoor artwork, hanging chairs, lights and lanterns and all sorts of outdoor furniture!

Let us help you help your client find their outdoor living space! There is a project waiting for you to find, Designers!

Learn all about the versatility and style offered by Sunset West outdoor furniture at our Lunch & Learn scheduled for May 21, TAKING IT OUTSIDE!