The main lobby for Golden Comm, an website design firm in Irvine.

We are officially over the moon! For the third year running, our bustling design firm, LRM Interior Design, has taken home awards from the ASID OC’s annual Design Awards! This year’s was held on September 11, 2011 at the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. Although Lisa McDennon, our esteemed leader, has always had a bit of a competitive streak, she only entered our work for the first time three years ago, and has won a total of four Gold awards during that time.

This year we took home the Gold Award in the Commercial category—for the first time. Our previous three awards were for residential projects, so it means a lot. The winning project we entered was for the offices of Golden Comm in Irvine, where we created bright and modern interiors that matched the web design company’s technological arena.

“Competition in the Commercial category was fierce this year,” commented Lisa on the award. “We were up against all types of commercial designs, including restaurants and other corporate offices, and we are so honored to have won the Gold Award. It is a phenomenal feeling to be recognized in this way by my peers in the industry!”

Last year’s Gold Award in the prestigious Home of the Year category showcased our work on one of Lisa’s luxury bachelor residence projects in Newport Beach, and the previous year’s awards were for Best Living Room and Best Special Room, and both properties were in our home town of Laguna Beach.

This year’s award in the Commercial category tracks the progression of both Lisa and the design firm, as she has been taking on as many commercial projects as residential over the last year. One such project is for acclaimed lighting company Hinkley Lighting, who has hired us to redesign their national showroom in Dallas, plus we’ve also been hired for special projects by luxury Orange County resorts such as the Montage and Pacific Edge.

You may remember last year how Lisa McDennon was recognized by House Beautiful magazine as one of their Top 20 Designers to Watch and was named Top 20 Women To Watch by OC Metro magazine—obviously an accurate prediction by both publications. Lisa (and, of course, her firm!) has continued her trajectory of success in 2011, and she has no intention of slowing down in 2012 and beyond!

Are you ready for award-winning design in your home? Have you been searching for the right interior designer to take on your new office space, or redesign your restaurant? Call Lisa McDennon and her team of talented designers on 949-497-6806 now to schedule an appointment.

We loved this photo from the Hinkley website, since it could be our own Lisa McDennon modeling!

Remember earlier this year when we announced Lisa McDennon’s inclusion in Hinkley Lighting’s website and nationwide catalog? Lisa was extremely flattered to be chosen as one of their top picks for giving “Lighting Style Tips and Ideas from Fabulous Designers“, and was even quoted in the blog as saying she looked forward to a long relationship with the distinguished brand.

And that turns out to have been quite the prediction—we don’t want to spill the beans, but keep your eye out for some exciting news here on the LRM Interior Design blog about that very thing! In the meantime, we wanted to talk a little bit about why Lisa felt so privileged to be included in Hinkley’s cadre of favorite designers.

Hinkley Lighting has been in existence for almost 90 years, and still holds a strong reputation for quality in construction, superb functionality and beauty in design. Phil R. Hinkley founded the company in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922, and the first catalog did not feature any designer style tips, only fourteen copper light fixtures made for both indoor and outdoor use.

In the 1930s, the Hinkley company started moving from copper fixtures into specially treated steel and copper plating. They also started to include crystal moss, amber cathedral and amber opal glass into their pieces. During the 40s, like many manufacturers, Hinkley Lighting’s new owner Stanley Wiedemer shipped his sons off to the war and started making airplane parts for the government. They reverted to lighting after the war, when the need for residential housing skyrocketed.

The 50s and 60s were great times for innovation both in technology and design, and in the 80s launched their landscape lighting division, which is going strong today. We’re happy that it’s still a family business after all these years, and continues to succeed based on those same values the company was founded on. We also love Hinkley Lighting’s dedication to reducing their eco-impact, with teams dedicated to creating lighting that are more efficient and less harmful to the environment, while still embodying the styling we expect. Their outdoor lighting conforms to almost every Dark Sky requirement that exists, and they continue to provide LED conversions and fixtures for fluorescent bulbs.

At LRM Interior Design, we know how a single lamp can not only transform a room, but anchor the entire design. Lighting should be something that complements, that wows, that delights—but always provides the right quality of lighting for the room’s purpose. Interior designers like the LRM team are experts at lighting, and would love to talk to you about a lighting makeover. Call (949) 497-6806 for a consultation today!

Herringbone and Greek Spiral Detail

Lisa Rachelle McDennon, principal of LRM Interior Design, loves how tile can be a major part of the design in a kitchen or bathroom.

“When most people think of tile, they think of large or small squares that get stuck on floors or walls,” says Lisa. “Tile can be so much more!”

There are several LRMID projects that have been accentuated with tile, especially on the backsplash areas of kitchen and bathrooms.“In the kitchen, think about how tiling the wall behind the oven and range can be both decorative and functional. Several times we have used shaped tiles to create a pattern, or patterned tiles to create a decorative wall,” says Lisa. “We’ve even used a specialty ceramic tile maker who can create full-scale replicas of fruit and vegetables in a single tile that can be mounted to the wall.”

In the bathroom, Lisa and her team love using a multitude of tile sizes for accents and backsplashes behind the sink faucets. Before they were available to buy, Lisa had a stonecutter cut small, elongated pieces of slate to install in a client’s bathroom. She also is fond of a herringbone pattern, and using tesserae tile to create an Italianate-style mosiac border in a client’s shower.

More examples of LRMID’s tile work can be seen below:

Bathroom backsplash with vertical tiles

Sink backsplash with glass tiles

LRMID uses a carved piece of marble as a backsplash on dual sinks

Slate border backsplash

Showers can have tile border accents

LRMID covered the range hood with tile and created a decorative wall using shaped tiles

Protect the wall behind an industrial-style stove with tiled panels

Also pondering on this theme was ASID president Bruce J. Brigham. His President’s Letter in the July/August 2009 issue of ASID ICON sums up everything about awards, and says it better than we could. So why reinvent the wheel?

(We have reproduced it here since it is not available online.)

Awards: Beyond the Beauty Contest

This is our second annual design awards issue of ASID ICON, so I thought it might be an appropriate time to discuss the subject of giving out awards.

In his book, The Power of Design, Richard Farson contends that awards are self-serving and don’t really advance practice. I, for one, believe ASID should give out awards, because celebrating extraordinary design work is what ASID should be all about. As a professional Society, we work to accomplish so much every day for the profession and for our members: advocacy, continuing education, networking and more. But what we sometimes forget to do is celebrate pure design.I am all for this kind of celebration. But how can we move an awards program away from being a simple beauty contest and turn it into something more meaningful? To address Farson’s objection, how can an award begin to advance the interior design profession?

The answer lies within the very essence of what we do and why it is meaningful: Great interior design changes people’s lives.

The way a resort hotel makes you unwind and feel carefree…the way a well-designed hospital interior lifts you up and makes you feel better…the way a perfectly suited home design allows you to effortlessly enjoy your life for years to come…the way a renovated office space increases work pleasure and productivity, and reduces sick days, too. These are some oft he intangible wasy interior design improves multiple aspects of our lives and instigates meaningful change.

Let’s give awards for these effective designs. Let’s celebrate the powerful ways we use design to create an effect, and more than that, the way we use design as a means to enhance people’s quality of life.

I believe design award entries today should be submitted jointly by the designer and the client. Both should share in the opportunity to explain their particular use of strategic interior design. And then, when a clear program of the effective use of design to accomplish a goal has been met and exceeded (in a beautiful way!), when the team of designer and client can point to the quality effects of that design that have had an impact on people’s lives—well, that is worthy of an award.

Pretty doesn’t solve problems. It doesn’t reduce the length of a hospital stay or motivate workers to achieve greater productivity/ It doesn’t sell more jeans to distracted kids or produce the perfect living space. We are about more than merely “pretty.” Beautiful and elegant design is just one’s ticket in the door. Interior design, on a really professional level, is so much more than that.

But if we can begin to measure the wonderous effects that interior design produces all around us—to literally change the way we live, work, shop, play and heal—we will really be celebrating our profession, and not just recognizing projects with the largest budgets and highest profiles.

Bruce J. Brigham, FASID, ISP, IES

Thank you, Bruce— and ASID!

Check out our updated ASID Orange County profile, where you can see some photos of our recent projects and read up on Lisa’s biography. We value being a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, as it is a wonderful resource for interior designers, industry vendors and associates, but most importantly, it’s a great guide for consumers. Choosing a designer who is registered with ASID will ensure you’ve signed up with a talented, qualified professional.

Plus, you can review us on Yelp.com! It’s not just for restaurant reviews, you know. We look forward to being reviewed by real people who have dealt with us first-hand.

Keep reading our blog for more news about Lisa Rachelle McDennon and her talented design team!