We’re Hiring!!! Looking for a Design Assistant

March 29th, 2016

Kristina Crestin Design is looking for a Design Assistant!

WE're hiring for blogging jpg

We’re looking for a talented driven individual to join our team as a Design Assistant.

They will assist in every step of a project, from sourcing products and materials, working on construction documents, project installations, marking and more.

The role of Design Assistant would entail:

  • General office duties supporting the design staff; Sourcing tile, lighting, furniture, fabrics and other items for projects; running errands & obtaining samples.
  • Preparing materials and presentations for meetings; meeting follow up with design team executing action items.
  • Order management; assist with the ordering of product.
  • Marketing; When we don’t have an intern the design assistant would assist in updating our web site and Houzz as needed, assist in blog layout and uploading, provide some Instagram and Facebook support.
  • Support with special events and photo shoots.
  • We are a Mac based firm, so you will work on layouts in Pages and spread sheets for schedules in Numbers.
  • The Design Assistant would be working directly with the Principal Designer on some projects and as part of a bigger team assisting the Junior Designer on larger projects.

What we like to see:

  • You should consider Apple’s Pages and Numbers like family, very close family!
  • Strong communication skills, accountability and self motivation.
  • The ability to work as a team.
  • A great attitude!

A must:

  • A degree in interior design.
  • A solid understanding of AutoCAD.
  • 1-2 years of interior design experience in a residential design firm.
  • A reliable car.

Time requirement: This is a full time salaried position.

Sound like a fit?  We’d love to hear from you. Apply by emailing kristina@kristinacrestindesign.com with the subject “Design Assistant Position” and your name in the subject. Please include your resume and samples of your work.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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On the Road: Visiting Cosentino

March 21st, 2016

Waking up to a beautiful day in Spain our first trip was to Cosentino’s quarry. We drove up into the mountains to get to this vantage point. You can appreciate the vastness and think a bit more about just what it takes to get that stone slab installed in your home when you step back and look at this first step in the process.

Kristina Crestin Design_Cosentino Silestone trip A

After visiting the quarry we started with a stop at their headquarters to check out fresh new products. You’ll notice I managed to ferret out the one turquoise thing in the building – turquoise Silestone! Yippie!

Some other new finds I was excited about was Cosentino’s departure from counters to the sink and vanity market. They have shower components as well but I was taken with the sinks, so clean and streamline. The simplicity of the Armony sink pictured below left in particular is something I’d love to integrate into my design work. From a design point of view it could streamline the design process of purchasing these as one element vs. drawing out details for a local fabricator to make.

Kristina Crestin Design_Cosentino Silestone trip B

Next? Orange vests and hard hats! A real good look. Without the hard hat one could assume we had gotten ourselves into trouble in Spain and had to work off some community service!  Blame the sangria! Kidding aside we rocked the vests and headed off to get our behind the scenes tour.

Kristina Crestin Design_Cosentino Silestone trip C

We saw a bit of the stone cutting process – 24 hours to cut one block of stone into individual slabs! No wonder they cost so much money …..  After that we got to see both Silestone and Dekton.  I’m a bit taken with some of the new Dekton finishes. The fact that the material can be used on an outdoor kitchen in our New England Climate and survive blows my mind.

Kristina Crestin Design_Cosentino Silestone trip D

To check out more about Cosentino and all their offerings head to their web site here.

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On the Road: Barcelona in a Day

March 15th, 2016

A day to do Barcelona … 1,2,3 – go! We were lucky enough to head out on a trip with a vendor, Cosentino and they were generous in tacking on free days before and after visiting their facility. We all flew into Barcelona to meet up to make our journey from there. That also gave us a free day to tour the city. With limited time we decided on seeing some Gaudi masterpieces balanced with experiencing the culture (AKA sangria drinking in cafe’s)

Kristina Crestin Design_Barcelona_a

We experienced Casa Batllo, marveling at how something like that starts out on paper. That’s my Designer BFF Keith with me below.

Kristina Crestin Design_Barcelona_b

Another item we couldn’t help notice was all the beautiful pavers everywhere. Decorated, designed and thoughtful in the way the pattern repeats worked. Totally impressed.

Kristina Crestin Design_Barcelona_c pavers

Our other Gaudi experience, and one that took almost an entire afternoon was visiting La Sagrada Familia. Wow. I mean wow. Some of our new build projects take years, but it’s been under construction for over 100 years – and still going!  I don’t have nearly enough space to share everything but basically the church started out in the gothic style and then Gaudi got involved. When you get up close you can see how he cleverly designed around and over the gothic elements.  Almost a game of hide and seek for us designers to look it over trying to ferret out the gothic elements!

Kristina Crestin Design_Barcelona_d new

We were lucky enough to tour the space towards the end of the day when the light was low and shining; illuminating all the stained glass windows and coring the interior with a myriad of colors. It was definitely a special experience. You’ll notice below I even found ‘my’ area of the interior – covered floor to ceiling with various shades of blue and green stained glass!

Kristina Crestin Design_Barcelona_e

Lastly, and because I don’t want one experience to overtake the whole blog I’ll share one last element – the doors below. These are bronze but look like carved wood; the relief and the shadows and forms it created I thought was just beautiful. Imagine if I asked an artisan now to create something like this – I can’t even imagine how much money it would be!

Kristina Crestin Design_Barcelona_f door new

For more information on the La Sagrada Familia check out their web site.

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This Old House: North Shore Farmhouse – Our Newest Collaboration!

March 11th, 2016

Finally! We can share this big announcement after keeping it under wraps since last summer! We have just completed the interiors for the Emmy award-winning PBS series This Old House.

For many months we have been working on a North Shore 18th century farmhouse that combines historic architecture with todays amenities. This is where we come in – helping the clients bring some modern farmhouse touches into the interior and make it a home.

We have been collaborating with Connor Homes out of Vermont and builder Kaminski Construction throughout this process. Check out the teaser video here. I can’t wait to show you more!  This North Shore Farmhouse premiers in Boston on Thursday, March 31st at 8pm on Channel 2, but check your local listings here.

Kristina Crestin Design_This Old House announcement

For more info follow along at the This Old House web site.

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Stylewatch: Our Work Popping up in the Boston Globe Magazine

March 8th, 2016

It’s always so fun to see our work in print. At that point you’re so far removed from the process you can step back and appreciate the outcome. This weekends Boston Globe Magazine had a piece by Marni Katz on a fun girls room Mikaela and I designed recently. Getting to work on a bedroom for a pair of tweens was a nice departure from most of our work and just plain fun to do. Who doesn’t like to play with ruffled drapes once in a while!

The client wanted a New York City feel that was a bit feminine. Our focus was a room that they could gown into, letting go of the kiddie room feeling that the space had. We worked with the concept of a young 20something girl’s first NYC apartment in Soho; mixing sophistication with a little whimsy and a little urban.

Kristina Crestin Design_Boston Globe Magazine

We have more photos over on our web site, but we’ll share a full spread of images here soon! Then you’ll get to fully appreciate our killer gallery wall that our go-to art installer Sarah teamed up with us on. Lots of back and forth, reformulating plans as well as an entire day leads to quite an install! Look out for more photos.

Kristina Crestin Design_Boston Globe Magazine cover

If your looking for professional art installation reach out to Sarah at SJ Art Consulting and Installation.  Dresser by Lekker, Beds by Land of Nod, Drapes + Monogram letters by Anthropologie, Sconces and Bedding by West Elm, sheets by PB Teen, Sofa from Knoll, Chair from Mitchell Gold, Side table from Crate & Barrel.

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On the Road: Heading to Spain with Cosentino !

March 5th, 2016

Hi all! Long time no see! Sorry we have been absent. We’ve had a special project that’s been keeping us busy that I’ll share more about next. In the meantime after a very busy fall and winter Deb (aka Mom) and I have the amazing opportunity of whisking off to Spain on a vendor trip with Cosentino! Yes you heard me right – they are bringing us all the way over to Spain to see their quarries and production facilities. A designers dream vacation! I’ll be sharing some of the highlights, so tag along with us to see the behind the scenes!

Kristina Crestin Design_Cosentino trip 1

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Styling a table for Diner en Blanc

September 1st, 2015

I get to do the coolest things sometimes!  This weekend I styled a table that was providing inspiration for the upcoming Diner en Blanc. Its basically a giant secret diner meets flash mob. Sounds like a blast, though allot of work – you bring all your stuff! That’s right – table, chairs, food and fabulous decor of course. All while wearing white and having everything you bring be white. No pressure. :)

Yesterday Kristen from the blog The Boston Fashionista was coming over with a pile of fabulous clothes to do the shoot.  (check out her blog post here! ) I went to work last week by hitting up the lovely duo at Artifact Home and Garden for many lovely items I could borrow. What a shopping trip.

Diner en Blanc 3

Because I couldn’t decide I went for two looks – my original satin brass and white direction (with gold antlers!) and then another slightly more formal direct with an amazing set of dishes rimmed with the most delicate silver detailing. Below is the silver ‘look’. I got Meggin from the Singing Flower to lend her expertise with all things floral, which really pulls it all together and lends that finishing touch.

Diner en Blanc 1

I do love the silver, but the gold antlers really gets me. I mean seriously – check them out!  I paired that with a clean, minimal satin brass place setting from West Elm.  I hope this provides inspiration for all the lucky people going to the Diner en Blanc!

Diner en Blanc 2

Sourcing: The wine that goes perfectly with the table is from Seventy Five Wine Company.
The ‘Antler table’: antlers and glassware from Artefact Home & Garden, gold silverware from West Elm, flowers from The Singing Flower.
The ‘Silver table’: candle holders, glassware and dishes from Artefact Home & Garden,  silverware from Napa Home & Garden, flowers from The Singing Flower. The other items are from my own stash :) .

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Project Progress: Basement Snack Bar & Game Room

August 6th, 2015

Now to share some progress on this game room and snack bar area! We had an unfinished basement to work with. We developed a layout that would allow for a TV/video game zone and then a billiard zone with a snack bar area. Basically kid heaven. The walls are up and painting almost done …. then the custom cabinets came! Ya! In the top right photo below the TV is going to go on that end wall where we have a recess built for it; flanking that there are two openings that go to a mechanical space. Custom massive barn doors will be covering those. Really excited to see that come together. Even more exciting to know that the cabinetry will be in in short order and I can see my shiplap looking cabinet doors!

Kristina Crestin Design_Basement Snack Bar and Game Room 1

Barn doors in! We have a massive track so that the doors can move to cover the TV area for access to the space behind. On the left you can see that the cabinet is finally installed and the guys just got up the barn board backsplash. They’re working on the pipe brackets installation that will hold up the thick 2″ shelf.  This is the part of a project where it’s hard to be patient. I know I have black porcelain sockets sitting in a box that will go up over the barn board and I want to see them!  At least the other lighting is in, that makes me supper happy. We used mostly industrial lighting or outdoor lighting – keeping it really protected and functional for any assortment of balls or pucks that could be flying with a bunch of boys down here! I am particularly in love with the billiard lights, big warehouse sconces with a black hood and satin brass cage. LOVE!

Kristina Crestin Design_Basement Snack Bar and Game Room 2

Buildout and custom cabinetry by Premier Builders.

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Project Progress: Basement Snack Bar

July 27th, 2015

One of my favorite projects right now is a basement built out for a kids play zone. We’re getting to be creative and a little bit playful, which is making our team pretty happy. We’re creating a bathroom space, a TV zone (with barn doors and a recess for the TV), a billiard/games zone and a snack bar adjacent to it all.

Designing a space for a pack of boys is certainly fun! We started with bare concrete floors which are being painted and adding a few areas of barn board accents for texture and liberal use of industrial and outdoor lighting to give the space character. All while trying to be reasonable with the budget. (don’t roll your eyes here, we didn’t say cheap, we said reasonable!)

Kristina Crestin Design_Basement Bar_Materials Palette

I’d like to bring in some pipe fittings to add to the industrial accent concept. We’re thinking perhaps the barn door pulls and shelf brackets could be made of pipe fittings. We found a vendor on etsy that makes them cheaper than us buying the parts and having the contractor tinker with them. LOVE etsy!

Kristina Crestin Design_Basement Bar_Paint Color Selection

Below is my concept sketch showing cabinetry with a custom shiplap door that runs horizontally. The builder/cabinet maker Premier Builders also made a thick 2″ shelf for me that spanned the space as we were avoiding too much cabinetry. This is the area that we decided to go with some barn board, using it judiciously as to not eat up the budget.

Kristina Crestin Design_Basement Bar_Materials_Selection

More progress pics to come!

Sourcing: Porcelain light socket from Commune. Vintage Kitchen Pendant in black from Potterybarn, Solna single handle faucet from Brizo,  Avalon Indoor/Outdoor Sconce from Potterybarn, Streamline Hook from Anthropologie.

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Palm Springs: The Parker Hotel

July 18th, 2015

One last bit to share from Palm Springs ….. the Parker Hotel. SO cool. We saw little bits of it one evening when we hit Mister Parkers for dinner (by the way – a must see – dark, moody and delicious food – feels more like a private club than a restaurant!). We didn’t have time to wander the grounds and check the place out, so a car rental later on our last day before traveling home we set the GPS for the Parker and explored!

If I get back to Palm Springs some day I think this is where I would like to stay. The grounds were sprawling and I thought cleverly designed. You never knew what you were going to stumble upon. The hedges are labyrinth like with epansive vanishing points and long corridors that almost make you wonder what your going to find around the next corner. What did we find? A lemonade bar in the middle of the property. Yup. Who would have thought? Another couple turns we found some bocce courts tucked behind another hedge. A couple swimming pools?  Yup – they have that too. We came to poke around because we heard Jonathan Adler did the redesign – reason enough to come see the unexpected – but the whole experience is what put this on the top of my list for coming back!

Kristina Crestin Design_Parker Hotel Palm Springs

Photos taken at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, 4200 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264

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