design studio

find happiness at home

It’s time to love your house again—explore how to create a space that fits your life with thoughtful design through remodeling.

Edited by Alicia Kellogg

This article first appeared in Winter 2010 Su Casa

George Taack
principal designer
DESIGN
3700 Osuna Road NE, Suite 707, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 505/830-0122, gtaack@gmail.com, designnm.com

Background: George Taack has had an eye for design since childhood, when as a nine-year-old he helped his parents select carpet and furniture for their family home. He earned a bachelor of arts in art and architectural history from Michigan State University and went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of New Mexico, where he studied art and architectural history with a specialty in pre-Columbian art. Taack apprenticed in Albuquerque and worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before returning to New Mexico to manage Leishman Interiors’ design studio and later serve as principal designer of Leishman-Taack Interiors. Taack owned an Albuquerque firm and store called Montaage before starting his current practice in 2003, simply called DESIGN. His 7,500-square-foot showroom features room-sized vignettes complete with furnishings, lighting, art, and accessories. DESIGN employs two professional interior designers in addition to Taack but waives design fees for clients purchasing items through the showroom. A retail store and interior design firm, DESIGN’s services include remodeling, developing space plans, and consulting for residential and commercial projects.

Personal design style: Eclectic—a great room is all in the mix, the union of complementary and sometimes disparate elements. Spiritual, involving meaningful items. And expressing a love affair with color, the catalyst for all great interiors.

You’ve seen many remodeling projects through your work at DESIGN. What can a remodel do for a home?
It takes an aesthetically challenged interior and makes it beautiful. Most remodels involve reorganization and reutilization of space, as well as incorporating new technology such as LED lights, which virtually don’t burn out and use very little electricity, or more efficient appliances. Remodeling is all about careful design: finding the simplest solution to the problem at hand.

What is the biggest remodeling misconception you’ve come across?
The biggest misconception is that everything will go smoothly and as planned. Every remodel has a few surprises, such as the ceiling joists being in a spot where there was to be a recessed light fixture or fan.

Programs on HGTV depicting a team of so-called professionals called in to design and complete a major remodel over a weekend are very annoying to me. They show these remodels done in three or four days with everybody crawling over the property like ants. It never happens like that. Not only is this scenario totally unrealistic, but it also gives viewers a false sense of reality and design expectations.

What remodeling pitfall should we avoid?
A common mistake is not having a detailed master plan and not being ready for the remodel sequence of events, which is the order in which the work is done. That’s where people really make mistakes. I’ve seen people do the demolition too early, then have to wait impatiently for the new cabinetry and countertops. It’s better to do the demolition only when everything is ready to reinstall. I just did my own kitchen, and we did it in phases for minimal disruption. We didn’t rip the cabinets out until the new ones were finished.

How do you feel about moving out versus staying put during your remodel?
Sometimes living in the house while it’s undergoing a major remodel is not a good idea. It’s just too stressful. If possible, with a living area or kitchen remodel, it’s better to move out so you’re more comfortable. I’ve done a recent remodel where there was major demolition—new flooring, walls, and railings—and the clients rented a nearby apartment for 10 weeks. It worked perfectly, and they moved back in—with their two cats—10 weeks after the project started.

What are the best rooms to remodel?
Kitchens and bathrooms are perhaps the best remodeling candidates. Not only do they add resale value to the home, but they also pay for themselves in terms of function, beauty, and enjoyment.

What changes are particularly effective for a kitchen remodel?
Adding more storage comes into play in a lot of remodels. Many people didn’t have pantries when homes were built 20 years ago. We’ve also taken out a lot of soffits in kitchens and put in 42-inch uppers rather than the 30-inch that were there. Over a whole kitchen, people can pick up a lot of extra storage that way.

How are people updating their bathrooms these days?
We’ve been taking a lot of bathtubs out and putting in walk-in showers. They always say you should have one bathtub in the house, but we’ve had clients who don’t want a bathtub at all, who end up with more than one walk-in shower. People want a nice showerhead or two and a seat in the shower.

When choosing where to put your home-improvement dollars first, are the kitchen and baths good places to start?
If you’re remodeling for resale—the short-term turnover of a property that’s going on the market—then tackle the kitchen and bathrooms. But if it’s a long-term project, where you’re creating a new environment that you’re planning to enjoy for years to come, then go for the vision: your personal dream.

What sort of updates might this entail?
A lot of times it involves opening up rooms. Homes used to have very enclosed spaces. The dining room was separate from the kitchen, for example. One of the things we’ve done more in remodeling is having rooms that open onto each other. It makes the space seem larger, and it tends to fit the way people live.

Creating a furniture plan is an aspect of what you do when working with clients. What mistakes do people make on this topic?
People frequently think in terms of aligning furniture against walls. In a long or narrow room, this will make the room appear longer and narrower—the bowling alley effect. Furnishings should be arranged to direct traffic efficiently and conveniently around the conversation area. Don’t be afraid to float furniture, placing it in the middle of a room or perpendicular to the walls.

Now that we know what to avoid, what should we keep in mind when arranging furniture?
Begin with an analysis of how your family uses the space, and arrange the furnishings accordingly. The furniture arrangement must support your activities. For a living room, begin with the conversation area. This arrangement engages all guests and makes them feel welcome. It should be conceived as a square or rectangle that includes seating for six to eight people. For eye contact, I recommend a conversation area that is from 12 to 13 feet across. This area should never include foot traffic but be its own entity within the room. I start with the conversational area in pretty much every room that we’re furnishing.

How important is furniture selection in creating a comfortable, well-designed home?
Furniture selection is critical from both an aesthetic perspective and an ergonomic standpoint. The size and scale of the furnishings should fit the rooms they inhabit. I’ve seen so many people buy overscaled, huge furniture for a small room, and it doesn’t usually work. When the correctly chosen furnishings are brought together in a room, they transcend mere decoration and rise to the task of nurturing the people who live there on an emotional, psychological, and even spiritual level. Only then does “house” evolve into “home.”

What are signs of a quality piece of furniture?
It’s much more evident with wood than it is for upholstery. In wood pieces, such as cabinetry or chests of drawers, look for dovetail joinery in the drawers. Mortise and tenon joints are also a sign of high-end furniture. For tables, look for corner blocks that are glued and screwed into place. Veneers are not to be looked down upon. Many quality furniture lines use veneers, especially for inlays and other decorative effects. Solid-wood furniture has a tendency to dry and crack, especially when it travels to New Mexico from humid climates or arrives from manufacturers that don’t kiln dry their wood.

In upholstered furniture like sofas and chairs, the construction is hidden from view. A cheaply made sofa can look almost as attractive as an expensive one, but the difference in construction makes a vast difference in the life and comfort of the product. The old phrase “you get what you pay for” really applies to upholstered furniture.

What should we keep in mind when selecting a major piece like a sofa?
Construction is foremost. Furniture frames have evolved into multilayered cross-laminated veneers that provide significant advantages over solid hardwood lumber. These laminated frames are stronger than solid hardwood and reduce our dependence on declining sources of old-growth timber. Frame joints are either finger-jointed or mortise and tenoned to provide superior strength and reliability. Eight-way hand-tied springs provide better seating comfort and longevity.

Examine the product. Well-made sofas will have much better tailoring: straight seams, smooth and straight welting (never lumpy), and perfect pattern matching. Our manufacturers, all from North Carolina, match the pattern six ways, vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. When you see this, you’ll be impressed. A sofa can last 20 or 30 years, if you buy a good one.

When is reupholstery a good option?
When you have had a piece for a long time and really love it, it’s very comfortable, and it’s good quality, then it’s worth reupholstering. Reupholster quality furnishings or heirloom pieces that have a sentimental attachment. Reupholstery gives you greater flexibility in fabric selection than a typical furniture manufacturer and can definitely save money.

How does the cost of reupholstery compare to buying a new piece?
It all depends on the price of the fabric. If you find a medium-priced fabric, which right now is between $45 and $75 per yard, you can reupholster a sofa for about half the price. But then when you get up into expensive fabrics, in the range of $350 per yard, it ends up costing sometimes as much as a new one. But you have the fabric you want; you have the piece you want.

Can you tell us about some fabrics we might not be familiar with?
They’ve introduced bamboo into the textile industry. The one problem is it’s not as durable as some of the others. But recycled polyester is big, and it’s a green product. It’s made from things like old carpet. A lot of those recycled polyester fabrics are gorgeous, and they’re decently priced.

What is your favorite piece of design advice?
Remember the word exploration. It will let you discover something new that may change the way you look at your home—and yourself. We try to challenge people to see what they could have. The world needs beauty, so try to promote it. And great color is always a freebie!

What is your design philosophy?
I believe that good design is available to anyone who seeks it, regardless of budget. People think they have to have a mansion and spend a fortune to have an interior designer come in, but they really don’t.

And finally, what do you see as the result of investing the time and effort to create a well-designed space?
Happiness. You’ll have a gorgeous room instead of one that’s just pieced together. I’ve had clients say, “I love coming home at night and walking into this living room.” People really feel good about their home, about being in it and enjoying it, when it’s done well.