This week saw the installation of the doctor's offices at Gatemax Medical Center. Due to be completed this week, we were busy co-ordinating the delivery of furniture, wallpaper installaiton and furniture placement.

Proceedure Room

The remaining furniture is due to arrive Monday, and then we can complete the finishing touches such as the signage panels, and the artwork and mirrors can be hung up on the walls. We are looking forward to seeing the end result of the surgery as a whole, hopefully by the end of this week.

Reception/ Waiting Area

At the same time, the kitchen is being installed on site in the La Lucia house. The wallnut kitchen is starting to take shape and the colour works so well with the travertine tiled floor. The built in cupboards are also on site but are yet to be positioned in the relevant bedrooms.

Kitchen installation La Lucia House

Offices on Musgrave Road, Durban

With the Easter Holidays behind us Jossi Design is busy with the final installation of the Doctor's surgery on Umhlanga Ridge and the decorating of the La Lucia House. Project Management is a large part of our service and the co-ordinating of the various contractors on site can be a full time job.

We are now busy with a new project: the Interior Design, Decorating and Project Management of some new offices on Musgrave Road in Durban. This single storey Listed Building is full of character with its exposed timber trusses and its distinctive shape.

Internal View showing equipment & windows

We have put together an exciting concept using quartz carpet flooring, extensive use of glass walls and partitions, accent colours and pendant lights will all form amazing features. The use of space is an important component of the design and is proving difficult as this old building is primarily an L-Shape, making the internal space very long and thin. Therefore trying to reach a happy meduim between creating comfortable, ergonomic spaces and fitting in all the furniture and equipment required for the office is not an easy task.

Internal view showing trusses

Once the plan is finalised we will be ready to go to tender on the drywalls and partitions, electrical, plumbing and general construction work. From here we can produce a program for the site work and begin all documentation and final construction drawings. This is going to prove to be a challenging project yet we believe our concept is going to make for an amazing space on completion.

Jossi Design Advertises

Jossi Design just finalised the design and layout of our first magazine advert. Our new advert will be going into Elle Decoration's Autumn edition which will be out on the 17th of March. We recently finalised this advert which clearly shows our various services offered: Interior Design, Decorating and Project Management. Jossi Design did not do any advertising in 2007, but we decided that Jossi Design should look into different types of advertising in 2008.

Jossi Advert

We have therefore narrowed this down to an advert in Elle Decoration Magazine, we have put up signage on the walls of the sites we are working on and we have updated our website. Our cars now also have branding so that as we drive around to site we will also be advertising our company and our services.

Jossi Design is also due to do a presentation for the various agents and professional team involved in Palm Lakes Estate to make them aware of our Interior Design and Decorating Services.

Another presentation that is currently being completed is for the Interior Design and Decoration of an office space on Musgrave Road. Craig and I met with the prospective clients this week and obtained the brief, we then spent the last half of the week completing the suggested layout of the space and putting this plan and suggested finishes and design into a powerpoint presentation. We are looking forward to the presentation and what is to follow thereafter.

Please look out for our advert due to come out 17th March in the Elle Decoration Magazine or visit our website http://www.jossi.co.za/

House La Lucia Site Visit

Sunday morning and I have just been woken by a call from the client whose house we are working on in La Lucia. They are concerned about the carpet inlay that has been allowed for in the tiling, they feel it may be too big. I said I would meet with them on site shortly to have a look at the tiling, as when I was there this week the tiling had not yet started.

Exterior View

Craig and I went to site this week, we had decided to take a walk around the see the progress that had been made over the past few weeks. The construction side has been moving slowly for a while now, but the ceilings have almost been complete. This is a very good thing as it brings a lot of proportion to the room now as high ceilings make the rooms look smaller than they actually are. By installing the lowered plasterboard ceilings and painting them white the room comes back into proportion.

Fireplace and Feature Wall

I am very glad that the tiling has started and come as far as it has in the short amount of time since I was on site. This means that the messy work is almost over, the walls need to be painted and the house will start looking more like a house and less like a construction site. We have suggested wall colours and the builder has painted sample patches on the walls for approval.

Internal Staircase

Craig has been ordering the furniture this week, and the client has chosen some of her own items for the house and purchased these herself. This does make it more challenging from Jossi Design's side as co-ordination is a large part of our business in ensuring the client is happy with the end result. It seems that all is working out at the moment in terms of the furniture and the overall look, the concern today with the size of the carpet inlay should be easy to resolve with a site meeting. Unfortuntely, the size of the carpet inlay is very much determined by the positioning of th furniture and therefore the size of the furniture. As the furniture selection is still changing it is difficult to pin down exact sizes, but the use of additional tile borders should recitfy the proportions.

Bathroom Ceiling

Tip for the week: It can be extremely tempting to accept the cheapest quote, but very often you will find that you will "get what you pay for". I have seen so many cases where the cheapest quote is accepted only to result in time and money being wasted trying to retify the problems that result from the poor quality or workmanship. Get in a few quotes, this can take time waiting for the quotes to come in from the various companies, but at least you will be able to compare all the quotes and make an informed decision. If the one quote is far cheaper than all the others, then there is possibly something that has been left out or some corners have been cut.

THE SECOND SHOWHOUSE

Palm Lakes Estate is bussling with building work, the apartments are now seen grouped around the dams and individual homes are starting to take shape. The first showhouse has created a buzz with those people looking to buy land and build their new homes in the Estate, and now the second showhouse is almost complete.

Jossi Design therefore decided on a site visit to check on the progress of the second showhouse. Although smaller than the first showhouse it is still an open and inviting space. Jossi Design worked together with Royal Palm Property Holdings choosing the furniture for this showhouse and the fabric for the curtains which were then made up by our curtain contractors and successfully installed. There are some last finishing touches that we need to arrange and then this showhouse will be open to the public.

The second showhouse comprises of an open plan lounge, dining room and kitchen. The kitchen is visually separated from the living area by the breakfast nook and bar stools.

Main Bedroom

The Main Bedroom and En-suite is large with beautiful 50mm venetian wooden blinds in the windows softened by the curtains which frame the window. Placed in the one corner is the Haldane Martin Zulu Mamma Chair.

The Zulu Mamma Chair

There are also 2 children's rooms: a girl's bedroom set out in whites and pinks and a baby boy's room in whites and pastel greens and yellows. The large windows in these rooms have 50mm white venetian blinds, with a soft white voile in front, to again soften the bedroom.

Little Girl's Bedroom

Still to be completed on the exterior of the house is the wooden deck which will create the entertainment and braai area. Jossi Design is still to source the remaining mirrors and some last accessories, then the showhouse should be open for display to the public.