The Monogram Experience Center brings designers to Louisville, Kentucky, for three-day experiences to learn about Monogram, the design process, our appliances – and even cook with them! We interviewed each designer to learn a little more about their background and design experiences.
Today’s profile highlights Rose Dostal from RMD Designs, LLC, in Hudson, Ohio.
Rose Dostal, recent participant at the GE Monogram Experience Center in Louisville, Kentucky
SRFD: How did you become interested in design?
Rose: Actually, I’ve always known that I would become an architect since I was very young. When I was probably about eight or nine years old, I would gather all of my mother’s shoe boxes and make little house models out of them. I would create rooms and spaces and pretend to live in these beautiful rooms! I think over the years it was just a matter of progression when it came to my interest in design. I’ve morphed my career as life presented different challenges and opportunities, but still stayed within the framework of interior design. Having the architectural background definitely helped me with creating classic detailing, and really, detailing in general.
SRFD: Tell us about a recent project you really enjoyed.
Rose: For anyone who asks me this question, I always seem to answer with … I enjoy the current project I am working on right this second! Probably because my favorite part of my design process is gathering information from my client, and then creating solutions and solving problems with schematics and preliminaries. At these points of the design process, I see their eyes pop and their minds open with possibilities they didn’t even consider.
SRFD: A trend you’re over?
Rose: Hmm, that is a hard question. For me, I’m open to so many things. It’s easy to design with trends in mind but I never really make a trend the main focus. My clients tend to begin discussions with trends they see, but it just seems silly to go there with kitchen designs. When I design a kitchen, I want to make sure it has ‘staying power.’ But at the same time, there’s a reason why people hire me and that’s to have a kitchen with a WOW factor. Sometimes you can incorporate a little of the trends to make that WOW, but as a designer, we have to be very careful with that possibility. For instance, I don’t typically specify a stained concrete countertop, which was a big trend many years back. But I would never say never. If someone had a farmhouse with a large kitchen and the design vision focused on a comfortable setting on the countryside; well by all means, I would probably consider looking at this trend once again.
SRFD: A trend you’re excited about?
Rose: I am seeing a lot of appliances with technology incorporated into their design, which also offer a space saving element. THAT, I am excited about. See the next question, which is the perfect segue …
SRFD: What did you learn in Louisville?
Rose: I’ve learned so much from my Louisville visit. But I was most excited by the Advantium 120, the four-in-one oven! I see so many possibilities with this ONE appliance. Many of my clients have super busy schedules and struggle to feed their kids in a timely manner because they have to go from one place to another. They must consider the timeliness and speed in which their dinners are prepared. And so, many rely on the microwaves of today. But unfortunately, some clients don’t have the space available for an oven and adding a microwave is just difficult to design around. It was great to know that they don’t have to sacrifice time, space, and quality of their food with the Advantium.
We will be popping up at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art at the Civic Center Mall June 26th and 27th during the MetaModern exhibition, featuring modernist design objects of the mid-century.
Save Room For Design by Monogram Appliances 