I have had this idea since moving to Berlin and plan to implement it starting September 1. I originally thought August but forgot we'll be on holiday the first of August so that would put a damper on both the start of me going back to school, by myself and for myself, and our holiday. So September 1st it is! 

I was setting up my office in Berlin (months & months ago) and was happily going through my design books when I was stuck by the thought that I haven't looked through a lot of them in a long time. Not only that when I do thumb through them I'm usually looking for a specific image or inspiration for a project I'm designing. And not only that, after designing interiors for 14 years, I could use a refresher on design basics. I've been designing long enough and have enough resources that I don't need to seek out additional education from outside of my studio. Yet. I want to go through each book and learn new lessons. Hopefully I'll have a lot of "ah hahs" and "oh yeahs". 

This concept is entirely inspired by Seth Godin's Alternate MBA & Chris Guillebeau's The One-Year Alternative Grad School Program. And while it would be beneficial for me to pursue at least classes in Business, first I'm going to make time to re-educate myself in design principles. I created an Amazon list of the books that I'm going to be going through. You can access that here. 

A few of my resources and books are not available to purchase. It's important to me to include them, some are papers from prior Design Conferences or CEU classes, regardless of overall availability. 
I've divided my sections into General Mindset/ Overall Interior Design concepts, Drawing/rendering/space planning, History, Art Fundamentals, Feng Shui/ specific design concepts, and draperies/window treatments. Obviously some of these sections will take longer than others. I will take at least a week at a time per book but no more than a month. There will probably be more than one blog post per book. I will not be reviewing the books rather going through lessons I've learned in them. I'm especially excited to brush up on my drawing skills. 

When writing about JHD Design School I'll focus the lessons I learn in two categories, to designers and to design enthusiasts. There is so much technical advice for interior design that is useful for enthusiasts that I do not see the general design media covering. I hope to bring new depth to your general design knowledge, as well as my own of course. 

Section 1: General Mindset/ Overall Interior Design concepts

• Branding + Interior Design: Visibility and Business Strategy for Interior Designers by Kim Kuhteubl. Kim was a coach of mine a few years ago. She's brilliant. I've read this book but will benefit from a second look. 
• Designing for Wealth: Four Keys for Interior Design Business Success. Julia Molloy partnered with several other business experts to write this concise book on specific strategic ideas. I bought this book years ago from Julia directly and can't find it for sale anywhere anymore. I'll get real specific on what I learn from this to make up for that.  
• Parish-Hadley Tree of Life. When I first read this book I remember feeling connected to the stories as similar lessons I went through working for Hayslip Design Associates. Very high-end detailed design. So much to learn here. These are also lessons that are really hard to be exposed to without actually going through the lessons. That's why this book is in this section. 
• Interior Design Master Class by Carl Dellatore. I saw Carl speak when this book was initially released. In this book the best interior designers in the world write their own lessons. Truly a master class in Interior Design.
• My next text are notes and documents that I received during Bold Summit a few years ago. At the time I was very pregnant taking these courses in 114 degree Palm Springs. Needless to say I wasn't focused. I'm excited to go back through the lessons and see what I can learn. 

My next post about JHD Design School will be an introduction to Kim's book Branding + Interior Design. Let me know if there's something you want to know about interior design. Anything. I'm excited to learn and relearn through my own continued education and hope others can learn something as well.