Beginning the most involved project of the quarter, students in Interior Design III are building and painting wooden houses to gain a hands-on understanding on the basics of architectural design.

“I assigned this project to the Interior Design III class to help them come up with their favorite interior design styles, explore different styles and color schemes and apply it to rooms, houses or even commercial buildings in the future,” Interior Design teacher Rachel Chute said. “I’m hoping to see each house have a unique color scheme for each group, as well as exterior decoration, this can include a brick design, mini flower beds, rocks glued onto walls or other creative things students may do. I hope to see that no two houses are the exact same.”

With this being one of the first real-time design experiences, students have been facing minor issues involving the project, such as the wood breaking.

“I feel like during this project I’ve had my fair share of hardships, like my partner missing, pieces missing, getting sidetracked here and there, paint taking so long to dry, etc,” junior Carlos Gonzales said. “Even though I had some troubles, I feel like I can complete this and do pretty well. With all my troubles, I feel like I do have to prepare myself as much as possible in case I come across new hardships or reoccurring issues.”

Due to absences caused by COVID-19, some students have had to work by themselves until their partner returns or until the project is completed.

“My teammate hasn’t been able to help very much, due to COVID-19, but I’ve been able to do a whole lot by myself. I was able to build the walls, paint them and put the shingles on the roof,” junior Amarion Brown said. “Personally I feel that when I am working by myself I work faster and that this project has helped inspire me for both current and future projects and improve my work ethic.”

The goal of this assignment is to give students a 3D building experience, instead of the 2D drawing skills they normally practice.

“During this project I feel that I have learned how to be more creative with the materials given, staying within a budget to keep in mind what your partner or client wants, compromise and how to use other people’s designs as inspirations,” junior Taylor Townsend said. “I like how this project gives us a different pace, typically drawing in 2D is good practice but 3D gives me a more in depth experience. So far I feel like I have gained quite a bit of knowledge about design, which colors work together better than others and how to make a house look more exciting.”