Interior Design
Our Grads
Lauren Freeman
Elizabeth Rock Designs, a new interior design firm, is bringing “green” design to the healthcare and assisted living community. With ten years of experience the founder, Lauren Freeman, is creating comfortable, eco-friendly, fully functional and aesthetically pleasing designs.
Retirement of the aging baby-boomer demographic has contributed to the increased amount of renovation and new construction of assisted living facilities. According to Freeman, “Antimicrobial finishes, ergonomics and sustainable design have all become staples in the healthcare community. And with the advances in today’s technology, products and materials have improved in both quality and cost.”
Administrators are now able to enhance the lifestyle of their patients while contributing to or preserving the environment. Says Freeman, “it reduces operating costs, generates tax breaks and promotes a safer work-place for employees. Its just good business.”
The firm offers consulting, design, selecting, purchasing, managing and staging services for its clients. In Ohio, Freeman has done design work for “Anna Maria” of Aurora, “The Weils” of Bainbridge, “Brentwood Healthcare Center” in Sagamore Hills and “Grace Hospital” in Cleveland.
Sin-Jin Satayathum
When it comes to downtown Cleveland, there is no more up-and-coming hang out spot than East 4th street. And one of the street’s newest additions is the Greenhouse Tavern, an environmentally conscious restaurant that makes classic recipes using locally-grown ingredients.
Virginia Marti’s own Interior Design graduate Sin-Jin Satayathum designed the interior of the Greenhouse Tavern. From the layout of the space to light fixtures and color schemes, Sin-Jin headed up the design of the restaurant. And he credits VMCAD with giving him the skills to tackle such a large-scale and very public project.
Click Sin-Jin's photo to watch his story and get a tour of the Greenhouse Tavern!
“If you treat your time at VMCAD as on-the-job training, you have the right frame of mind,” says Sin-Jin. “The Interior Design program at VMCAD is well-rounded and efficient. It is a lot of material in a very short time, but it pushes you to give your all.”
Sin-Jin continues to work on the Greenhouse Tavern’s plans to construct a three-season rooftop dining terrace and urban greenhouse. He hopes to work more with architecture firms focused on sustainability. Sin-Jin believes in the education he received from VMCAD. “My choice to go to VMCAD was the result of me making a huge decision to change my career and my life. This was my second degree, so it really meant a lot- every day, every project.”
Amber Geib
Creating comfortable, peaceful spaces for people to live in is what Amber Geib says brings her the most inspiration. She simply loves creating for people.
At VMCAD, Amber took advantage of the opportunities to get involved with internships and freelance work. "Without experience you have nothing," Amber says. "But it was really nice I got to explore those avenues through the school and they provided those avenues for me to work with."
Click Amber's photo to watch a video about her story!
Amber always knew she'd use her creativity in some way to design. But after high school, she was scared to go after her dream. Now she's done with her degree at VMCAD and she says she loved the entire experience. "The instructors are professionals in their fields and they give you the tools you need to become a designer. Now that I'm out there working as a professional, I couldn't imagine anything else I'd want to do."
