For r.o.i. Design, furniture is integral to the design. Quite often we have the opportunity to work with our customers in selecting and designing the furniture and furnishings in their space. This is important to us because it elevates the design to a very personal level, where people are touching, sitting, and experiencing the design in visceral ways.
When we have spent the effort to help a professional service client create a welcoming, branded feel in their interior, sometimes it requires a non-typical office furniture solution.
When we have worked diligently to create a restaurant, lobby, or corporate space that wants to look like a hip restaurant, the furniture may not be able to be compiled from standard options. Thus, we have provided specialty services around furnishings for our customers.
Often, we have been engaged to work with one of many of our local office furniture providers to advocate for our customer, consulting on furniture styles and finishes.
We design custom furniture and work with our customers to find the best resource to create those pieces.
Recently we have been working with fabricators experienced with integrating technology into furniture, creating medical and professional desks.
We have created many custom conference table designs, exploring finishes and details to create an ideal meeting and conference environments.
There is also the need for furnishings that look residential but need to be contract-grade. Providing contract quality guarantees for wear and maintenance.
We have also designed procurement programs for developers, working directly with manufacturers to be able to design, select, purchase, and deliver common area furnishings for multi-family facilities.
Furniture has a functional and aesthetic responsibility in
commercial interiors and planning for appropriate furnishings take intention
and focus.
West Michigan Dermatology – Holland, MIPark East Court – Grand Rapids, MI
We are celebrating a great 2018 with a healthy list of new customers and suppliers. The ten-year recovery from the 2007-2008 recession was a challenge, but we are proud to have weathered that crisis and are starting year two of a three-year strategic plan to grow and create a sustainable interior design business.
Last year we added Megan Hoekzema, Interior Designer, and Stacey Udell, Office Administrator to the team. We joined Local First, volunteered at Mackenzie’s Animal Sanctuary and donated our design time to Living Stones Academy helping them improve their multipurpose room and staff lounge.
We reference The Right Place’s 2019 Economic Outlook report to get a sense of what our community might experience ahead. As a tiny company, we would like to think we can be resilient to most economic shifts, and we describe ourselves as “small but mighty”. But along with that, we want to add “smart” so we have our heads up regarding our economy.
While the West Michigan marketplace needs to pay attention to the impact of tariffs, trade agreements, interest rate hikes, and changes in leadership in Lansing, the ongoing issues of talent shortage and the reality that every company needs to do more with fewer people.
Grand Rapids continues to lead the state (and the nation) in post-recession recovery.
The president of The Right Place, Birgit Klohs, is our customer and when asked, she summarized about the future, “2018 was a banner year, 2019 isn’t going to be quite as good. Read more here.
Rapid Growth Media’s article “Michigan’s Corporate Construction Continues to Grow into 2019” reports that West Michigan contractors have the largest backlog of business since 2000. “If the world stopped today, construction employers would have 9.8 months of work left to do.” And since contractors are r.o.i. Design’s #1 customer, we are pleased to hear this news.
For us 2019 will mean:
New staff, we are currently looking to hire a design lead. This person will help develop new business, lead the design direction of projects they develop and add perspective and energy to our group as we look to grow.
A year ago, we thought we needed to add staff to be able to provide us with rendering and illustration talent, but our Creative Executive Ryan Bright has risen to the challenge, growing in skills and managing out-sourced talent to meet our needs. We see adding more rendering services as part of the tool kit.
Our work in medical and dental offices continues to look strong. We have multi-family projects scheduled through 2020. Our window covering and solar shade business is growing. We have installed two projects with more than 100 windows within a few months of each other. Congratulations to Purchasing and Procurement Manager, Ronda Geyer.
We will be looking at our technology needs this year and anticipate making an investment in software and hardware.
Our physical sample library needs to shrink, as more and more resources are “online”. We rely on our sales representatives to help us with “just in time sampling”. Megan continues to manage our library and representatives in the effort to stay on top of the newest and best materials.
Our strategic plan has us revising processes and procedures, focusing on marketing and sales, and company culture.
We continue to be driven to “making a difference” in the lives of our customers and in our community.
It’s no secret that most people do not look forward to going to the dentist – an important thing to keep in mind when designing dental offices. A pleasant, warm and soothing environment is key when selecting interior finishes for lobbies and patient areas. “The goal is to make the patient feel comfortable and welcome”, says r.o.i. Design’s Stacey Udell.
With more and more dentists retiring and new graduates taking over practices, r.o.i. has been busy working with local docs to update and refresh their spaces. Functional work areas allowing for ease of patient flow are top on the list, along with coffee bars and cozy and low-maintenance furnishings in lobbies. Creative and fun areas where kids feel safe are also a high priority. To help reduce sounds, some offices have “clouds” of acoustical panels, lighting or architectural elements that are hung from high ceilings to alleviate unwanted noise and are also visually appealing.
r.o.i. Design collaborates with dental equipment and supply companies to give dentists a wide range of options. We also offer lobby furniture, décor and wall art to “dress up” the space, and window covering options (along with installation) with practical solutions for dealing with sunlight while allowing for patient comfort.
Whether it’s remodeling an existing practice or a new build, our methods and problem-solving skills produce outcomes that are based on budget, brand, and beauty.
Vintage Hutchinson Ad Used in Wall Décor at 616 FAB House
The last layer of interior design includes wall art and r.o.i. Design has learned planning for meaningful wall décor has incredible influence on how the space impacts employees, customers, and guests.
It is an opportunity to support a company’s brand, communicate values and goals, as well as add aesthetic interest.
For Wolverine Power Cooperative in Cadillac, Michigan we worked with them to create an assemblage of their customer logos using a cable system to suspend the logos. This brought a sense of pride to staff and board members as they passed by. In the same project, we created a custom wood “service map”, that outlined where they provided power; but the map was interesting as “art” in addition to telling a story. They also asked us to help them create a “word wall” using words that describe how they want to be perceived. We created a graphic and then had it printed on vinyl wallcovering.
For multi-family developer Eagle Point Properties, they like the common areas of their projects to have photos and imagery that represents the location of the residences. For downtown Grand Rapids we found historic photos of landmarks and purchased the rights to print those photos. For their project in Virginia, close to Washington D.C., we featured the architecture and landscapes that describe this region, rich in American history.
Hutchinson North America built 616 FAB House in Grand Rapids in 2016. This space serves as a gathering and meeting space but is surrounded by displays and imagery that demonstrates their tradition of innovation. Working with them and their Paris, France associates, we selected historic images and arranged them throughout the space similar to a museum exhibit. In the same space, were close up details of machinery and operations of the past alongside robotic demonstrations of current technology.
Wall art and décor can be personal, and any effort we made to create custom wall art programs have resulted in positive “returns”.
Wolverine Power Cooperative, Cadillac, MIHistorical Photos Used in Wall Décor at Stuyvesant Apartments
Do you ever wonder how those cool loft-type condos suddenly seem to emerge as if they had always been there? The answer is they are the result of years of planning, a developer’s vision and commitment, a great piece of historic real estate, and a team that knows how to put it all together.
r.o.i. Design is lucky enough to be on one of these teams, and we are so excited to be part of making RiverView Flats in historic Lowell, Michigan a dream come true for 14 home owners.
Todd Schaal and Jerry Zandstra have come together as developers to create this opportunity. They want to create homes in the former “car barn” of Unity Middle School along the picturesque Flat River. This building is complete with vintage masonry, tall ceilings, and spectacular views.
r.o.i. Design takes on the roles of interior design and marketing, as we work to set the stage for some creative living.
For more about RiverView Flats, we have attached some of the marketing materials we have created that describes the look, the feel, the layouts, and finish options. Download them here:
And if you have more interest than just design and would like to learn more, contact Todd at todd@estesgroup.com or 616-822-6477. Their website is riverviewflats.com
