One Week Down

I am proud to say that I landed an internship at a wonderful company called Pineapple House Interior Design. The business is located in Buckhead, Atlanta (where the traffic lives up to its reputation) in an industrial area. I do in fact commute there everyday, adding to the hole in the ozone with my 45 to 60 minute commute one way. But it is worth it.

Sitting in traffic on I-85.

The firm specializes in many areas of design, from residential to hospitality. Right now, most of the projects they are working on are residential. It's going to be an exciting and busy summer because there are a few installations scheduled in the Atlanta area, which I get to be a part of!

I was very excited to find out that I would have my own desk and computer. The office is amazing! It is located in a huge warehouse that houses the main offices, a huge resource library, a drapery room, an artist's studio, and much more. They mostly use AutoCAD for drawings, however I was surprised to find that the 2000 version is used. It's not really an issue though since the main difference is the layout of the buttons. I was outfitted with a brand new monitor this week, which was very exciting. The office has huge windows lining the wall that let in a ton of natural sunlight.

My desk.

The view.

Offices where the main designers work.

Cool warehouse ceiling. 

I report to two of the five designers that work at Pineapple House. Their names are Abby and Zach. Zach has been out of the office because his wife just had a baby, so I will get to meet him soon. Abby is really great. She graduated from Auburn, but she is from the Atlanta area. Everyone that works in the office is wonderful, from the warehouse staff to the people who work in the drapery shop. There is one other intern working this summer with me, named Amanda. She just graduated from FSU and is going back to get her Masters in Interior Design this summer. She is from the Tampa/St. Pete area, so being in Atlanta is a very new experience for her.

We were both basically just thrown into the fire and jumped right into the projects. So far, I have drawn a floor plan and furniture plan in CAD, run errands all over Buckhead, and made purchase calls. I am slowly learning the ordering process and how they keep track of all their orders, as well as finding out pricing and how that whole "designer's price" works. I also learned how work orders are made to the attached drapery workroom in the building. The business is housed in the same warehouse as Pineapple House, but they also provide their service to the trade and other designers. 

The head designer/owner of the company, Stephen, works with all of the other designers, over-seeing the work done on each project. He is very encouraging and discussed with me the plans that I put into CAD. He is a graduate of the Interior Design program at FSU and the Architecture program at Georgia Tech. He has been in business for over 25 years and has been able to really establish Pineapple House as a company. 

It looks like this summer is going to be a great opportunity and I can't wait to see what all it has to offer!