I attended the METROCON 2012 trade show and conference in Dallas, TX last week. According to the METROCON website, they are "the largest design-related regional expo and conference in the USA" and they focus on "introducing the latest in products and innovative ideas to the Southwest region's community of interior designers, architects, design students and other essential industry members." The show provided a great networking opportunity and the CEU classes were very educational!

This is my round-up of the most important and interesting info from the trade show floor and the classes.

1. Texas Registered Interior Designers must now complete 12 Continuing Education Program Hours per year, up from the previous requirement of 8 CEPH's. Here is what the TBAE website has to say in regards to the updated requirements:
"All registrants must complete at least twelve Continuing Education Program Hours (CEPH) per renewal period. All 12 CEPH must include the study of subjects related to your profession and be pertinent to the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
At least one of the twelve hours must be related to sustainable or energy-efficient design
At least one of the twelve hours must be related to barrier-free design.
At least eight of the twelve hours must be structured activities, (classroom/classroom equivalent)
A maximum of four hours may be self-directed."

2. Benjamin Moore's Color Pulse 2013 The color forecast is showing very soft yellow and pink tints, more Kelly greens, strong use of reds paired with other bolds, purples paired with neutrals, and oranges in the coral family.

3. Best class by far was presented by Theodore Drab, ASID, IIDA, IDEC a professor from Oklahoma State University titled "Language + Design: The Impact of Words on Public Perception of Our Profession". The class focused on using words that accurately describe the complexity of our work to gain deserved respect as opposed the often "mushy" terms used by journalists and even designers themselves in mainstream media and industry publications. Now I will definitely have a response ready for when I tell people I am an interior designer and they say "Oh, how fun!".

4. LoftWall, dividers for living and working
Loftwall offers a variety of customizable divider screen options from freestanding room dividers to desk dividers to overhead mounted to sliding partitions. Check out their gallery!

5. Commercial Grade Wool and Hemp fabrics now stocked stateside by Camira. An attractive line of sustainable textiles!

6. Finally, (and I mean "Finally! Why hasn't someone come up with this solution before!") the Kerdi-Line, low profile linear floor shower drains by Schluter Systems. With three profiles (closed, perforated, and frameless tileable) you can't beat the elegant look of this product! With this system the shower floor can be sloped on a single plane, making possible the use of large format tiles! Hooray!

METROCON 2012 Round-Up