Our Stick Of The Week! is Michele Alfano. Michele is in the NOW as founder of Mod Design Guru, a platform for thinking-out-of-the-box design. "I love fresh, funky and innovative design that takes a narrative approach. Design that requests its user to experience, to think, to muse, to complete the story."
Michele Alfano
Michele Alfano is an architectural design professional with 18 years of design experience in many types of architectural and interior design: airport, retail, restaurant, and residential design. Michele's avant-garde design sensibility started to evolve while studying design in Florence and Barcelona. While working at a New York City based architecture firm, Michele had the opportunity to push the boundaries and design a cutting-edge tunnel in Fukuoka, Japan. "The interior design, using multi-media and light, made pedestrians feel as if they were crossing a bridge over a body of water, when in reality they were walking through a tunnel." The tunnel was garnered an 'AIA 2000 Honors Award for Interior Architecture' and cited as one of the years top projects by 'Business Week' and 'Architectural Record.'
Tell us about your NOW (Noodle On the Wall)
The NOW that I have been sautéing is my brand, Mod Design Guru. I am an architectural design professional, with a passionate interest in edgy, clever and innovative design. Growing up with a scientist dad, he exposed me to cutting edge ideas and instilled in me to create and forward-think. Surrounded by this inspired creativity, I decided to develop a design blog, Mod Design Guru, to show my ‘Mod’ster reader, a 20-40 year old design aficionado, how to find and apply design inspiration in unusual ways. It also became a place to spotlight innovators and their novel ideas, technology, materials and methods that are influencing design today.
The 'Mod' in Mod Design Guru, encapsulates innovation. Mod is style, Mod is edgy, Mod is fierce, Mod is me. With Mod Design Guru, I invite readers to use me as their Design Guru. I present current trends, to provoke their muse and re-design their world thru architecture, interior, décor and fashion. Together we explore the unexpected to re-invent and fuel creativity!
Is your NOW simmering, al dente or fully cooked and why?
My NOW is always bubbling over, so in noodle terms, 'al dente'! I love creation and realization of new ideas! I always leave pen and paper by my night stand because the best ideas come to me in the middle of the night. I often wake up to a ‘noodle’ and have to doodle what I have dreamt up! See, some of my dreams come to life in my own home renovations. From a dark basement to a destination in my home, a Zen-modern space allows me to decompress. Read more on my Zen Modern post HERE.
The NOW that I have been sautéing is my brand, Mod Design Guru. I am an architectural design professional, with a passionate interest in edgy, clever and innovative design. Growing up with a scientist dad, he exposed me to cutting edge ideas and instilled in me to create and forward-think. Surrounded by this inspired creativity, I decided to develop a design blog, Mod Design Guru, to show my ‘Mod’ster reader, a 20-40 year old design aficionado, how to find and apply design inspiration in unusual ways. It also became a place to spotlight innovators and their novel ideas, technology, materials and methods that are influencing design today.
The 'Mod' in Mod Design Guru, encapsulates innovation. Mod is style, Mod is edgy, Mod is fierce, Mod is me. With Mod Design Guru, I invite readers to use me as their Design Guru. I present current trends, to provoke their muse and re-design their world thru architecture, interior, décor and fashion. Together we explore the unexpected to re-invent and fuel creativity!
Is your NOW simmering, al dente or fully cooked and why?
My NOW is always bubbling over, so in noodle terms, 'al dente'! I love creation and realization of new ideas! I always leave pen and paper by my night stand because the best ideas come to me in the middle of the night. I often wake up to a ‘noodle’ and have to doodle what I have dreamt up! See, some of my dreams come to life in my own home renovations. From a dark basement to a destination in my home, a Zen-modern space allows me to decompress. Read more on my Zen Modern post HERE.
I sliced the foundation wall down 18" to get these large windows. They allow the outside to come in and make the family room feel larger. A combination of serene colors, a waterfall, textural rug, pillows and natural elements like branches and moss, add to the Zen. I am still dreaming up my Zen coffee table!
The Mongolian pillow from West Elm add luxury to the room. It is delightful!
The WAC trimless square down lights disappear in the ceiling. The stained wood pocket doors block off my children's playroom so I can still say, "aahhh."
In the playroom, I put some whimsical modern pendants in the ceiling and incorporated an illuminated blue cove at the edge of the room to make a mechanical soffit have some meaning.
The Zen Modern bathroom: Looks like real limestone right? It's Porcelain! Gives you that spa-like feel!!
Love the feeling of my shower pebbled rock floor under my toesies!
What recipes can you give other Creative Moms Taking On The Creative?
My recipe for taking on the creative is a spoonful of curiosity, a cup of passion, scoops of knowing and having a strong point of view! Be authentic!
What motivated you to throw your noodle?
It kind of happened organically. Being a designer with an architectural background, friends and family would call me with design questions; so I decided to start an advice column called, Hey M (M is me). While giving advice, I started to hunt for the coolest things in design. One day, I came across transparent concrete. I was amazed and extremely excited by this innovation. (Click HERE for the article) At that moment, I knew that I wanted to write about innovative trends in design: architecture, interior, décor and fashion. My blog turned the corner and I changed the name from Hey M to Mod Design Guru. There are a lot of design blogs out there, but I haven’t come across one that strictly focuses on innovators and their innovations, as well as finding inspiration in novel ways. It seemed like the perfect space to fill.
What inspires you as a Mom and as a creative person?
I am a Mom of two children, Rylie(8) and Tyler (4), and they inspire me every day! Their huge smiles and innocent laughter make me smile, even when I am having a bad day. They teach me to appreciate the simple things in life and inspire me to be a better person and a better Mom!
As a creative person, I truly believe you can find inspiration in the most unusual ways. That’s what I tell my ‘Mod’ster readers! To be inspired, is to fuel or nurture your muse: to brood, to chew over, to ponder, to percolate, to reflect, to speculate. You never know where you will find inspiration. It can be from fashion, from magazines, your child's cartoon, food or seeing something in a store window.
My recipe for taking on the creative is a spoonful of curiosity, a cup of passion, scoops of knowing and having a strong point of view! Be authentic!
What motivated you to throw your noodle?
It kind of happened organically. Being a designer with an architectural background, friends and family would call me with design questions; so I decided to start an advice column called, Hey M (M is me). While giving advice, I started to hunt for the coolest things in design. One day, I came across transparent concrete. I was amazed and extremely excited by this innovation. (Click HERE for the article) At that moment, I knew that I wanted to write about innovative trends in design: architecture, interior, décor and fashion. My blog turned the corner and I changed the name from Hey M to Mod Design Guru. There are a lot of design blogs out there, but I haven’t come across one that strictly focuses on innovators and their innovations, as well as finding inspiration in novel ways. It seemed like the perfect space to fill.
What inspires you as a Mom and as a creative person?
I am a Mom of two children, Rylie(8) and Tyler (4), and they inspire me every day! Their huge smiles and innocent laughter make me smile, even when I am having a bad day. They teach me to appreciate the simple things in life and inspire me to be a better person and a better Mom!
As a creative person, I truly believe you can find inspiration in the most unusual ways. That’s what I tell my ‘Mod’ster readers! To be inspired, is to fuel or nurture your muse: to brood, to chew over, to ponder, to percolate, to reflect, to speculate. You never know where you will find inspiration. It can be from fashion, from magazines, your child's cartoon, food or seeing something in a store window.
image via Elle Decor
I have a section in my blog called Foodie and Fashionista Color-Scapes. It shows my reader how easy it is to find color inspiration and how to apply the color-scheme to their own home. For example, see how my sweet tooth was inspired by Martha Stewart Meringue swirls. A color palatte of orange and white can inspire a modern look! Read article HERE.
Image via Elle Decor
See how my daughter's Monster high doll Ghoulia, can color-inspire a pink and blue girl’s room that is sophisticated with a bit of playfulness! Read article HERE.
How do you juggle Mamahood and your NOW?
That’s a toughy! Building a brand and being a working-mama and blogger is not so easy. But you have to be creative to figure out chunks of time. I work all day and then have to focus on the kids when we get home and start our nightly routine: dinner, bath-time, reading time and tucking them into bed. I will admit, I sneek in a tweet or two during all the chaos! After all is quiet and the dishwasher is cooing, I click away on the computer.
What technology issues have you run into with your NOW?
I am the first to say that I am technologically challenged. That is the irony of doing a design blog. But I forge ahead and am constantly researching how to do something if I do not know how to do it. I use You-Tube as a resource or ask other bloggers for help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Social media can be challenging, but I think that’s what motivates me!
What is your ultimate pasta dish?
I ultimately would like to have an impact! I would like to help the young design aficionado who appreciates design, but doesn’t know how to go about it. My ultimate goal is to be known as your Design Guru! So let's re-design your world!
That’s a toughy! Building a brand and being a working-mama and blogger is not so easy. But you have to be creative to figure out chunks of time. I work all day and then have to focus on the kids when we get home and start our nightly routine: dinner, bath-time, reading time and tucking them into bed. I will admit, I sneek in a tweet or two during all the chaos! After all is quiet and the dishwasher is cooing, I click away on the computer.
What technology issues have you run into with your NOW?
I am the first to say that I am technologically challenged. That is the irony of doing a design blog. But I forge ahead and am constantly researching how to do something if I do not know how to do it. I use You-Tube as a resource or ask other bloggers for help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Social media can be challenging, but I think that’s what motivates me!
What is your ultimate pasta dish?
I ultimately would like to have an impact! I would like to help the young design aficionado who appreciates design, but doesn’t know how to go about it. My ultimate goal is to be known as your Design Guru! So let's re-design your world!
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