DESIGN
CRAIG T. KJOMIA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chaminade student Laura Owens, right, presents her team's design to homeowners Cree Akana and Lylah Reid-Akana.
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Winning design waxes nostalgic with panache
Call it a real-life "Designer's Challenge." Just like the HGTV reality show that features interior designers attempting to win over a homeowner with brilliant specs and a fresh update of a room, Chaminade University's interior design program challenges its senior students: Come up with the plans to make over one home.
Designs on view
Layout boards by the Chaminade University interior design students will be on display:
» HomeWorld Pearlridge: Beginning April 1; 98-107 Kamehameha Highway
» HomeWorld Beretania: Beginning April 15; 702 South Beretania St.
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Three groups in professor Joan Riggs' senior studio class competed to persuade one couple to pick their design project. They took a month to gather information from the clients, come up with a plan and estimate the cost of new flooring, furniture, fabrics and services.
"The students figured out what the rates would be to illustrate the dollar value," said Riggs. "These students will be the next generation of designers."
This is the fifth year of competition, although the homeowner was previously chosen privately. This year, Chaminade teamed up with HomeWorld, PHF Hawaii and Window World for a contest to find a homeowner to be the design subject. The winner received a combined package of $5,000 from the stores.
The couple that put their home in the hands of future interior designers? Cree Akana and Lylah Reid-Akana. They own a three-bedroom, one-bath home in Kaimuki, shared with son Baylee, 7. Akana wrote in on his wife's behalf.
"I was really surprised," said Reid-Akana of learning they had won. "I was wondering why HomeWorld was calling. It took me a few seconds."
CRAIG T. KJOMIA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Brandy Peerey and Devin Westberg of Chaminade peruse Homeworld in Aiea for items to use in their design plan.
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Reid-Akana had grown up in the three-bedroom home built in 1960, and the couple had been planning an update.
"I love this area," said Reid-Akana. "I want to stay as close to this area as possible, with the family history. The landscape has changed and all, but I remember when we did this, the cousins and everything."
Though the students addressed all the rooms in the house, there was an emphasis on updating high-traffic areas such as the kitchen and bathroom.
Still equipped with original appliances, the kitchen's partially working stove and oven had seen better years. Students also addressed the lack of storage in the two rooms.
They looked at short-term goals: rearranging furniture and picking out alternative lighting in the cove panel in the dark living room; and long-term projects, such as one group's plans to expand the entry and change the landscape in front of the ranch-style home.
"One thing we wanted to do was make the design more functional and get rid of the clutter and congestion," said senior Devin Westberg of the group the Six. "We also wanted to move toward the Hawaii plantation feel with fibers, woods, bold reds and a hint of green."
Throughout the house students incorporated Reid-Akana's taste for Hawaiiana/retro plantation-style furniture, much of which was made by her grandfather Kayomiyo. In particular the couple wished to keep a handmade monkeypod coffee table and some handsome oversize bamboo furniture.
"She's very nostalgic and has a lot of memories (of growing up in the house)," said second-semester senior Brandy Peerey. "She wants to hold onto the memories. Preserving that is important."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chaminade students met the design challenge and came up with plans to redo the interior of Cree Akana and Lylah Reid-Akana's home.
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