This week’s Fresh Start is all about inspiration. We all need it during this time of year, what with the lack of sunshine and all. This week, we head to University Circle for a conference aimed at uncovering the Zen in your green spaces when the sun returns. We follow it up with a rousing community exchange of ideas and multimedia - one aimed at changing that very cloudy headspace we mentioned. Follow it up with an interior design event that brightens the corners of your home and benefits one of Cleveland’s most noble nonprofit orgs. You don’t need Annie or Dick Goddard to tell you the sun will come out tomorrow. Just follow our little forecast and you’ll feel right as rain.
Spaces as Therapy
The timing couldn’t be better. The 2011 Cleveland Botanical Garden Sustainability Symposium has been dubbed "Healing Spaces" and expectedly, it’s all about the calm, serene effect that outdoor spaces have, and how one might create their own with flair and panache. This day-long, eco-minded happening is packed with tips and knowledge from landscape professionals, home gardeners, authors and other featured speakers. Learn all you can on Friday, February 4 and Saturday, February 5, then take your fortified knowledge and inspiration back to your patch of green. After the snow melts, that is. The Cleveland Botanical Garden is located at 11030 East Boulevard in University Circle. Speakers and program outline can be found here.
Inspiring the Future
On Friday, February 4, PechaKucha Night Cleveland celebrates its third year of inspiring the city. Japanese for “the sound of conversation,” these soirees feature speakers sharing new ideas on everything from visual art, technology and food, to culture, design and trends. Each participant in this event has 400 seconds (20 visual slides at 20 seconds of screen time each) to deliver their message to the audience. Quick pacing and innovative ideas paired together with creative community discussion makes these nights lively and not to be missed. This time around, PechaKucha hits the House of Blues Cambridge Room. It’s a must-do, particularly for young professionals and creatives who’ve never been, but swear that there’s nothing inspirational happening in Plumtown. Learn more here.
Off the Floor, In Your Home
The Ohio Design Centre’s Floor Sample Sale is a handsome annual event where the general public can score exclusive home design options usually reserved for the architects, interior design professionals and private clients they serve. Custom furniture, decorative accessories, area rugs, framed art and modish lighting items are just the beginning of what’s available; ODC offers these designer furnishings and interior décor at amazing markdowns. The event launches this Saturday, February 5 and runs throughout the weekend, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Cleveland Furniture Bank - a non-profit organization providing home furnishings to individuals and families in the region looking for a fresh start. (And you know we’re all about that.) For more info and hours, call 216-831-1245. Ohio Design Centre is located at 23533 Mercantile Rd., Beachwood. Learn more here.
