Design Local Austin

Mannington Commercial’s Design Local program will culminate in the big showdown come early next month when the web site goes live along with all completed carpet designs from the four participating cities—Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Austin. The design industry, which has been waiting with breath that is bated, will finally get the chance to vote for their favorite line! The exact URL will be released shortly.

DL’s final stop was in Austin, Texas in November and I must say that personally, this city’s spunky sense of Americana has made me just a little bit partial…

Another crew of local design stars was compiled by Mannington to translate this city’s flair into a carpet tile and coordinating LVT collection. Perhaps it was that hint of grit and grime that it serves up—from its food truck culture to its vibrant music and art scene–that makes it such a refreshing new scene of inspiration. "There's a comfort level here of things not being perfect," says Mary Bledsoe of the Lauck Group.

This group was a unique one in that they decided to head towards the same parts of town and THEN divide and conquer – a different approach when compared to the other DL city scrambles. I was a little wary when I found myself shadowing Chris Martin of Abel Design, a real life James Bond.

He’d revealed to the group earlier that he was formerly in U.S. counter-intelligence. Little did my then 5-months-pregnant-self know I had no reason to worry: this guy had actually delivered a baby in a car while working in Afghanistan.

Martin and I certainly hit up a good variety of spots:

Holly Lang, HDR Inc
Mary Bledsoe - Lauck Group
Carlos Gonzales - RVK Architects
Chris Martin - Abel Design
Andrea Michalski - Ziegler Cooper Architects
Giancarlo Salonga - HOK

Design Local Austin

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