Materials Samples-Inspire Creativity

Materials samples here, there, and everywhere! That pretty much describes our office at any moment. If you’ve met with us, you’ve probably noticed many building materials samples lying around our conference room. Why all the samples?

Building materials samples, such as brick, tile, and cabinets, are a mini-version of the elements we are considering for use in your project. These samples help us to compare brands and make final decisions about materials, color, finish, cost, function and quality of the elements that are going into your next project.

Samples for a Current Project

Just for fun, we thought we’d show you the building material samples we are considering at this very moment. These are the samples of the brick and fiber cement board we are considering for the exterior of an apartment project. Working with the building owner, interior designer, and contractor, we chose Sioux City Brick and James Hardie siding.

Using Samples on Materials Boards and in Mock-ups

For many projects, we assemble materials boards that include small samples of the materials we are planning to specify. These boards help others to have a mental picture and a tactile source for understanding the building finishes we have chosen.

Once in a while, we incorporate some of the samples into project models or as mock-ups for actual client projects. For the Waukegan Public Library children’s department, we incorporated a tile sample as a colorful and fun decorative accent in the mock-up built to demonstrate the project columns we had in mind.

 What Happens to Old Samples?

As you might imagine, we end up with lots of extra samples at the end of the process of selection. These include fabric samples, tile samples, carpet samples, paint samples, and more.

Oftentimes, companies revise their color choices or styles from year to year and the old samples represent a product that is no longer available. If the sales representatives don’t pick them up, some of these go into the trash or recycling bin.

When Patricia and I were working on creating the environment for the local high school Senior Party, we repurposed several old product samples for the party’s decorative elements. Other freebies were obtained from our local Lowe’s store, whose manager was very helpful in providing us with lengths of twisted (unsellable) wood.

Samples have been known to end up in our own family’s “artistic creations”. We incorporated a solid surface material into Brian’s skate gloves; to repair a bridge on a guitar;  for Julia’s first-grade leprechaun trap. I dropped an old piece of tile into the top of a Charles Rennie Mackintosh –inspired side table. It’s been lots of fun to find new uses for items that might otherwise have ended up in a landfill.

The primary purpose of building material samples is to allow us to compare brands and to make final decisions about materials, color, finish, cost, function and quality of the elements that are going into our clients’ projects. But after the samples are no longer of use, they may find new life as part of something entirely new and different.