Despite being transplants, Amy and her family are now Philly folk, through and through. Whether volunteering with local schools, parks, theater groups, religious institutions or animal rescue organizations, Amy has become enmeshed in her adopted hometown. Since arriving in 2006, when her husband took a position at Penn, her family has lived and died with our Philly sports teams and loved walking around and celebrating our city, just as many of our born-and-raised Philly consultants do. Since 2010, down2earth Interior Design has worked in and around the Philadelphia metro and we want to tell you what we love about The City of Brotherly Love and its design. Let us count the ways:
1) Great Local Sources
From historic row homes to modern condos and suburban single-family homes, the Philadelphia area offers something for everyone, and we get to see it all. With each project, we learn more about the characteristics of each kind of property. The diverse architecture in and around our home city keeps things interesting. For example, you may think, at first glance, that there’s only a couple of ways to configure a row house. But walks around the neighborhoods of Philadelphia will teach you there are actually many ingenious ways to do so. Here are just a couple of the many, many row houses we’ve designed, including one featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
2) Historic Homes in Interesting Shapes
From historic row homes to modern condos and suburban single-family homes, the Philadelphia area offers something for everyone, and we get to see it all. With each project, we learn more about the characteristics of each kind of property. The diverse architecture in and around our home city keeps things interesting. For example, you may think, at first glance, that there’s only a couple of ways to configure a row house. But walks around the neighborhoods of Philadelphia will teach you there are actually many ingenious ways to do so. Here are just a couple of the many, many row houses we’ve designed, including one featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Tell us about your Philadelphia area Project…
3) Dog Life is the Best Life
Philly sports fans know a thing or two about being the underdog. Despite that, I think we can all agree that Philadelphians are about as passionate as you can get. Just like our home city, here at d2e we don’t focus on fancy, but on keeping things real and bringing passion to everything we do. At d2e, whether it’s underdogs or actual dogs, we are here for it. Several members of our team have pups and enjoy the various dog parks, trails, and dog friendly restaurants that this city offers. And when it comes to our furry friends, we know a thing or two about pet-friendly design, including crates that are easy on the eye.
4) A Welcoming Community
While our city is large, the sense of community is strong. Neighborhood organizations, food cooperatives and celebrations of all kinds abound throughout the city and surrounding areas. From the Mummer’s Parade to block parties, there are countless ways to foster deep connections with your fellow residents. Forging these connections is a key part of sustainability. How, you ask? Members of the community need to trust each other and be able to openly talk about what’s going to work for them over the long term when it comes to the built environments in their neighborhoods.
We think about community in every commercial project we do, whether it’s a restaurant, café, market, or gym. All these interiors are really gathering places for a community to be able to build connections.
5) Distinctive History
It’s been said that Philadelphia is a city of firsts, which is not an overstatement. Of course, we all know that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed here, but did you also know that Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States, not to mention the home of the first lending library, university, art museum and zoo? How about the fact that the first women’s medical college and children’s hospital were established here? And that’s just scratching the surface. Living amongst this rich history is a gift and sometimes we get to make exterior design recommendations that impact the fabric of the city for the better. And we’re even happier when these design decisions get recognized for their beauty and sensitivity.
6) Interesting Geography
Two hours in the car will take you either to the beach or the mountains. How many amongst us have either vacationed in the Poconos or “down the shore”? Whether it is city, country, or beach you desire, it is all within reach. Here at down2earth interior design, we’ve been recognized for doing lots with small city spaces.
And our work is also featured on projects where the homeowners are fond of their own patch of green space, while being within a short drive of the city.
7) Dedication to Sustainability
Sustainability is something we take very seriously here at down2earth Interior Design. Knowing that the city of Philadelphia has programs in place to protect our environment means a great deal. Through our work, we aim to be a part of the solution, by encouraging repurposing, recycling, donating and selecting responsible materials.
