Students get creative at interior design camp

With sketch pencil, ruler and template, nine students finalized interior drawings of shotgun houses using skills learned in an architectural and interior design summer camp at Sallie B. Howard School of the Arts and Science.

The week-long course was a collaboration between Carrie Nobles, art teacher for Sallie B. Howard School; Asha Kutty, professor of interior architecture at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and Monica T. Davis, architectural historian owner of Rinascita Designs.

Each day, students did a different activity, from touring a shotgun house to visiting an interior designer’s studio before sitting down and creating their own designs.

Students were able to create floor plans based on all the information they received during the week and then present their floor plans, material boards and collages based on what they had learned.

The focus was on shotgun houses, which are typically about 700 square feet in size.

“There are 99 shotgun houses in Wilson. It was 301 in the 1980s, but a lot of them have been demolished for new homes in the East Wilson area,” said Davis, who is the former executive director of the Preservation of Wilson and current historic preservation academic director at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Davis owns seven shotgun houses in Wilson.

“The shotgun house originated in the United States in New Orleans in the early 1800s, and they spread throughout the United States for workman housing,” Davis said. “The moniker is that you can shoot a shotgun through the front door and it will go out the back door because the front door and the back door line up more for circulation space during the time that HVAC wasn’t existing.”

Davis said the course introduced students to architecture, cultural heritage of the shotgun house and the culture heritage of East Wilson.

Students visited a renovated shotgun house where Linda Artis lives.

“It was really nice seeing how it was renovated and remodeled and seeing how someone can take a space like that and turn it into something nice, new, a hangout space or a space for themselves. That’s what I really liked,” said student Nacari Freeman, 14. “I liked the way that she had remodeled the entire place and made use of her space. While some people want a bigger house to put some of their stuff in, she used what she had and still got her essential and necessities.”

Nobles said the students responded well to the visit to an actual shotgun house.

“They had seen shotgun houses before, but I don’t think they knew that that was a shotgun house,” Nobles said. “Being able to go in and get a real life experience and see it up close for themselves was really good. It was very good for them to see an actual space being converted. We also got to see one that was under construction, so then they got to see what it looked like before it was renovated.”

Student Valentina Ramirez, an 11th grader at Sallie B. Howard School, didn’t know what shotgun houses were.

“When we went to Ms. Artis’ house, it was really interesting to see how she was able to renovate it and put her heart into it,” Valentina said. “I just like the concept of being able to give that special touch into a home and make it very comfortable while still giving it a little personality to it.”

Students visited J. Michael Moore Inc. where owner Moore detailed the operation of his full-service residential design firm in Wilson. Moore also has many clients around New York City.

“His store was really interesting, and it really touched me how he was born and raised in Wilson like I am and decided to go to New York to pursue his career,” Valentina said. “I was born here in Wilson and I really see myself going out, but it opened that opportunity for me of going out of town and going somewhere else that could make my dream come true.”

Moore talked to students about floor plans, choosing materials and his journey through interior design.

“It was nice to see how he worked in the studio,” said student Vanathi Karthikeyan, 12. “I really want to do a career in art and I might do interior design. I just like drawing and being creative.”

When students returned to the school, they began designing three shotgun houses using their own ideas.

“I am more inclined to do architecture,” Nacari said. “I feel that is what I am inclined to do the most. If I were to get into this career, I have had experience in building 3D models or smaller things and using games to build my own houses and floor plans.”

Student Evan Woods, 15, who designed his shotgun house with a barbershop inside, said he learned how to place things in a house.

“I wanted to make a house for myself. I changed them up because I wanted more space,” Evan said. “I just like the way things are placed in a house. They need space and they need room so it’s not all together.”

Student Anahalla Applewhite, 14, said she got a lot out of the course and it was time well spent.

“I learned how to create my own style in the different types of ways, and I also got to design a shotgun house by myself, which was really interesting,” Anahalla said. “It was very cool. I didn’t know shotgun houses existed until I went to go see them.”

Anahalla said she liked everything about the course.

“My most favorite part about this was floor planning because you get to actually make your own shotgun house out of your own design of what you like,” Anahalla said. “It makes it more interesting and more creative for people to understand your own style. I just used my imagination and the way I felt at the same time. It kind of took me a while to put it all together, but I feel like it was worth it.”