[Cagdu] FW: [K9Scoop] article on guide dog handler - interior designer

Mon May 28 18:19:02 PDT 2007

Subject: [K9Scoop] article on guide dog handler - interior designer

I wonder which program Mayor is from? 

http://www.azcentra
<http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/home/articles/0526kizere0526.html#
> l.com/arizonarepublic/home/articles/0526kizere0526.html#

A sense of style

Nearly blind interior designer shares his command of
color, shape, texture

Sue Doerfler
The Arizona Republic
May. 26, 2007 12:00 AM
View more photos

When Robert Kizere meets with clients, he brings along
something other interior designers don't have: a
Seeing Eye dog.

Three years ago, a tennis ball-size tumor left Kizere
with optic nerve damage and 2 degrees of sight, the
equivalent of looking through a piece of construction
paper that has a pinhole poked into it. Normal-seeing
persons have 180 degrees of sight.

"I call it my tennis-ball accident," said Kizere with
his characteristic sense of humor. "It's an easier
icebreaker than saying a brain tumor."

Despite his limited sight, the designer can
distinguish color, shape and texture, the elements of
good design.

"Color has always been really important to me," said
Kizere, who recently started his own business, Robert
Vaughn Designs, after working for Norwalk Furniture
& Design in Tempe. (Vaughn is Kizere's middle name.)
"If you're a shade off, it doesn't look right."

Kizere, who has more than 30 years of interior design
experience, works out of his Tempe house, but his
briefcase really serves as his home office. He spends
a lot of time traveling across the United States to
help clients, many of whom are referrals or repeat
customers. Around town, he takes buses to clients'
homes.

"I have my laptop, a digital camera and my dog and I
can do anything," he said.

His Seeing Eye dog, a golden retriever named Mayor, is
like a mini marketing manager for Kizere.

"People just love him. They start talking to me just
because of him. (Once they do,) I've got them hook,
line and sinker," he said, referring to how he
often attracts clients. Because of Mayor, he met one
client while on an airplane and two others at
restaurants.

Norwalk co-owner Mike Schoor said that Kizere's
abilities stand on their own.

"He's a great natural salesman," he said. "He is an
absolute master in networking his way to become his
client's single source for everyone in his home.
He is very prideful of being self-sufficient and
working toward ultimately satisfying his clients
without depending on anyone in that process."

It took three buses recently to get to client Janet
Drummond's Tempe patio home, where Kizere was to help
flesh out ideas for a bathroom and den. He already
had helped coordinate the decor of her living room and
dining area by making the small rooms feel larger. In
the dining area, he placed two mirrors on
top of each other, adding depth to the space. Built-in
plant shelves, lined with decorative pottery, draw
your eyes upward. In the living room, which features
a baby grand piano, Kizere artistically placed a
sectional sofa and lounge chair so the space wouldn't
seem so small.

"I always thought I was pretty good at decorating, but
Robert opened my mind," said Drummond, who has been
pleased with her home's transformation. "I'm
impressed with his amazing intuition. He can feel a
room."

Nevertheless, being blind and a designer hasn't been
easy.

Because of his limited vision, it takes him longer to
do the work he needs for each project, he said. That
he is good at math has helped.

"I'm a walking calculator," he said. He uses adaptive
equipment to read and often will ask a client to be
his assistant in tasks such as measuring.

"I want to preserve my eyesight for color, shape and
texture," he said.

Kizere's health problems began as headaches, which he
thought were due to sinus pressure. When the headaches
turned into dizziness, he went to the hospital,
where he was told he had a slow-growing tumor the size
of a golf ball. Surgery was scheduled for a month
later. In that time, the tumor enlarged to the
size of a tennis ball.

Before the operation, Kizere, now 55, had retired.
After the surgery, however, he had second thoughts
about not working.

He took college design classes, just to see if he was
able to do the work.

"I had to prove to myself," he said. He also wanted to
keep his brain active.

Now, when something goes wrong or doesn't look right,
he has an excuse, he said, laughing. "I say, 'Oh,
darn, that's what happens when they take the part
of your brain that works.'

"That's probably the best thing I have going for me:
my attitude."

Details: www.robert vaughndesigns.com or (480)
221-0954.

Reach the reporter at sue.doerfler at arizonarepublic
.com or (602) 444-8236.

__________________________________________________________
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Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games.
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