Good morning everyone.
I suppose a Happy New Year is also in order today as I haven't popped in here in awhile.
The Christmas season flew by and then the craziness of after Christmas which honestly always feels more nutty to me especially with owning the shop. The sales, the ordering to get the stock ready for after Christmas, family bits and just general life.
Today it's time for our shop tour after our latest remodel from last week. Loads of new goodies have come in and even more since these photos taken already. Not really spring yet, as winter still has a good 3 months to go here but definitely fresher and brighter.
Plus,
I got the wild and hair brained idea to do some reno's with this redo in the shop. Cause why leave well enough alone when you can add more crap to your plate just because. The fact that my husband loves me enough to see my visions through with very little argument and the fact that my brain is like a rat wheel at all hours of the day amazes me sometimes.
To the reno end, the first one we embarked upon was in the back corner of the store. It has been a chalkboard wall since we opened the shop 3 years ago and had a large gap in the centre of the shelves for a large piece of artwork or wreath, whatever. It worked well but was becoming more and more of a pain when the item in the centre of the wall sold. We always had a mad dash to try and replace it with something else. Also the darkness of the wall with no natural light always made the corner feel dark and a lot of items just kind of got lost.
The wall got covered with brick panelling from Lowe's and then painted in a nice bright white. Gives texture and brightness to our back corner and I absolutely love it. We closed up the gap in the centre of the shelves and it has already made a world of difference in my brain for styling. So much less stress and more display space for goodies.
The back corner of the shop ended up with a focus on blue, white, copper and silvers. Much of the blue went away for the Christmas season so the shop would "vibe" but it feels fresh to bring it back out. A few of the new chinoiserie style pieces on the back wall are new pieces but still hand painted and they are gorgeous.
Moving onto reno #2. Our massive pipe shelf along the main wall got new boards. We replaced the wood boards with white ones, again for brightness. It's one of those things in your home you may not notice as much because you don't have as much stuff as a store is trying to display . In a home there are also more windows and breaks between items. We came up with the idea to try and change the boards to see if it would help lighten things up. Short of popping skylights in the ceiling this seemed like the best solution, or best bang for our buck.
As Trevor finished installing them while Jill, Jerica and I were hammering out other areas of the store, packing stuff up, hauling stuff up the stairs we all just kind of turned around and stared. It was just amazing the difference the empty white shelves were making and we hadn't even started styling them yet. Of course I was so excited about them, that when it came time to style them it just flowed right out of my brain.
We have gone back into full on plant mode in the shop as well. The air is just rich with oxygen and humidity. It's a great place to not get dry skin I'll tell you that.
With the new year and the new do also came plans. Plans and goals for the new year. I always have a spinning rolodex of ideas going and notes to refer to. Jill and I had our shop goal meeting this past Monday and we are ready for an exciting year ahead. In the next 2 months we have a BIG bit of news to unveil but for the moment it has to wait and so many more things to look forward to.
Also more plant care information here on the blog, still lots of tours and DIY's in our home, travel and loads of other goodies mixed in.
The counter is always a difficult bit at this time of year. There is no seasonal "kitsch" to install. The idea to turn the counter into a giant living terrarium came to me in the shower one night [because all good ideas are born in the bathroom]. I found all the wonkiest plants at one of my wholesalers and Jill and I got to work planting all of them in concrete planters.
It turned out great and with the addition of some grow lights for night time and a highlight light in the centre for daytime. It is a real focal point right now.
I saved this photo for last. It's a wide angle view of a good portion of the front of the store. It encompasses everything about how I want my store to speak to people when they come in. We have plants, pots, vintage and new, a bit of eclectic and a bit of polish. There's rough and refined and it's blended together to help you think outside your comfort zone and find that perfect piece for your home. Because being at home in YOUR home is what I'm selling. The idea of comfort, the feeling of pride and making your space work for your life.
My wonderful team of Jill, Jerica, and of course my husband Trevor knocked another one out of the park and after a few long days we were rewarded with a clean and spruced space. Can't forget the entertainment crew of our junior associate Emma too. It feels amazing to walk in right now and I hope you enjoyed seeing some bits of the space.
Thanks for joining me,
Meg
