After a little break (there is no such thing) I am back at it, full on. This morning was my littlest one’s first official day of daycare, so I can now focus more fully on the jobs coming in. What a relief knowing that she is being well taken care of and that I can now get to work – at least between 9:30am and 3:30pm everyday. It is definitely bitter-sweet: she isn’t a baby anymore, which makes me a little sad, but I felt ready for this next step and she loves getting to go with her brother in the morning.
These are some of my ongoing projects:
I am helping new clients redecorate their home – they are unhappy with their dining room and have been struggling with it for the last three years. I found them a table design and this morning we settled on colour choices and ordered the table made. I am a little nervous about the outcome only because the company we went with for the table-build is not a company I know and I honestly don’t love the work they have presented in their showroom. Still, we weren’t able to find the exact table the clients wanted, so having one built was really the best solution. I am hoping that the clear specifications we have given them as to design, colour and finish will give us the hoped-for results. We will see, fingers crossed.
The biggest project that has come my way recently is another commercial space design. Friends of mine own the General 54 store on St-Viateur street in the Mile End. They are relocating to a new, larger space a few doors down from Lawrence, on St-Laurent between Laurier and Fairmount. My goal here is some good old fashioned empire building: I would like to slowly design/decorate/consult on as many commercial projects within a two block radius as possible. So if you want to open a restaurant, bar, clothing store or butcher shop on St-Laurent, I’m your man! It’s only funny because it’s true. This becomes the fifth project I have a hand in designing in that same area. But truly , I love the people involved in this project – they are good people and I am really excited to be working on this.
The new space is pretty great. High ceilings, tons of space, clean. The main issues are :
-a plywood floor (paint? tile? stencil?)
-a long brick wall that we can’t paint (again!)
-and, the usual, not a limitless budget to work with.
Here are some pics of the space:
My clients want a cozy, warm, cool interior and have given me some inspiration pictures to get me going. And though the budget is not limitless, it is healthy. They also want to back away from the vintage-y, found-furniture vibe of their current shop. This suits me perfectly. I am very much OVER the reclaimed wood, rustic/industrial decor trend. I see pops of colour, mixes of pattern and texture, great lighting. And I’m all for vintage finds, but as with Lawrence and the butcher shop, it all needs to be modified or transformed in some way. No as is.
I have an idea of the layout but still have question marks regarding some key elements: what should the change rooms be made of? What does the cash area look like? How will we display jewellery/hats/bags in a user-friendly and interesting way? What I need to do to figure those things out is spend some time doing research and hit the road, checking out shops and flea markets. As in every design contract I undertake, there needs to be that Aha! moment – the piece of furniture, the light, the fabric, the paint colour that determines the rest.
With Lawrence it was finding the couch fabric: every decision regarding colour stemmed from that choice.
At the Boucherie, for me, it all flowed from choosing to paint the big wall Covington Blue.
I haven’t had my Aha! moment yet for the new General but I am feeling inspired and ready to go. It will come to me soon, I feel it. And even though I miss my little bunnies, I’m psyched and energized and motivated. Back to work, for real!
xa
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