Feeling 4th quarter

This Saturday I celebrate 5 years in business.  Wow! What a ride! I can not believe how much my business has transformed from the original plan of being strictly retail offering design advice in house to a full fledge Interior Design business with limited hours open to the public. 

This year I have really put the emphasis and assets into the Interior Design side of the business.  With the economy in its current state it made more fiscal sense to invest all cash flow when possible into the  working end of the business.  And I think my gamble has paid off. 

However it is fall and it is nesting season and I just finished buying everything I could get to ship quick for this weekends big event. 

Come and check it out.  I restocked in original vintage tiles from Olde Good Things, got some really mod upholstery pieces from Sitcom Furniture and have some great holiday and everyday accents from Kalalou on its way. 

Hope to see you Saturday Oct 17th from 10-5. Help me celebrate with 40% off everything in the store. I will also have some yummy cupcakes and wine to sweeten all deals.

Dawn

Quick Fix ideas for the home

As we all trudge through the current economic situation, I often hear “What can I do to change my room with out spending alot of money?”   Well here’s some ideas, one of the quickest and easiest ways to give your room a makeover is to declutter. Take all your accents down, give um a good dusting and pack half,  if not more away. I like to box them up and put them in the basement. Then I like to wait a day or so and bring a couple of things back out. When we work with our clients we like to practice ,the less is more technique. Get rid of the clutter and stick to displaying a few things at a time. No one says you have to get rid of everything,  you just don’t need to have it all out. Then when you are feeling the need for change, revisit you stored accents and rotate them. Or if you go back to the items in storage and realize that you can live with out them. Donate them. Let them go. Hoarding and clutter is just not in anymore.

Another tip for remaking a room with out it costing anything is moving your furniture around. Try angling some pieces off the walls if you have room to do it for a fresh take.

The final way you can spruce up a space which will cost very little is painting. You don’t even have to paint the whole room. At Urban Abode we can even help you select paint colors that match your individual style or coordinate with your furnishings. Try painting a focal point wall, like the wall the fireplace is on, or the wall the the t.v. hangs on, or the wall with all the windows.  Its amazing what you can do with a gallon of paint. Which reminds me, have a huge wall and can not find a picture, mirror  or metal sculpture big enough to make an impact? We have lots of choices at Urban Abode, but if you found the perfect piece already and are desperately trying to make it work, how about painting a large backdrop behind where the picture hangs so that the paint color acts an oversized frame.

Think Spring

Its been awhile since I last wrote and alot has changed at the store. If you haven’t been in recently you should stop in and see what my very talented interns from WCTC and MATC Interior Design Programs have done to the store. The entire store has been repainted with the latest trend paint colors.  They experimented with stripes and stencils this semester and the finished product is getting rave reviews from our customers.  Look for our new upholstered furniture  line from Southern Furniture Company to come in shortly and see the coordination with the color concepts in the store.

If you come in soon you will find some great values and markdowns in the store.  We are running into a few problems in that we have lots of new merchandise arriving weeekly and unfortunately we still have some leftovers from last season.  Could it be we are growing out of our space? What a great problem/opportunity to have.  You might see some major developments later this year regarding location.  I’ll get back to you when I know more.

Speaking of knowing more, when was the last time you read Milwaukee Magazine.  Check out page 84 in the May 2009 issue.  The article called Reshaping Retail is good stuff.   You will get alittle insight into what smaller retailers like myself are doing to stay afloat and beat the odds during this economic storm.  Which reminds me to remind you the consumer to support your community and shop local.

2008 ending

I want to thank all of you, valued customers, who came to the annual year end sale this last Saturday. It was a great success.  Together we were able to put together quite a large collection of baby formula for the Waukesha County Food Pantry. As I told many of you. I have  been reading story after story about low income families supplementing other things like apple juice and sugar sodas as a substitute for formula because it is so expensive, not to mention the mothers who are diluting formula to make it last longer.  I think the formula we put together will make a difference.

I also wanted to say again thank you to all of you who have supported Urban Abode,  for the great year. I am tieing up loose ends at the moment, but I am proud to say even in these difficult economic times Urban Abode came through this year with flying colors. We saw a growth in business of 18% this year. Not bad for a company that has only existed for 4 years. 

Please remember when making your purchasing decisions no matter what it is, shop local. When you shop local you support you community as a whole.

I also want to give a special thanks to my mother, my sister and my best friend Brad. This company would not be where it is if it were not for your love, compassion, muscle and support.

looking back and looking forward

I am starting to form my game plan for next year. In January I will be attending a couple of home decor and gift shows. It’s always exciting to see and touch whats new for the season. I have always found that what I saw last season in the clothing trends are refected in the following season home fashion trends. Next season, I think we will definately start to see more grays, taupes and purple, done in warm tones. I started introducing these colors in the store already as I have been making last minute purchases for the end of the year.  I definately plan to get more for next season. Of course my personal style refects lots of color. My favorite season is summer and I like to be surrounded by the feeling all year round.  I think being a creative person makes me more aware of my surroundings and how it affects my state of mind. So when I finally finish my home I will post some pics and you will see just how much I love color.
I also see trends changing next year in regards to wood colors. The current trend is dark espresso colored woods. But as you may or may not be aware. Wood stain trends change back and forth every couple of years. The dark colors have been in vogue for quite some time now and as the birch and aged or recycled wood trends become more popular so will the lighter wood stain colors. Expect it to really kick into gear next fall season.
Despite the dark economic forecast Urban Abode is doing quite well.  So well in fact that I may not be back to blog until after the new year as I try to finish all my design projects before the holiday season ,so for now I would like to say Happy Holidays and see you in the new year.

4 years in business.

This weekend I will celebrate 4 crazy years being in business.  WOW, how time has flown by. It is amazing how much my business has changed or I should say evolved.  I am fortunate enough to have metamorphosed into 2 different businesses: the retail store and the interior design.

Cheers to many years to come.

 

Dawn

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