Wow...how time fly's...
One day its May, the next thing you know its September! We have been so busy with so many projects that it was literally impossible to keep up with the blog....I know...bad practice when you have a blog and any kind of following! No more...promise!
I will be posting over the next few weeks pics of inspiration, the set decorators event at the Universal Studios back lot, the gift show set ups and any other exciting thing that I have been archiving on my blackberry camera...
Keep your eyes open....if not you might just miss it
xo
m

Feeling blessed!

I have been busy multi tasking two different parts of my company...the design and merchandising part and the interior design part. One has always been busy when the other was slow-until now...
The great part is the economy is getting better...you can tell when you have been working with people sending emails back and forth, touching base and just letting them know you are ready when they are ready. Then, BAM!....all of a sudden everyone is ready to go at once and now at the same time as our show set ups...
This is going to be interesting...both how I handle my stress level and the lack of hours I will need in a day in order to get this all done...but somehow it always works out...
However...I will say this...I am so very very lucky to be this busy. There are so many of us out there whom are talented and without work...I have never had to go out and look for clients in either arena...we have been blessed to have all of our work come to us by word of mouth.
I had this thought after leaving a new clients house at 7:30 at night...as long as I am being considered for jobs and hired for jobs, I simply cannot complain....I have some of the most amazing clients whom all have become friends and family to me...they have taken me in and included me in their lives and for this I am so very very blessed.....its so worth it!

Always an inspiration is Big Daddy's antique and found object warehouse...they have both an amazing eye and an even more amazing merchandising style- keeping alike items in a collection they have the space to do it right. This is a wall of vintage bird cadges in all shapes and sizes.

Larger than life found objects...fantastic use of space if you have it!

I think what makes Shanes presentation so amazing is the multiple vignettes- each has a different feel but they all flow- The addition of huge trees, greens and live birds in huge vintage bird cadges just adds to the presentation and overall atmosphere!

Big Daddy's outdoor stone collection filled with succulents

Feather or Rather Paper your Nest

I have been sourcing wallpaper lately and have been so inspired with all of the different patterns, color and texture...it makes me want to re-do every room in my tiny apartment. I think what I love the most is that it takes either a small or large space and transforms it instantly to a chic space- weather it be modern geometrics, re-issued prints from the 70's or the huge marimekko florals that my mom did my childhood room in, they each give a space a face lift....

Walnut on Beverly is an amazing source with a staff that is helpful and has tons of knowledge to help you navigate through tons of sample books, styles and trends....

Walnut wallpaper

7424 Beverly Blvd

LA, CA 90036

323-932-9166

www.walnutwalpaper.com

Fashion Accessories

"Eye-candy"

Think outside of the box....We have started to add small collections of handbags and scarves to our pharmacy's with great success! Create a small area with bright bags and scarves...cross merchandise with some hard candies in jars and ta-da! Instant swing shop!

Contact info;

Melie Bianco

1101 S. Main Street

LA, CA 90015

213) 749-3889

Gym inspiration

Now that my schedule is beginning to pick up and my days are starting at 4:30 am and ending in the office at 5 or 6 pm, I am having to find time in other places to go through inspiration......
Somehow the gym is the one place I can go through magazines with a clear head and really look at what is going on in the world of design. I am not sure if its due to no phones, loud music on my ipod or just that its un interrupted time....but, true to my multi tasking a.d.d. personality I really do get more done this way...

While on the bike last night after tearing through the new House and Gardens I came across 9 by design on one of the 6 tv's playing on the gym walls....AMAZING!!! The couple behind some of the coolest projects and their life in design with family. Everything about it I love..from the concepting process to the split screen interviews..so inspiring and so fresh in the world of a billion design reality shows!

So...you never know where you are going to find inspiration...for me, its apparently at the gym on a bike!

I LOVE THIS!!!!

Think of your signage in your shop...clean, graphic and simple!

"Inspiration"

The rule of any collection shown in multiples is done soooo well here! Entire window from top to bottom filled with old singer and other sewing machines! Fixtures are made out of massive press and weaving machines...it gives a great contrast to the exquisite details on the apparel....

Gaps Pop Up Shop !

I have always loved the ideas of pop up shops..especially when they are done well! The theory of opening up in sometimes random neighbourhoods to either just do a fantastic short term shop or to test drive a new division or brand is brilliant to me...

Gap's 1965 brand pop up shop is on 3rd street holding its own with the high end competition. I think what I love the most is the bare bones fixtures and the price points...nothing over $100..and in this neighbourhood of $500 dresses this is a daring move that will prove that Gap is back!

Gap's pop up shop brilliant fixtures...industrial shelving with plexi over back to create a shop separation and storage....also visually- "anything in multiples"..it's striking to see stacks of perfectly folded denim thru the plexi glass

Inspired

Wonder what to do with too much space that you just can't fill with inventory? Oversize displays!

I love the scale of this....right as you walk in and brilliantly painted gold....

Same shop...above the tractor, a milk bottle chandelier!

getting it together!

Well, the blog has been up for a while now and we are pleased to be getting more and more hits! We have just set up face book and our profile there- the hope is to link one to another....
This is not an easy or quick feat by any means! I have been lucky enough to have Sarah Jones of Character Brands as a friend and a source of information and advise on how all of this social media and networking really works...

What I have learned is that while I am busy posting away, those who are searching for inspiration etc...t may not want to go through the pages and pages of info and pictures we have posted.....
The solution...we will be posting by category-Here is a list of categories that we will be blogging on and attaching information on:
Kids
Gourmet foods
Table top
Home Decor
Holiday/Seasonal
Bath
Books/Stationary
Fashion accessories
General gift
and most importantly......Inspiration!
We hope this will make it easier for you to find what you are looking for and what inspires you!

Great modern and whimsical spin on an arm chair...

Get out there...

I have been trying to take small day trips...Big Bear, Santa Barbra etc...its been amazing to get out and see your own backyard- I think we all get wrapped up in our own stores and businesses out of fear of loosing sales or not having the payroll etc - I am equally as bad at this - now getting out and about I'm feeling more inspired, more creative and less stressed about how to essentially re-invent the same spaces we have been re-inventing for the last 4 years....

Get out there, get inspired and get creative....

The beginning stages of the table top and gourmet month display at the LA Mart...

Close up of color copies as the backdrop... Simple, cost effective and eye catching....

End result - when shopping for this concept I just kept going back to that high end, specialty shop look. Easy enough to do in the way of in-expensive fixtures, free wood crates from farmers markets and some color copies out of great cookbooks as a backdrop...

Fantastic idea for those with a garden or patio in their retail space...interactive and fun....not to mention great idea for your clients oversized backyards....

Water fountain in Los Olivos....at Anthroplogie the overall visual experience was based on sight, sound and scent...the water element was always used come beginning of spring....

The single reason I love doing windows with vinyl lettering...bold and with a single catchy phrase you have caught most peoples attention in a single shot! These are the windows that I choose to push the envelope with what we are trying to convey...at mothers day a few years ago we had all of our staff get pics of their moms in early years and framed them for the back drop and the vinyl's read "mommy dearest."

The simple element of orchids in wall vases....so easy to do on an empty wall with either faux or real! Notice the light fixtures....old glass floats drilled out with a simple ikea cord kit to go in and instant chic pendant lamp!

Love these chairs! Nice to see them in a totally unexpected fabric!

Back from South Beach and re-inspired and re-energized! One thing I can say is that there is soooo much energy there! The music is the #1 factor...its amazing to go into a shop that really is not that interesting and have loud or relatively loud music going....the energy of the store changes, you want to start moving around, looking, semi dancing....even if what you are looking at is not that interesting- It is what I have always said...energy creates energy! If you think walking into a dead silent shop you are dead wrong!

W hotel South Beach....artist hipster....funky 70's decor matched with prominent artist of the today....so good!

Can't say how much I love this enough...the contrast of the mirrored cab and the natural grapevine limbs stacked up....gorgeous!

Above the bar detail....anything in a collection is dramatic and beautiful...

This is a odd time for me...I have more or less started my life all over again. I am going through a divorce and re-learning how to do what I love to do, pour my self into work but now not loose myself in it....
I say this as I seem to thrive under a lot of stress, long hours and no sleep...why, one wonders would you thrive in these kinds of conditions....I guess it was escape..escape to a world of being busy, happy creating and most of all avoiding what was going on in my personal life...
So- fast forward 10 months....I feel happy again, I can feel myself smile and hear myself laugh! I am learning to balance a now happy life with a work load that I cant keep up with nor do I want to now that I don't have to escape something....
Balance is something that will create more, balance will open your eyes to new things, new sights and new sounds....
I am out to find balance and with balance comes inspiration...
We leave for South Beach this Thursday- will be posting inspiration for everyone....especially me!

Kids trends are always the most fun to set up! Crystals display for the mini market captures all the fun of being a kid! Kites, dolls and play houses.... Easy display ideas for adding that extra detail to your kids vignette; Michaels or Joannes styrofoam letter wrapped in ditsy florals with phrases of "A is for apple" trailing it....

Think outside of the box....add some fun to your displays!

Stationary trends for 2010 are bright, up beat, happy and very tongue and cheek....we have been serious for so long its time to get happy!

Love this use of wall space! The high and low element of display is fantastic as well... With all the eco/green displays out there I love seeing the re-invention of everyday objects like pallets, saw horses and used lumber..

The start of the process! We have 2,500sq feet that we are doing a concept shop in- I have chosen the 4 seasons as its the best way to show most holidays without making it so obvious...this way "fall" can also have a bit of Halloween...etc

The fun part of this process is going to prop shops for the motion picture industry....we usually don't rent but in this case we need some big items...

The cow for the concept shop! Oddly enough it turned out to be its own tourist attraction with buyers coming up and taking photos with it..

Day one....nothing down on the floors as of yet but its so exciting to see the signage go up... Seems like its taken so long to get to this point and now we are finally here!

Beginning of the concept shop..

What I find so frightening at this point is how big and empty it is.....I have some doubts at this moment and in the back of my head I'm talking myself off a ledge... On big jobs like this I have weeks without sleep, waking up at 3am and working things through in my mind and suddenly you find yourself at the very moment you have worried about for so long....its a little overwhelming but also sooooo exciting! This is the stress I love and thrive under....this is what its all about!

Beginning of lobby concept shops. . .

Concept shops with paint..

Susan's amazing organic and modern driftwood crosses- made with crystals and shells...each handmade, each with their own spiritual meaning...