My Store is a Mess!

We are in the thick of our renovation and my store is a mess! The walls came down last week and I am excited to see it finally taking shape but, its dusty and noisy and our poor sales staff is constantly looking for the new location I hid all of the furniture. Good things ahead though now that our new flooring is in.

The Thing About Merchandising a Furniture Store...

Mass appeal is very important. If I had my way, everyone would love a slightly refined casual style with formal accents and an ever rotating selection of beautifully tailored upholstery. However, I know this does not work for everyone. I have the task of thinking for mass appeal when it comes to rugs, lamps, art work, and accessories (my contribution to the big picture). I love the ever rotating selection of things to pick from and my vignettes are constantly changing.  Its fun to create a look that is out of the norm for my style. It may not be my personal taste, but there is something for everyone.

We are rounding the final bend of our renovation at the store and I am at accessories. Bedding, to be specific, is what I have been working on this week. My bedding department is lacking and in a few weeks it will be the jewel in the new area of the store.

This is what we look like now for the most part. Bed in a bag and a few accessories has become the norm, but I am working on the layering and really filling this space out. All new bedding has been ordered and exciting things are coming.

Folding Books......

...Shocking!
OK I found this super cool tutorial on folding old books to make them fun accessories and displayable objects and as a merchandiser, I had to try it. We have home office furniture that we sell and my job is to make it cute. I accessories with books all over the store but I wanted something different for the office area. I watched this video on youtube and loved the turnout.

 

This took me so little time (maybe an hour if that) to do two of these. I would recommend a book with at least 300 pages. This book I did was only like 240 and it wasn't as full. My other one was a little over 350 and it lays flat completely. Another thing to look for is a flexible spine, new books don't do as well. Now to all that are asking how I could have done such a thing to this poor book, we stage with so many books on a major level that don't even get opened. They are just objects for display. I thought I would make the pages look special too.

A vew from my desk today

We are getting ready to start some renovations to the store soon and I am excited to get to be a part of it! Ultamatly my opinions are only suggestions but I get to voice them and that's exciting. I am working on floorplans and I get to help pick out finishes. Fun things to come!