Friday, July 26, 2013

String is the Thing

We needed to prettify a large wall in the bedding section at my retail job. We had some plywood, burlap and lots of twine, rope and string. We're also selling geometric string art at my retail job right now. Thus the inspiration for giant string art. I wrapped burlap around the 44 inch square of plywood after embroidering triangles onto it. My boss-lady added the rope triangles to tie it all together... literally.   See?







Sunday, July 21, 2013

More Pre-Dawn Merchandising

For six days in a row I got up hideously early at 3:45 AM to make retail a prettier place. The photos I share on the blog are instances where I had to improvise the merchandising, meaning that I did not have corporate directive or blueprints for the placement of products. I made it up to make it pretty. See?




We ran out of bays and apothecary carts, but still needed to place some pillows and homeless vases. These old spools worked great to get merchandise placed near respective color palettes, and keep that urban, repurposed vibe going. I aligned the spools at a diagonal to mimic the diagonal offset of the layered rugs next to them and the diagonal lines in the tasseled pillows.




These office products had to move out of the stock room and off of the too-small rolling shelf into which they were stuffed. I grouped homeless decorating books the store sells low for shopping. I also carried the use of strictly-for-visuals books into the high shelves. I didn't want these books where guests could reach them and think they were for sale. I carefully selected grey, blue and black spines, then aligned the books by height for an organized look. Books were used in the directive in other bays, but more haphazardly with page sides facing out mixed with spines facing out, with titles running north to south and south to north. In the office section, I made the choice to keep the books super organized for an air of efficiency.


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Making it Pretty at the Break of Dawn

I'm a lifelong night owl, but I'll get up ridiculously early to make retail a prettier place. See?







I think guests in the store were a tad timid about shopping the succulents. Go ahead and take some home! Just don't mess up the visual mojo.





 The sea glass bottles and ceramics started selling like gangbusters after I prettified them.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Merchandising Maven

As a vegetarian and indoor activity enthusiast, I don't own a grill. However, I can style grilling tools and cookout paraphernalia as if I were a sun-loving, carnivorous, fire-cook. See?






Chandelier: Done!

I've kept all three of my readers in suspense long enough. Here is the chandelier Chad and I chose: the Mischief Chandelier from Lighting Direct. I love it! It's everything I hoped it would be: eccentric, beautiful & affordable. Even the name is great.






I'm waiting for a sale on curtains at my retail job to address that dated tab-tie-top situation over the window. Reserve judgement for now.

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Update: I painted the ceiling ring glossy black to match the chandelier. It lends more visual balance and makes the whole set-up pop.