TGIF

This has undeniably been the longest week ever. Everything, including the show home was due this week. I have been living off of 4 hours of sleep a night and am about to drop.

I got everything moved in to the show home (at the last minute of course). The ladies there were calling thinking that I wasn't going to show up. I still have a few things to get done before the opening next week buy most of it is done. I had to call in every favor I had and then some. I have the most incredible friends who are willing to help me out in a pinch.

I got the first part of the whole house that I am doing done. We installed this morning. I posted the pics. Lisa and I were up all night finishing up. We were both so tired. I was awful!!!! The job got done though and the customer and decorator were very happy.

I really owe Lisa and Teresa lunch for sure. Another of my friends came over and helped me sew rings on a roman shade this week. We worked until about 1am. I paid her with sushi, she bought the Starbucks.

I need a nap so I am going to curl up with Sarah for the afternoon.

Day late and a dollar short

I spent all day shopping for the show home. I have to move in this week due to the opening party being next friday night. I picked out fabric for the sewing room window treatment but have no idea what I'm going to make.

I went to get the coffee table and round dining table and they were out of the coffee table so I had to pick another one. Of course it was more expensive. Then I went to get the rug and bookcase and they were out of both and had no idea when they were coming in. I am down to the wire here and the budget is blown and I have to start from scratch on several pieces. This is going to be interesting.

I went downtown to get the fabric for the sofa, chairs and draperies because I was told they were going to be in on thursday morning......NO, they were not. I have to go back monday. Chris, the upholsterer was not happy. I wasn't happy either. Total wasted day so I decided to take the kids to a movie to chill out. I went to 5 theaters and missed the movie we wanted to see by 30 minutes or so. We then decided to go skating but when we got there were told they were closing in 10 minutes. Is there a theme here? That has been my week. Glad to start over on monday. Wish me luck.

Working Hard on the Show Home

Why do decorators change their minds after everything is already cut out? Do they realize the time it takes to make changes then? I don't think so. After all, we have magic mice like Cinderella that make everything fabulous. Right!!!. We spent all morning trying to make a fix to the stuff we had already cut out. Not only did she change the actual treatments, she changed the finish length too. It was a total pain.

I picked up the prints from Paris for the show home. I haven't gotten a chance to look at them yet. It is too cold to go take them out of the van.

I did go to a decorator friend's home tonight. She does staging and has a practical shop in her basement. I found many pieces for the terrace level that we are doing. She is loaning everything to me!!!!! That really takes a load off. Now I just have to come up with a fabulous treatment for the sewing room. My mind is racing but nothing yet. I will probably think of something in the middle of the night like I usually do.

Well, the clock strikes 10pm and I have more work to do.

Went to the fabric store today and got some great fabrics for pillows. I have to get all these pillows done this week. Some are from the ideas I got in Paris so I'm really excited about constructing them.

I took Eva, my 4 year old, to the ballet, Cinderella, today. I got so many ideas from the costumes and sets. It was beautiful. It also gave me the inspiration to decorate her room. The only problem is that none of the fabrics I have will work in the newly inspired room. Isn't that how it always goes?

I'm really excited about getting this all done this week. The pictures of Paris for the show home walls are ready and I'm picking them up tomorrow night. I can't wait to see them.

The above picture was from the Maison Objet show in Paris.

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. It has been crazy busy this week. I worked on an order until 4am the other night and then got up at 6am to finish. I have never been that behind before. Everything went great though. The customer actually cried and hugged my neck when she saw her room. That made me feel good. I'm so glad I could make her that happy.

None of my fabric came in for the show home. I'm supposed to move in monday morning but that is not going to happen now. I am having to work on several other treatments for the show home so I will get those done while I am waiting.

I met with another designer that is decorating the room next to mine. We are trying to coordinate everything so that it looks good together but we still have our own look. I think it's going to be great. The house is fabulous. The library looks like the one off of "Beauty and the Beast. It has it's own staircase. The detail in this house is unbelievable. If you live in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend going to the Roswell Women's Club show home in Marietta. It opens the first weekend in March.

The above image is a computer rendering that I did for a client. We installed the treatment and I will post pics as soon as I get them.

Thankfulness

I have had so many people in this business tell me how slow everyone has been. I am so thankful of all the business God has brought my way. I am so humbled that I get to do what I love to do for a living and provide jobs for two amazing women that I care very much about. Everytime I hear that things are so slow, I can't help but know how much I am blessed.

I have big plans for this year. Thanks to everyone who makes it all possible.

Swags, Swags, Swags

Another busy day. Our blind hemmer that we got repaired is working great. It really got a work out today. Chris (the upholsterer) and I got things kind of finalized for the show home, as far as fabrics are concerned. Even though I'm excited, I really can't wait to get this thing behind me.

We did get quite a bit done today but still a lot left on this order.

I am really enjoying doing things that have a little more detail in them. We are doing a bedspread with a center inset with cording around the inset and the edges. I think it will really look interesting on the bed. The window treatments are panels with swags and jabots on a bay window. I will post pics when I get them up. The above picture is of the same house in the dining room. We installed them before Christmas.

Busy Start to a Busy Week

Still trying to get back into the swing of things after a severe case of jet lag. I really enjoyed my trip to Paris with my friends in tow.

I am working feverishly to get some orders out as well as getting everything ready for the show home. Chris, the upholsterer and I spent Friday afternoon at Award Fabrics downtown to pick out fabrics for the furniture in the show home. It is going to look fabulous. I took a cue from Paris and went with grays, cream and blacks. Kami, the photographer who went to Paris, is going to enlarge some of the pictures she took to hang on the walls. I think it is going to come together better than we think.

I broke down and hired another assistant. Her name is Teresa and she will be working 3 days a week with Lisa and me. I have hired 3 people and all of them have quilting experience. Something says I need to start doing some quilting. LOL.

You know when you are busiest, everything is going to go wrong. My blind hemmer bit the dust yesterday and I had to not only pay for repair, I had to pay the same day rush charge. I'm in the wrong business. I need to start repairing machines.

I hope that is the only thing that gets in the way of getting these orders done.