About a month ago we were looking for a simple storage solution for our 700+ fabric books. We were running out of room to hang them on our walls; we kept getting new books and kept having hooks fall off the wall from the weight! The showroom was messy and disorganized, and hanging the books collected dust like nothing else. Our showroom was dated and felt old. We were concerned that we weren’t putting our best foot forward in our first impression on walk-in clients.
Over the last few months we had installed a few Kallax shelves from Ikea, and since we liked how they look, we decided to go back and spend sometime on Ikea’s website. We did the math to figure out that yes, the shelves were not only a more aesthetically pleasing storage solution, they also kept the books cleaner, and were significantly more efficient in storage space! We ordered a few more shelves, and that was going to be it; but then our interior designer, Mary Ellen, came in with a brand new idea that we fell in love with. She suggested that we replace the desk from the corner with a long row of tables in the back of the showroom to open up the floor for a full design center. And if we were going to make over the showroom that much, we might as well go all the way and renew everything else in the showroom while we’re at it!
Two weeks later, we had built six sets of shelves, two desks, and three filing cabinets, repainted the showroom, decluttered, reorganized, updated our computer systems and rewired the room! With Mary Ellen’s experienced and tasteful advice, we decided to repaint the showroom white on white with black accents for a contemporary yet timeless look. Painting our doors black felt daring and exciting. Black doors are uncommon, and we’re more used to seeing doors being white. Black doors are not only visually exciting, but they bring the room from being furnished to feeling designed. To bring that fun pop of color to the monochrome showroom, we created a fabric display from leftover fabric memos to showcase our variety of designer fabric.
We didn’t know how much more inviting and user friendly our room could be until we updated, and we are so glad we did. The room feels so much more spacious and inviting, the crisp contemporary vibe brings in more retail clients, and the new storage system is a breeze to work with!
You could say we are in love with our new look, but don’t just take our word for it, stop by Drapery Designs and see for yourself!
