Three weeks into the new year we have settled peacefully into our new shop location at 2170 Fir Street Vancouver { between 6th & 5th ave }
It was quite the process! So many unanswered questions while we were on stand by waiting for final permits before we could make it our own. What products do we keep from our old space, what do we let go of? How will we find a place for all of our cherished items with our slightly smaller foot print? What mood do we want to convey? It was quite the process of solving practical design problems and spatial issues too.
How do we hide the ugly air conditioning?!? How do we create lovely built in looking shelving when none of the walls are straight?!?
Originally we were going to leave one wall as exposed raw plywood, as a nod to other exposed industrial elements in the space, but eventually we succumbed to peer pressure after too many people asked us how we were going to finish the wall!
So in my typically way, one day I just picked up a rag, opened a can of paint in my signature color of soft bluey green grey and mixed it with a chalky white right there on the wall. The result is a softly toned wall that has subtle nuances and yet does not compete with the painterly qualities of my own artwork.
I wondered how the space would flow, what to feature in the window, how people would find their way around to my layered tables at the back of the space, how will the light move through the day???
These were all questions and discoveries that would not be answered until I was actually in my new locale. It was a true lesson in culling, curating, creating. In the end I am thrilled with the result! By working within my soothing color schemes, grouping all the whites and glass together on the back walls, and leaving some quiet areas for the eye to pause, I managed to make the 500 square foot space still feel spacious, airy and welcoming.
It is wonderful to watch new clientele experience the new boutique and discover my finds for the first time. They touch the soft woollen pillows as they step up into the front space.
They move between my front window display and my cool old long table covered with alluring objects. They pause, enquire, lift, fold. I’ve filled the space with white orchids and have lit candles daily to bring a peaceful clearing energy to the new space. Customers breathe in the fragrance, take in the art, peruse through cards and matted photos of my travels, look up to the high ceilings.
Express curiosity, appreciation and delight at quirky one off treasures and tactile finds I have collected along my travels.
After months and months of planning and envisioning, trouble shooting and sleepless nights, I feel redeemed and so content. In a few day my calling cards will finally arrive with my new logo colors of ‘driftwood tones’.
My shell and sand colored ribbons will arrive. All the final trimmings, the extra special details that complete my vision { the fun stuff! } You notice even the names of the colors I have chosen reflect my favorite natural oceanic elements.
We’ve been blessed with clear cool skies most days and have been greeted with rosy sunsets each evening, framed by our fabulous beams and our expansive windows, it is another unexpected delight, courtesy of mother nature.
All images Copyright Heather Ross shot on location at heather ross { natural eclectic } 2170 Fir Street Vancouver BC
