Friday, July 9, 2010

Fun with Merchandising

I recently was offered a cool opportunity to be the featured designer for July at Market Central, a fab antiques store in Midtown Memphis.

In a nutshell, that means I got to design a vignette in the space just inside the store's front door using Market Central merchandise - basically a super-fun exercise in visual merchandising.

My first step was choosing a paint color, and I went with a personal favorite, Sherwin Williams' halcyon green. Then I wandered around the store for a while (which is huge - a nifty old loft-like place) getting a feel for what I had to choose from. I did a few quick sketches of ideas for the space, then walked around with the manager pointing out items I wanted to use.

Apart from my paint color, which I chose a couple of weeks ago without knowing how I wanted to use it, I had no constraints on the design. I didn't have any pre-conceived notions of what I wanted to do. Didn't even have a particular style in mind.

When I got in there, I saw that white antique chest, which is distressed not from some contrived factory finish but from years of actual wear. I love, love, love it, and my plan for the space was instantly born around it. I went for a serene color palette of whites, golds and spa blues, and I just couldn't pick up enough mercury glass. (In general, I can't get enough mercury glass.) And I could stare at the all-glass chandelier all day.

It's girly and French-y and soft and sweet. I could live in a room like this.

Not sure how my husband would feel about that....

 
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