Our New Space

The countdown has begun…we have less than a week to go in our current space before moving to Historic Downtown Franklin!  On Monday the phones and internet will be transferred and our kitchens will be installed, which means I need to figure out where they’re going asap as well as choose the paint colors for the walls behind (now some of the walls are mustard-colored).

It has been a dream of mine to have our showroom be like an idea house, full of ideas and beauty everywhere you look.  We searched high and low for a house that we could buy and turn into our showroom/idea house, but zoning got in the way every time.  We gave up on the idea house thing, and found a building a block away from our current location that we thought was perfect.  Then that building had some unforeseen issues with it and we walked away, believing that God must have something better for us, even though it didn’t seem like it.

Historic Downtown Franklin

Then we got a call about a historic building downtown we had considered a month earlier but had assumed it was too big and expensive for us.  We decided to take a look at it.

For me, it was love at first sight, even with the mess of desks and chairs sitting all over the place and whiteboards affixed to the walls.  For Dave, not so much.  He just saw the mess rather than the “could be”, so we continued our search.  But then we came back to it.

It was originally a small house, built in 1820 of brick with sweet little dormers and a semi-ornate porch.  Then, someone added onto it with cinderblock creating a total of 4600 square feet, though not so pretty like the front rooms.  I have my work cut out for me, but it’s going to be an idea house.

  Here’s one of my favorite parts of it, the outside:

My Favorite Style

To me, the outside is a perfect fit for the style I like best: good proportions, rooted in history, quality materials, interesting, classy-yet-casual.  Reminds me of an expensive pair of jeans– well-designed, sturdy but beautiful fabric, and casual. 

If you’ve never had a really nice pair of jeans before, they’re worth it.  You can wear them every day and they’ll save you money in the long run.  This is actually a lesson I learned from my younger sister Brooke when we were kids.  My mom would give us $100 to spend on clothes every fall for school.  I bought as many cheap items as I could so I would have a lot to wear.  Brooke bought one or two really nice things.  After a couple of years, Brooke had several high-quality, long-lasting pieces that she wore all the time, and I had a ton of poorly-made, ill-fitting clothes.  Turns out, it’s actually simple math:  100 x crap = 100(crap) and never adds up to nice no matter how many times you multiply it. Same goes for anything.  It would be better to drive one Mercedes than have three Ford Focuses (Ford Foci?) all to yourself.

But I digress.  Back to the shop.

This building was a retail shop for a long time, and then it became some sort of technology company.  While it was a tech company, they built lots of little offices inside.  Some of them are going to be ripped out in order to make more showroom space, and some of them are going to be offices.  Which means…

I get my first office without booting one of our kids from his/her room! I can’t wait to put up all my design inspiration magazine tear-outs and samples without making our house looked trashed.  I was considering repossessing one of our kids’ rooms in order to make an office at home, but this will be a much better solution.

The front rooms have good bones when it comes to character.  This front room on the right will have our Starmark kitchen (top of the line) as well as a tub in front of the brick (ignore the yellow paint on the right, which is leaving soon):

 

This room is going to be designed like a dining room, with a custom hutch made of cabinetry and an amazing (orderable) table and chairs:

New Products!

We’re adding full bath products, too.  We’ve been doing baths since the beginning but have had to source tubs, sinks and faucets from other places.  But, now we will have all of that in one place.  We also have all the other interiors items you’ll need for any renovation:  flooring/carpet/rugs, tile, lighting, cabinet hardware, door hardware, countertops, wallpaper, fabric, and more.  These samples will be mixed in with installed “ideas” on how to use them.  That’s the exciting part for me. 

Looking forward to seeing you at the new shop!  I’ll keep you updated through Instagram, Facebook, and the blog on how it’s looking.  In the meantime, we’ll still be open, so come visit us anytime.

Feel free to call the shop if you have questions (615-721-7986) or fill out the contact form and we’ll get back to you.

Hope you all have a great Christmas if you don’t hear from me before then!