Steph and I work at a "trade-only" furniture showroom here in NJ, which basically means we sell directly to designers and architects (not to the public). It really has been an amazing learning experience because we know what's happening in furniture design more than the actual designers do. We have access to catalogs in over 150 of the leading residential based vendors in case goods, upholstery, lighting, rugs and accessories (Hickory Chair, Century, Lillian August, Oly to name a few). We both know the style direction of every vendor, the price points, and how customizable you can get.
On top of that, Steph and I get to merchandise the showroom on what we like to call "Fun Fridays." Which can be really rewarding at the end of the day, but getting there is not glamorous work. For one, I'm moving sofas and hammering nails, sweating my butt off, while everyone else I work with is shivering cold. Secondly, we have to work with a range of styles and price points suitable for any kind of home, which can pose challenging when creating different settings. And lastly, designers are constantly moving merchandise in and out of the showroom on approval to try out at their clients homes. Which seems easy to fix, but when you are removing a giant mirror from the middle of a perfectly balanced wall of mismatched mirrors....not so easy to rebalance.
Despite all our challenges we some how make it come together and look damn good!!! Here's a sneak peek of our work. Keep in mind I am a lousy photographer and these were shot with my iPhone.
That Tufenkian rug costs more than my life. Elite leather sectional, hickory chair cocktail table, and Madegoods side table also shown.
Mirror mirror on the wall...
Eclectic mix of metallic and yellow accessories with mini Ro Sham Beaux lamps.
Old Biscayne Cabinet and Bentley Churchill bench. The finishes are to die for.
This Mr. Brown cabinet always needs a bit of accessories to give it some life.
We just repainted this bathroom. Holy hell you should have seen what it looked like before (orange faux finish, enough said).
