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And here are the pictures as of yesterday…  racing to post these now so I can get into the city and meet Angel, my security buzzer installation guy. enjoy!

Comments on these later - for now I’ve got to run:)

Okay - I’m pretty sure these are from Sunday. I have new ones, but want to continue to show the progression, so maybe you’ll look at these first?

before the second coat, but the addition of the lamps! (covered, but still…)

view from back to front

display wall - primed and (almost) ready to go

baseboard!

front window display box

I was a terror all weekend…  dealing with some non-shop related things that definitely put my mood in the gutter. I probably wasn’t the nicest of gals but someone still brought me flowers! Thanks:)

and a special cameo again by my linoleum flooring… how I love it so!

Hey everyone -

I’m sorry I’ve been a little slow on the posts this week. I’ve been holding off in hopes of getting you some new shots of the shop. SO much has changed! In a VERY good way:). You’re all going to jump up and down and do a little dance when you see it. I did!

Anyway, I couldn’t take any new shots today because while we were dealing with some final electrical work (like closing off a receptacle and adding the plates) something shorted downstairs and I currently have no power at all in the shop. No, that’s the the ‘very good way’ of which I was speaking. Just a minor set back. I’ve high hopes tha tmy management company will actually respond to the urgent message I left last night and help me get it fixed first thing in the morning. The thing is, they are currently rewiring the whole building and the way that my space was wired was a little screwy. We’re trying to get it all fixed up, but the electricians are on some sort of hiatus because they are waiting for some new parts that they need. So… my system isn’t fixed yet. I’ll keep you updated on that one anyway.

As for the good news… check this out!

Done:
- buy lighting, toilet seat (ha), and doormat at Lowe’s (CHECK)
- fix the problem spots on the display wall and resand
- sand the soffit, fill the nail holes with wood putty
- reprime the display wall
- resand and prime the soffit
- buy Mississippi Mud paint from Janovic
- paint the display wall and the soffit
- put second coat of Raisin Torte on the right hand wall
- prime and paint the baseboard and trim that Kurt installs
- pull up all of the paper on the floor
-vacuum the floor and clean the dust out of the space as much as possible
-clean the shelves and organize space
-clean off and position all display cases
-prime and paint bench next to display window
-buy curtains to separate the two rooms, throw pillow for the chair, full length mirror, refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker, ladder and more!!

So, you can see, there has been some serious progress at the shop!! I worked away over the weekend… sanding and painting. Mom and Gordon arrived in NY on Sunday and came down to the city on Monday. It was very exciting to first show them all of the merch at my place and then we went to Lowe’s where we purchased the fridge, the microwave, the coffee-maker (food storage - check, way to heat food - check, caffeine machine - check check), the 8′ ladder (so I can change a lightbulb if necessary) and a few other odds and ends. We then headed on over to the shop so that they could check everything out. After they left I got to work again. I put a second coat of paint on the raisin torte wall, painted all of the baseboards, touched up the antique white wall, painted that baseboard, re-sanded and re-patched the display wall, and primed the soffit.

On to Tuesday… Tuesday was a day for some business at home in the morning. Yes, the business hits on all sides these days (which is why I’m writing this at 12:30am… never ends!) I had gotten a notice in the mail for a package at the post office, so I packed myself up, walked down to S. 4th street, and since I was all the way down there already, decided to walk over the bridge to work. I think that it would take me about 30 minutes to do the walk without any stops. Definitely something to consider for these warmer days! (well, it was 70 yesterday… but it will get there again) Once I got to the shop, I settled in and started up again on the display wall. I re-patched the mistakes again and resanded. I painted the bench next to the display window (future home of the window display). Then I painted the soffit… and finally the display wall! I did two coats for all surfaces in Mississippi Mud and the color looks fantastic. I met Annie at the space and went out for a bit. Came back to clean and left again at 1. Another long day in Clarabella land!

Today I met Mom and Gordon outside Pottery Barn in SoHo. I know I know… it’s not from an independent designer and it’s not antique, but they are the only ones that I found that offer the velvet curtains in the size that I need. Not to mention they make a fabulous dark wood full length mirror that leans up against the wall. We made a few purchases, set up a delivery for the mirror on Friday and were on our way. Once back at the shop, mom and I got to work. We pulled up all of the paper from the floor and with our rented Shop Vac, started vacuuming that dust away! We cleaned the shelves, and started cleaning off my counter. [THANKS MOM!!!] After mom left, I kept on going. I vacuumed a bit more, reorganized all of the stray materials into the shelving, uncovered the tables for the back room and placed them side by side in the space. I cleaned off all of the display pieces and moved them into the main space. It really looks amazing. I promise that I’ll get new pictures as soon as I have power again!

On another note, this is what is in store over the next few days:

Thursday:
- My reupholstered chair is delivered. It was covered in beautiful handprinted fabric from Galbraith and Paul. More about them here and my original post about the fabric here.
- order from Carla Caruso is shipped
- get order from Leoworks/Nicole Gagne

Friday:
- Lowe’s delivery of the fridge, ladder and microwave
- Pottery Barn’s delivery of the mirror
- order from Tracey Tanner is shipped
- order from Mariana arrives? (wishful thinking… It’s supposed to be here this week!)

Monday:
- New shipment of shoes from Tashkent by Cheyenne arrives! I just can’t get enough!
- order from Gypsy Born Designs arrives? (she sent on Tuesday from Austin… that should be enough time!)

Tuesday:
- credit card machine is installed

AND - sometime in the midst of all of this, my security buzzer goes in… keep on moving!

Bear with me;) - we’re almost there!!

Take care and sleep well all -

xo
Erin

I still owe you photos of the new product from the 14th, but if you’ve been reading the blog, you understand why I’m a little behind;). Since then, I’ve also received bags from Andrea Brueckner and jewelry from By Boe, Beth Lauren and Tamaura (Tami Brooks). I’m expecting much more this week!!

This is a bit delayed… If you’re on the mailing list, you already saw this list. However, I’ve added two new designers since then! I’m also including status updates for your information and my reference.

Jewelry:
Amy Tavern (just received linesheet, order pending)
Beth Lauren (order received)
By Boe (order received)
BB Designs (order received)
Carla Caruso (order placed, awaiting product)
Devon Driscoll (order received)
Gypsy Born Designs (product due to arrive early next week)
Judith Haas (order placed, awaiting product)
Leoworks (order placed, awaiting product)
Marzio Fiorini (order pending)
Spragwerks (order pending)
Tamaura (order received)
Zoe Chicco (order placed, awaiting product)

Bags, Belts, Cuffs, Wallets:
Andrea Brueckner - bags (order received)
Brave Leather - belts and cuffs (order placed, product to be delivered in late April)
Carla Beeby London - bags (order placed, awaiting product)
Crystalyn Kae - bags (order received)
Kristin Aronson - bags (order received)
Modus/Basically Brazil - bags and belts (order received)
Nam Kim - bags (order received)
Tracy Tanner - bags, wallets, cuffs (order placed, awaiting product)

Shoes:
Mariana (order placed, awaiting product)
Marcello Toshi Creazioni (order received)
Tashkent by Cheyenne (order received)

Not all product ordered will be available on the day the Clarabella doors open, but most of it will!

I didn’t get quite as much done yesterday as I’d hoped but still managed to knock a few things off my list.

Done:
- buy lighting, toilet seat (ha), and doormat at Lowe’s (CHECK)
- fix the problem spots on the display wall and resand
- sand the soffit, fill the nail holes with wood putty

To Do:
- exchange old runners for the track for new ones that actually fit on the track (misguided by the rep!)
- reprime the display wall
- resand and prime the soffit
- buy Mississippi Mud paint from Janovic
- paint the display wall and the soffit
- put second coat of Raisin Torte on the right hand wall
- prime and paint the baseboard and trim that Kurt installs

Not sure if I’m actually going to get that all done today, so we’ll just play it by ear. I have a feeling that the exchange of the old runners and the second coat of the Raisin Torte might happen tomorrow.

As for Kurt, he’s nearly finished! Just a few things to do today and then he’s done. He’ll install the front room lighting and install the doormat directly inside the door. Other than that, it’s just cleaning and moving his stuff out.

No more pictures for you yet, though I think I will have to share a few of the pants I’ve been wearing. It’s pretty hilarious. Between the wood putty, the paint, and the sanding, i think they might actually be able to stand up on their own;).

So much to report today! Oisin came over for a bit to sand the curve on the display wall and apply another layer of putty. We’re using elmer’s now, not durham’s… it’s better for filling the larger gaps. It’s not quite as heavy duty and easier to sand away. While he was doing that, I was sanding the seam that I filled last night. [side note: Did I tell you I also had my first experience with joint compound? I plastered it on the wall over the spot that had been cut into for the electrical work. Used the joint compound, the seam tape, more joint compound, waited for it to dry and then sanded it. It actually worked!] I also got up on that 10′ ladder again and taped the whole right wall in preparation for the ‘bold’ color application. The taping wasn’t quite as serious this time though I did have to wash the walls down. They had collected quite a bit of the wood putty dust from the heavy sanding that had been going on. So… after the sanding, putty application and taping, I was ready to bring a little color into the Clarabella main space!

The color starts to go on:

(it’s a little more magenta and a little less red than it looks in the pictures…)

No, I didn’t cut my hand… this is what it looks like to sand and paint all day. I know… desperately in need of a very heavy duty manicure!

And the paint keeps going on:

Still in need of a second coat, but it’s certainly getting there. It’s amazing what a little color can do to a space. It makes the room look even larger than it did before.

After all of this, Kurt stopped by again and started in with the soffit. He mounted the track (where I’ll hang the artwork), installed the rest of the lighting and put on the cover. It really looks fantastic and adds so much to the space. While he was doing that, I finished up sanding the display wall (hard core sandpaper, my hands aren’t happy with me right now) and put a coat of primer over the whole thing. It’s much easier to tell the trouble spots with a layer of primer. I have a few fixes that need to happen tomorrow, but I’m in much better shape than I thought I’d be.

I’ll try to get a picture of the track under the soffit tomorrow so you can see what the whole thing is all about, but until then, take a look! (please note: The lights will have silver covers over them - they are just shown with the lightbulbs right now. The display wall and the soffit will be painted a dark brown - Mississippi Mud to be exact - until I decide whether or not to wrap it in some sort of fabulous fabric. That should also be done by the end of the weekend!)

So, my list for this weekend:

- buy lighting, toilet seat (ha), and doormat at Lowe’s
- exchange old runners for the track for new ones that actually fit on the track (misguided by the rep!)
- fix the problem spots on the display wall, resand and reprime
- sand the soffit, fill the nail holes with wood putty and resand
- prime the soffit
- buy Mississippi Mud paint from Janovic
- paint the display wall and the soffit
- put second coat of Raisin Torte on the right hand wall
- prime and paint the baseboard and trim that Kurt installs

Kurt’s list for the weekend:

- fix the door so it opens and closes smoothly
- install doormat directly inside the door (we couldn’t bring the wood floor all the way to the edge because the wood was buckling from the cold)
- install baseboard all around the front room
- install trim over the threshold between the two rooms
- install front room lighting

Wish us luck - we both have our work cut out for us!!

Did I tell you all that I ordered my bags? I don’t think I did… A small detail, but another necessary one for the shop. I purchased simple brown bags in two sizes (one for jewelry and one for bags and shoes), small drawstring bags for the jewelry and tissue paper. One more step in the right direction. Now I just need to order the stickers to put on the bags;). If you’re out there looking for your own paper materials check out Paper Mart or Uline. I used Paper Mart but my friend Ashley used Uline, so I can vouch for both!

Special guest Maureen Murphy joined me at the shop today. Thanks Mo! She helped me prime some of the plywood and then we took a stroll over to Janovic on 6th Ave. and Spring to get my paint. On a quick sidenote, how beautiful was it in NY today? Do we get another like that tomorrow? Anyway, we picked up my paint for the main room: Antique White for the left wall and Raisin Torte for the right wall. I was only able to tackle the left wall today but it went much faster than I thought it would so I have high hopes for tomorrow. The most irritating thing about the whole process is, of course, the taping. Such a pain, but so very necessary. Especially if you’re me - not necessarily the most graceful of all painters. I did get that done and did a rather top notch job at it if I do say so myself. At least everything was covered;).

Anyway, I was able to rent the XL ladder (AKA the 10ft-er) from the hardware store up on B. That place has been a lifesaver. I’ve gotten remarkably comfortable with the ladders. Not that I was ever afraid of heights, but this is one large ladder we’re talking about. It did make getting up to those little high corners a hell of a lot easier. Apparently Yuma saw me walking down the street with this ladder which must have been an amusing sight at best.

So, I painted. You’ve seen the white walls… these aren’t *too* different, but they are different enough. They give a new warmth to the space that just wasn’t there with the white walls. I’ll just post all the pictures and you can have a look for yourselves. As usual, the color doesn’t translate so well through photos, so you’ll eventually have to come to see it in person!

top half done, bottom half white

For those of you that think I might be neglecting the display wall and the extra sanding, have no fear. Oisin applied a few layers of wood putty today… we’ll sand down layer number two tomorrow morning and apply layer number three. Then comes the priming, then comes the painting. I think the rest of the holes on the wall are filled, so we’ll see how it holds up to layer 2 of the primer tomorrow evening.

Think this is all great? Just wait until you see the Raisin Torte wall go up tomorrow. It might just change your life;). Ha.

Not listening to any music now, just tired and ready for bed! Take care all and we’ll meet again tomorrow.