I’ve been busy writing product descriptions for the website, which means, inevitably, that I’m also scouring blogs as a means of procrastination and gathering ideas and images. I like to think it’s still productive, just in a different form.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a post that focuses on interior design and decor, which I suppose makes sense as I’ve turned my focus towards the online store and put the physical store environment on the back burner. But I came across a few images that inspired me to do a little more research and after putting together these images to share, have decided that a branch chandelier DIY is definitely on the agenda. Not quite sure whether it will be a studio or home fixture (or maybe both?), but I think either way, it will be a simple addition with a great deal of impact. I also love the use of the branch as a means to display clothing, as in the third photo, and can see this being used for jewellery and accessories as well.
There’s a magical quality that these all evoke, almost ethereal or other-worldly. I’m picturing spray painting the branches white for a more modern feel, maybe adding a touch of silver leaf to catch the light, and intertwining strings of delicate fairy lights. I’ve edited all of the below pictures to be in faded black and white, as I feel it better evokes the spirit I want to capture.
Any other ideas of how you could customize this DIY, or thoughts on how it would be most effective?
click on images for sources / editing by bicyclette
On this horribly gloomy, dismal day, I decided it was time to start tackling the insanity that is my bedroom, in preparation for it being turned into the bicyclette studio. This seems like the perfect opportunity to get rid of as much as possible, so I’m trying to be selective when I edit my possessions. We’re moving our bedroom into the smaller room in the apartment (which was previously occupied by my brother), and the larger room with the huge front window is being turned into the studio and work area. Tres exciting! I currently have five bags of clothes to get rid of and my bed is covered with winter clothes to be packed away, which to me is progress. I figure that like any big overhaul, the whole apartment will get more chaotic before it gets organized.
Anyways, today I stumbled across a new interior blog that I will be adding to my list of dailies, Made By Girl, and it was as if the universe knew I needed inspiration, because one of the posts I came across was photos of her home office renovation. For some reason I’ve had difficulty finding images for reference, so this was perfect, right along the lines of what I needed, at the right time.
I love the white, the bright infusions of colour, the graphic wallpaper, the storage systems, the quirky decorating accents, the inspiration board … gives me some great ideas for designing my own space.
If anyone has any other sources of studio/office space inspiration, or some neat project and ideas they think I might be able to incorporate, feel free to pass them along to me! It’s about that time, and I’d love the input …
White washed walls. Streaming sunlight. Accents of colour. A vintage aesthetic and carefully constructed vignettes. This is what my dreams are made of. White is often thought to be sterile and lacking in personality, but I find it to be quite the opposite, a blank canvas and an opportunity to play with texture and details.
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I love the rustic details, the imperfections in the chipping paint and the coziness that is exuded. There’s a story here, and the vignettes of found objects and various trinkets communicate this.
I can’t wait to start putting together the bicyclette studio (more on this soon!), drawing inspiration from interior’s such as these. The hard part will be incorporating functional workspace into the mix.
I’m running on very little sleep and still have a lot of work to get through tonight, but I wanted to get in a quick interiors post. I was working on a project last week (or was it the week before? Oh my…) for my visual merchandising class in which we had to research and design an idea for a window display, and the first step was to find two inspirational stores. The first one I used was Love of Mine, which I posted about here, and the other choice was easy: Anthropologie. I had the pleasure of working at the opening of the location in Yorkville back in the summer, assisting with setting up the store and being part of the visual team, and it was a great experience, as there is no store that has such a strong vision when it comes to interiors. Anthropologie does an amazing job with their visual displays and merchandising, using found materials, handcrafted props and art to create stories and themes that are innovative and inspirational. They make organized clutter and chaotic creativity work and breathe new life into seemingly useless junk.
Here are a few of my favourites, collected over time and tucked away into my inspiration folder, so unfortunately I’m unsure as to sources …
Also, here’s a quick snap of the thrifted goods I found this past weekend that I mentioned yesterday, to give you an idea of what I’m working with. As soon as I finish my brand book (due next week, wow), I’ll be focusing my attentions on the exhibition props and adding a bit of bicyclette flair …
I’m finding it harder and harder to balance school with “real” life. I’ve taken this huge step forward with the trade shows in Vegas (we’re talking about 250 pieces for the initial buy!), making the reality of it that much closer and bringing my excitement to the next level. I just want to dive in, full force.
So I’m looking at finding a studio space now, somewhere that I can work out of and use for storage, shipping and photo shoots, as well as developing the online store and looking into my different options in terms of hosting. And then I get to start styling and shooting the clothing, and selling online!
Inspiration is such an important process of this for me, and putting together this blog has been such a valuable experience, being able to gather my thoughts and explore my creativity and receive your feedback and comments. So thank you for being part of this with me, and as always, I would love to hear from you!
And with that … Happy Monday!
One of the things I love about Queen St. West, the area I live in and the future home of bicyclette, is the constant source of inspiration that the various stores provide. A walk down the street offers a multitude of creative window displays and covetable products. I was first captivated by the butterfly collage that greets customers as they enter the store, and then upon glancing at the jewelry on display and the interior of the store itself, was intrigued. Love of Mine is a fairly new store on the Queen St. West strip in downtown Toronto, offering a well-curated collection of jewelry and accessories.
Love of Mine is for the individual. It was designed to provide each client with a unique shopping experience by connecting the loves of the store’s creator to those of the shoppers. Think of Love of Mine as a way to express your sophisticated creativity and individuality. For us, craftsmanship and artistry define each piece. With this in mind, our modern designs maintain a classic sensibility, always unique and always in style.
The pieces all have a vintage-inspired aesthetic, marrying old with new and offering truly unique pieces that it is hard not to fall in love with. Owner Anna Damelin says,“I like things that are natural and organic; modern with a little bit of kitsch. It’s about picking the special things that no one else has. I want to be able to love it now and still love it 10 years later.”
Prices range from $12 for headbands to upwards of $500, with trendy pieces priced in the lower range and those with semi-precious stones and more intricate details higher. The store itself has a gallery-esque quality, allowing the pieces to stand out and draw you in.
Images Credits: Eat.Live.Shop, BlogTO & Love of Mine
I enjoy doors. One of the first thing you see and touch as you enter a new space, and the last thing as you leave. Granting you access. Letting you in or keeping you out. I’m not sure what exactly it is.
On my walk to school there’s a little house with a bright red door, and it always makes me smile and wonder. Why red? Why does that house deserve such a statement-making colour? Is there a story?
For something that we take for granted and encounter so often, the majority of doors have a tendency to be exceptionally boring and bland. Why, when there are so many ways to add personality to a door?
In conclusion? Expect to see a bright painted door welcoming you into bicyclette. Hopefully vintage, with some sort of detailing. And I love the look of peeling paint. Beauty in imperfection.
First post of 2010. Wow. There’s something surreal about the start of this year, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I have this overwhelming sense of excitement and anxiousness about this year, with the promise that it will be filled with life changes, adventures and new beginnings, many of which I can only begin to imagine at this point in time.
In less than four months, I’ll be done school. Four intense, sleep-depriving years later, and here I am, ready for my degree and to move onto the next phase of my life. It’s been an invaluable experience, to say the least, from the individual classes and projects themselves to the friends made and life lessons learned. But I am ready to move on, which in itself is saying something: that I’m ready to take what I’ve learned and apply it to the real world. This will be the year that bicyclette, as a retail store, will come into existence. My business plan, now in its’ fifth incarnation, is close to being completed, which is an exciting feat in and of itself. If I think back to the summer, when I made the decision that opening a store is what I wanted to do, and bicyclette first began to form in my mind, I’ve come a long way. This blog is an extension of that as well, and I thank all of my readers for your support and contributions. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process, and look forward to growing it even more, as it has become an invaluable method of creative exploration and brainstorming for me on both a personal and (semi)professional level.
On that note, I would love to hear from you about what you’ve enjoyed about my blog and what you would like me to introduce or share more of.
It’s been a learning process, and I think I’m still experimenting and trying to find my niche. The aim is to find a balance between store-related topics and explore various facets of bicyclette, often in the form of inspiration, as well as share personal musings with a strong tendency towards all things style and design-oriented.
But without further ado, on to the traditional Monday blog topic:
There are some posts where I go into it knowing exactly what I’m going to write about. I’m constantly bookmarking links or saving photos to come back to. But sometimes I have to go searching, in order to fulfill a certain void. Today was one such day, though I at least knew what I wanted it to be focused on: window displays. I believe that, in terms of retail visual merchandising, the window display is extremely important and sets the tone for the rest of store, before customers even know what to expect. It can be exceptionally styled mannequins, an artistic installation, or a strong theme which has the ability to draw someone in off of the street and give them a reason to venture in through the door. This is a topic I would like to explore further, as I think there is a lot of inspiring displays and interesting facts to share, but today I wanted to focus on one retailer in particular: Holt Renfrew, and in particular the summer 2009 blogger windows.
Holt Renfrew showcased six style-focused bloggers for their summer windows, including Jane Aldrige of Sea of Shoes, Garance Dore, Bryan Boy, Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil, Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist, and Anita Clarke of I Want-I Got. The reasons why I love these windows? They reflect Holt’s ability to commit wholeheartedly to a display concept from idea to execution. The tone, style and individual personality of each blog is represented in the windows and they’re a feast for the eyes, like all of Holt’s displays. These windows also speak to a topic that is near and dear to my heart right now: the abundance and importance of blogging and social media in fashion today. As the research topic of my thesis this year, I never cease to find it an interesting subject, and I honestly believe that it is changing the way we look at and interact with fashion. This sums it up perfectly: “Social media is such a huge phenomenon,” says John Gerhardt, Holt Renfrew’s creative director. “It’s democratizing fashion.” Cheers to that.
This will be something I will no doubt touch more upon in the future, but for now, here’s some images of the windows themselves.
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Thoughts on Holt’s windows? These in particular, or their displays in general… Any other favourites in terms of visual displays and window design?
So this post is going to be an uber-quick one, as I have an exam in approximately 6 hours that I’m in cramming mode for. But, it’s been awhile, and I wanted to share a few things I’ve happened upon during my recent procrastinations.
Here’s a sneak peek of my tree. We still have to add the white lights, but I thought I would share this for now. Made the mistake of going to WalMart last night thinking that most people would be at home enjoying a quiet Sunday evening, but no such luck. It was crazy. The Christmas section looked like a tornado had recently blown through, but somehow the boy managed to find a strand of white lights hidden away, the last box. So we now have the lights, just haven’t had the time to put them on.
I came across this picture of a retail space (via Kaitlin) that has a very deconstructed feel to it, which I love. The exposed wood and simplistic forms of display are great in their raw quality, and I love the various frames and integration of art and clothing. Tres bicyclette.
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I also stumbled across La PhotoCabine, a site which let’s you take photo booth style photos, complete with background noise, retro stylings, french instructions, and a neat interface. Pretty fun, if I do say so myself, and a great way to waste a little time. Here’s mine:
That’s all for now folks. Seeing as I’m DONE after tonight’s exam, I promise to be back to the normal schedule, with full-sized posts and all!
Wish me luck… and go take some silly photos…
Oh, Monday, how I dread your arrival. I guess the bright side is that I’m so close to my Holiday break that it’s better to just keep plugging away at this point.
For this Interior Inspiration installment, I’m focusing on the details. The following photos are all from my ever-growing collection of photos that I’ve been adding to for awhile now. I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the key focuses of bicyclette will be on visual merchandising and the creation of a comfortable and creative environment. I believe that merchandise should be integrated with the displays, and instead of having a sterile environment, it should be inviting and encourage customers to interact and be inspired. I feel as though this collection of photos represents that, even though they are home interiors and not necessarily retail. There’s a lot of room for cross-over though, and like I said, in this case, I’m inspired by the details.
Wallpaper as tapestry. There's something about a bold print that instantly jazzes up a space
Flea market feel. Maybe a little on the over-cluttered side, but I like the idea...
Mismatched vintage furniture, wooden floor and the gorgeous fireplace/mirror combination
Collection of random frames (empty and not) as wall decoration. Perhaps hanging jewelry within?
This velvet covered couch is perfection. I need to find a similar version. And I love the array of patterned pillows and throws
Again with the frames, though perhaps a little too hectic. Also love the simple couch with punches of colour
Whitewashed walls and floors create a calm environment, and the bedframe is beautiful
The romantic, vintage vibe that the mannequin and hanging clothes gives off creates an intimate environment
This whole set-up creates a perfect display
The details, accessories and vibrant accents of colour
I’m curious what decorating tips and tricks people use, and what they are drawn to?
My taste tends to gravitate towards the more vintage-inspired and eclectic, as evident in the above photos.
Also, where do you get your interior inspiration from?
Hooray, it’s….
I’m going to focus less on obvious interior inspiration, and more on the creation of an environment, or a feeling, within the store itself. I think this is something that is just as important as the physical attributes a store interior has, and I came across the most beautiful photostream on Flickr, *oops, that to me, exemplifies bicyclette beautifully.
Love: the delicate sparkles of white light, the ambiguous faded imagery, the dream-worthy subtlety, the muted colour palette and the overall magical feeling that is portrayed so well. I want to live in this world.
All images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81soul/
Curious what your thoughts are about these photos. I love romantic imagery, which I think is where my attraction to these stems from. They’re so pretty, on such a simple level.
Can you see how these cold be a source of inspiration for the interior of bicyclette, or have I gone too abstract?
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