I’m placing orders, prepping for the next Fall photo shoot, and tidying/organizing the studio today. Boxes of new merchandise have been arriving weekly, and so the studio is starting to burst at the seams again. Time for a little seasonal flip.
Discovered today that my beloved camera (which I thought had died for good) only needed a new battery (which comes with a much lower price tag than a full replacement!), which means that I’m now back in action and can share my own photos again. Hooray! I realized that I haven’t shared many studio photos aside from a few sneak peeks here and there, so that’s my goal for today.
In the meantime, a little studio inspiration from Allister Ann … so many elements I love (and many that are similar to those in the Bicyclette studio) and the photos themselves are pieces of art.
images via allister ann
One of my favourite things about the neighbourhood I live in (Queen St. West, downtown Toronto), is exploring and hunting in the little vintage shops that are scattered around the area. A new discovery, and now a staple on my random wanders, is Art History, a little shop that is full of antiques, knickknacks and curiosities.
On a little break-time visit last week, I stumbled upon a box of two-for-$1 alphabet blocks, and after digging through, managed to surface with eight pieces, perfect for the studio. Now I’m just missing two.
One of the reasons this find excited me so much is that after coming across the Cabin 7 site awhile ago through Eat.Live.Shop , I’ve been wanting to recreate and customize their gilded alphabet blocks.
photo cred: cabin 7
Now it’s just a matter of deciding on a colour scheme. I was thinking of silver instead of gold, as it’s more consistent with the Bicyclette branding and would be the perfect accent in the studio. Any suggestions?
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
Time for the second installment of the studio preview!
The other day I got out my handy toolkit (thanks Dad!), and finally hung the frames in the studio. I had posted about possible jewelry display ideas awhile ago, and Renee from Eat.Live.Shop (one of my favourite local blogs) suggested I use my collection of frames to do so. I started collecting vintage frames a few months ago for my exhibition display, spray painting them white and using them for the various branding elements that I had designed for Bicyclette. I’m so glad I’m able to reuse them now, and I love the overall effect they have hanging above the vanity (also a thrifted piece that I reworked and painted) and between the two shelving units I have for storage. Keep in mind that this is still a work-in-progress, and yes, I know that some of them are slightly askew!
On display are some of the pieces that I’ll be selling from Soos Rocks (vintage-inspired jewelry) and Oh Dina! (feather hair fascinators). Pretty, aren’t they? Trust me, it’s even harder to resist temptation when I feel the urge to accessorize now that they’re so nicely displayed. I think it’s time to start collecting frames again, as I’d like to continue the display out to the sides and across the tops of both shelves.
Keeping with the studio inspiration theme from yesterday (I’m a little obsessed, can you tell?), here’s another quick home DIY, courtesy of P.S. I made this. I’m already somewhat on top of this idea, what with my obsession with spray paint and my belief that a quick coat can magically transform anything, but I hadn’t really considered spray painting such random objects, and I usually stick to white. I must say though, I’m liking the toys (especially the animal figurines) and there’s something about the gold and silver that is so very luxe. Perfect for accessorizing the studio! Thinking a scouring of the apartment and a trip to the dollar store might be on tomorrow’s agenda …
Thoughts?
Tonight is dedicated to applying coat #2 of the chalkboard paint to the studio wall, so in keeping with the theme of redecorating, I thought I’d share this redesign of the BC Footwear LA showroom that I came across on Design Sponge. Love the overall DIY effect it has, the photo collaging on the walls and the vintage letters used in the display. This is similar to the feeling that I’m trying to convey, in the sense of having it be creative, interactive and playful.
Now, if I could just get this project to move a little quicker, I could focus on more of the “fun” decorating parts and be done with the physical labour! Quite frankly, I’m exhausted after yesterday’s 12+ hour day, but there’s so much to do in these last few critical weeks. No one ever said it would be easy!
Today was spent looking at lines for Fall (slightly odd, I know, considering that we’ve just started to enjoy our summer weather finally!), and doing some studio fix-ups/organizing. It always amazes me how short the days begin to feel when there is so much to do. I’m still trying to get in as much as I can before I call it a day, but I wanted to share some sneak peaks of what the studio is starting to look like. As I mentioned before, the whole room is still in complete disarray, but I tried to capture a few of the pieces that are coming together. Tomorrow is dedicated to painting the chalkboard wall, which I’m extremely excited about, so hopefully I’ll be able to share more once that’s done.
Vintage luggage vignette, in keeping with the retro travel theme that I always love. And of course my Eiffel tower statue in the background, one of Bicyclette icons.
Organization system: I have two huge honeycomb shelves and individual bags to hold each style. What you can't see is the little Instax snapshot on each bag that will indicate what style is being held within. More on my new camera in the future!
Vanity and vintage frames from the exhibit. The frames will be arranged above and used to display jewelry pieces. The vanity will be home to business cards and various other takeaway pieces.
New lace curtains that cast the perfect amount of light across the room and have that vintage-inspiration that I'm so drawn towards. There's a large window that runs the entire way across the room, so these are perfect, light and airy. J'adore.
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.
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…
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