Well. Balancing Design House prep and client projects is leaving precious little time for blogging. Sorry about that. But things seem to be falling into place, so that’s great.
My whole “grand foyer” concept is dependent upon a large round table. Don’t YOU need a place to throw your keys and mail when you walk in the door? Whether you live on Capitol Hill, Park Avenue, or South Beach? I spent several days trying to find within the Washington Design Center. (One that screamed, “Urban Elegance,” of course.) Thrillingly, I found the perfect table on Friday (right).
Ebanista, you’re my hero. Gracious people, lovely pieces, and the all-important willingness to lend. Thank you.
I’m also so excited about the enthusiasm of Stroheim & Romann and Robert Allen. Spent hours last week fantasizing about fabrics and furniture with them. I hope to have great updates on those partnerships soon.
Design house excitement can be overshadowed by logistics. Insurance. Contractors and subs. My favorite window treatment fabricator – is she available? Upholsterer. Parking, for heaven’s sake. And the all-important showroom permissions.
You know I try to keep this blog positive. But I can’t resist telling you about a hilarious encounter in one particular showroom last week. I won’t mention any names, but I will say that it’s one of the more contemporary, clean-lined showrooms – a natural for a theme of “urban elegance,” in other words.
I stopped by having encountered the showroom manager on the telephone earlier in the week. On the day she wasn’t glued to her mouthpiece, I approached her desk and asked if the showroom routinely lends to the Design House.
Before I’d even finished my question , she started slowly moving her head back and forth. I fought back a giggle, she was such a caricature. “Wellllllll,” she said, “We realllllllllly don’t need the publicity,” (or words to that effect), “And we’re VERRRRRRRYYYY careful about who we lend to….”
What? Bad grammar aside (and for me, that’s no small thing), I’ve sent thousands of dollars of business their way. And I looked pretty downtown cute that day. Totally respectable. So, what? Excuse me?
“Ah, I have an account here…” I began, before she started to wag her head back and forth again.
“Yesssssss, welllll, we REALLLLLLLYYYY have to be careful about the pieces we lend.”
“Um, the mirrored tall shelves in the front showroom?” I squeaked, and there went the head again, back and forth, back and forth –
“Noooooo. Absolutely no. There’s no possible way.”
Then I really started to get the giggles. (This has been a problem this week. I had to get a new headshot taken by a photographer friend of mine, and let me tell you, we barely made it through.)
So I said, with as straight a face as I could manage, “Yes, well, I completely understand. Totally. You have to be careful. Absolutely. Thank you SO much for your time. Really, thank you.” And I left, barely making it to the hallway before snarfing laughter took over.
Let me just say that the next time I have a client looking for a $20,000 dining room table, this showroom will not be my first stop.
But thanks so much for your careful consideration, lady. I REALLLLLLY appreciate it :)