Hello friend,
Question for you: How adaptable are you to change? In your home, your job, or with your family and friends? Are you a go-with-the-flow kind of person, or someone who digs in their heels? I’ve asked myself this question many times and in many ways.
Greetings from our Candler Park Studio
For example, as a designer, I constantly change my home in little and big ways. However, whenever I change something familiar, it takes me a few weeks (or even months) to determine if I really like it. The change is jarring to my eyes and to my daily routine. For example, when I changed my dining room from light blue to blush pink, it took me a couple of months to actually love and embrace it. Some people have no difficulty with a change like this.
Left to right: Marilyn, Melody, and Jennifer with art from Monkey Arm Studio in Decatur.
You may be wondering why I am posing these questions. Well, last week, I received an email from my landlord saying that after 10 years, they had other plans for our Candler Park studio. There were no negotiations; we simply have until February 1st to move elsewhere. At first, I felt devastated and thought perhaps I was being pranked; surely they wouldn’t do this after 10 years! Then I realized this was reality, and I needed to accept it. I spoke with family and friends, and many reminded me that we were bursting at the seams with a team of 10. When we moved in, we had 4 people. That realization sank in a little more. Eventually, I started thinking about what we wanted in a new space. Finally, I got a little excited about the possibilities for this new space: where it would be located, its size, and how it would be the same or different from the current one. I began making a list to share with the team of what I believe that we are looking for, and I solicited their thoughts on what they wanted.
Andrea and Nami peering out the green door.
I am also a big believer in manifesting. I believe that if you put an idea out there with the right mindset and the right people, there is a strong magnetism to attract the right solution. As my mentor says, “The solution already exists.” It probably sounds a bit woo-woo, but for me, it works more often than it doesn’t. So I thought I would share our criteria so we can find the perfect solution together.
Allie’s graduation from college with Jean-Luc, Marlee and Melody
Our New Balance Design Studio is:
1–around 2-3k square feet-room for enough desks (standing?) for everyone to work when we want to be in the studio together. Enough space for our beautiful library of fabrics, rugs, tile, hardware, and wallpaper samples. Enough space for a luxurious conference area where we can meet and present to our clients. Enough space to hold our Client Appreciation Open Houses and to feature local and emerging artists that we love.
Dorian, posing during her first week of work. We are so lucky that she joined our team in July.
2-Located on the East Side, to make it convenient for our team and most of our clients. In my mind, this radius includes Candler Park, Inman Park, Decatur, Oakhurst, Kirkwood, Edgewood, Druid Hills, Virginia Highland, and possibly as far north as Avondale Estates.
Jean-Luc is working hard?
3-Budget: This is always the tricky question! And this budget is much higher than what we have paid for the past ten years (again, reframing our situation more positively). I believe that we can make this happen for under $5k per month. Yes, this is slightly less than the going rate in Atlanta, but we are manifesting here!
Our PRIDE windows have supported the October festival.
4-Community and Visibility: Our little CP studio has great architecture and wonderful windows. We have loved changing those windows with the seasons to let the community know what we are thinking about. From PRIDE to loving your home to whimsy, or a festive look for the holidays, we really enjoy putting our best foot forward. Many clients have told us they found us by driving or walking by. I love that!
Marilyn, Jennifer, Marlee, and Maggie. (We miss you, Maggie!)
So, in case you are wondering what this very specific request has to do with you and interior design. I believe you are the right people to help us find the right place for our studio. In exchange for your positivity, I also put together a little list for us in case you’re reframing a big change in your life, too. I am not suggesting that I have come completely to terms with this big change, but I am getting closer.
Marilyn is looking dynamic in front of a saffron wall!
5 ways to view change through a positive lens:
1- See the change as a catalyst for growth. This change often forces us out of our comfort zone. It can broaden perspective, build new skills, and even boost confidence.
A window during the Pandemic.
2- Focus on the novelty. Routines are comforting, but sometimes they can lead to stagnation. Change introduces new ways of looking at life. Change can also reignite our curiosity and bring new excitement to our lives.
3- See change as an opportunity for a reset button. It allows us to shed habits that no longer serve us, giving us a clean slate to realign with who we are today, rather than who we used to be.
Another window display in February.
4-Change allows us to build resilience. Embracing change means practicing adaptability. If we let it, this adaptability can potentially transform anxiety into a sense of capability.
5-Accepting change as a part of life. Recognize the consistency of change in all things-family, nature, health, home life, travel; everything has change built into it. Change is consistent and perhaps even unchangeable.
Full of expectations in 2015, when we landed our first commercial space.
As I write this, I realize I still have much to acknowledge and accept to move through this life change. I am sad and a bit melancholy. Yet laying it out helps me see it not from a victim’s perspective, but as someone who can handle what life throws at me.
Until next week,
Stephanie
