Wed’s Wink … { coffee shop or dining area? }

Hi! Today’s post features one of my full service designs that I created/implemented for my client, Bill, in upper east side (Manhattan). Before our first meeting, we chatted on the phone where Bill revealed that he was hoping to get a cozy feel for his apt, similar to coziness he feels at a coffee shop that he frequently goes to (OF COURSE, I now had to SEE THIS coffee shop).

So on the day of the consult, before I met the client I ventured to the coffee shop with camera on hand. And as a professional designer you would think I would simply go up to the owner of the shop and say …… hi, I have a client who would like his apartment to feel warm and cozy like this coffee shop, can I take some inspirational photos?

Simple, right? But noooooooo! Instead, I pretended to be a 007 secret agent (camera instead of a gun) taking discreet photos after I went “undercover as a customer” buying a cup of latte. Why? I was afraid they would say NO (with eye rolling) when I asked to take pics for whatever X,Y,Z reason that they may (may not) have.

I just didn’t want to resort of PLAN B –> having to come back another time disguised as someone else, hahaha. Ok, why the jaddedness (hmm, is that a word??)? Perhaps its bec several design stores don’t allow photos to be taken bec we may ‘steal their styling design’, etc. etc reason … or bec I didn’t have any caffeine in my system to think straight .. or bec. I feel like I am disturbing people when I take pics (since I ESPECIALLY don’t like being photographed by strangers)….. or have to resort to my PLAN B (visualize, fake thick mustache and baseball cap!).

I really do wish I remembered the name of the coffee shop, it is a cozy cool welcoming place and I know exactly why my client loves it when I got to know him/his personality and style. So, I managed to take a few pics (without fainting from my mission) focusing on:

* the ceiling beams
* the artwork
* the wood tables + chairs
* the overall FEEL of the place (see pics below)

Fast forward a few weeks after the client hires me, he approves (LOVES!!!) the design I created for him, and I start placing orders for all the new furniture items to transform the apartment. Here I am below opening some of the new items that arrived when I noticed … eeeeeek ….. the WRONG artwork was delivered! MY secret agent coolness allows me to stay calm in situations like this … I simply called the store, they overnighted the correct art pc at their expense AND my client was able to keep this art (I suggested that he sells it … extra muuullah in the pockets!) = easy breezy.

Take another look at the inspirational photos of the art at the coffee shop (below) … not at all similar style to the one we received huh?! I am very darn good in knowing what items my clients would LOVE or shriek at.

Oooh, I haven’t shown you yet a pic of how the apartment looked when I first saw it! Here’s a peek at the dining area …. 

We relocated the bookcase to another area, and then I worked my magic transforming this space into a coffee-shop-feel ‘economically’. Ready for a behind-the-scenes peek?  We received the correct artwork the next day, so installatioooooooon time:

Installation starts with the removal of items not to be incorporated into the design … as u see from below we kept the dining table (perfect size, shape, style = saves money using items that the client already has), and the only other item we kept for this area was the curtain rod (we simply took the finial off the ends and extended the rod = it was expandable woohooo!).

Below’s a photo of the finished space. Oh, yeah THAT IS a wood pallet placed on the wall to hold the artwork (yep, I LOVE going for uniqueness and even better my client LOVED it too)! Ooooh, and we got loads of pallets for $0.00!!! (more details on that on another post) .. pssssst, we also added wood pallets to the living room – more pics to come!!! For this area we added:

1) wood pallet + art
2) blue curtains + 2″ wood blinds (the color of the floor)
3) tree (bring outdoors in!)
4) pendant (plug in = more economical) lamp
5) wood/leather chairs
6) area rug
7) all new fresh paint (even the radiator got some yummy paint!)

Here’s the transformed area (I especially love the dried flowers mixed with herbs placed on the pallet = the aroma was great = a soothing calmness):

Below is a wider (before photos) peek at the apartment with my scribble drawing of more thing we incorporated/changed to turn this apt into a cozy FABULOUS unique FUN space for Bill. Oooooh, u see the arrow below? It’s pointing to the ceiling beams = which we (gasp) faux painted it to look like real wood and it turned out A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. (I’ll share more of it on the next post).

This project focused on the dining space/ office space / living room / and bedroom … which means that I have toooooons of more pics to share with you. Stay tuuuuned!! Ok, your turn – I would luv to hear from u.  Do u use artificial plants (they r no longer grandma’s version huh … some looks sooo real!)? Have you faux painted any furniture/ walls? What name would you give this ‘coffee shop’?