I love the new year. New beginnings. New goals. New resolutions. It seems January always brings optimism, renewed energy and excitement for what the future holds. While I will always reflect back on 2010 as an incredible year of firsts for Square One Interiors, I can’t help but be excited to start a new decade by crossing off my first goal of the year! (Yes, one of my resolutions was to get back to blogging!) So 2011, it’s great to see you. And guess what? You better BRING IT, cause I’m ready to rock and roll!
In the spirit of resolutions and goals, I thought I would use this first post of 2011 to let everyone know some of the things Square One Interiors has set out to do over the next few months!
On January 10 (hey that’s today!) we will launch our monthly newsletter Perspectives. Don’t worry, before you cringe at the thought of yet another newsletter email in your inbox, I promise to keep it short, sweet and filled with informative tips, tools and trends in commercial interiors. In fact, if there is a topic or product you would like to see featured, please let us know and we’ll work it in!
In addition to Perspectives, we’ll be blogging each week. Yup, that’s right I said week. Check back each Monday for product highlights, client and artist spotlights and random musings from the brain of Courtnay.
Social engagements! Anyone who knows us well knows we love to have parties. 2011 will be no exception because we are jam packed full of awesome events! We’ve got some AMAZING artists lined up to showcase their work at the Square One Interiors showroom. In addition, the Delaware Street Wine Walk kicks off in April and we’ve got a little something up our sleeve for our second birthday in July. Be on the look out for event details and dates!
We’ve got a few other exciting things that will be happening in 2011, but I’m going to leave you hanging for a little bit longer. I mean seriously, did you think I’d lay everything out in this first post? Nope. Actually we’re hammering out some final details but when we do roll them out we hope you’ll agree the wait was worth it!
So, here’s to a rockin’ new year. Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
Ah, it’s nearly time again. A mere 36 hours until manufacturers, industry professionals, client end-users and eager students decend upon the Merchandise Mart’s four million (yeah, million) square feet of interiors heaven. For me it’s a love/hate realationship. I love to see all my friends, industry people and new products. I hate however, the fact at the end of the day my feet feel like they have been run over by a Mack truck then chewed on by wild animals.
If you are not familar, Chicago and The Merchandise Mart play host to my industry’s largest event of the year: NEOCON World’s Trade Fair. NEOCON has taken the term “one stop shopping” to the extreme. There are literally thousands of products and resources for commercial interiors enthusiasts. Whether your interest is corporate, retail, healthcare, education or government; you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.
Take a sneak peek at what’s in store for this year’s show:
Exhibitors: Get your walkin’ shoes ready. Taking in 700 showrooms and booths over 18 floors and 4 million square feet, you’re guaranteed to have some sore feet. Like I said…Dr. Scholls would be a wise investment this week!
Education: Discover new ideas and techniques from top industry professionals with over 150 CEU- accredited seminars, tours and educational programs. Can you say brain overload? Hope they give handouts!
Networking: Catch up with old friends and make new ones! Explore the excitement of the industry with over 40,000 design professionals and hundreds of exciting networking events and parties.
I don’t know about you, but I’d say that is A LOT to pack into three days! If you are Chicago bound this week, I’ll see you there. You’ll easily recognize me, I’ll be the one with ice packs strapped to my feet. If you can’t make the show this year, don’t fret. We’ll be doing our own “miniCON” in July!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
I know, I know…it’s been nearly three months since my last post! I’m a little frightened at how the time flies by but rest assured, now that summer is upon us and the total craziness of construction and moving is over I’m going to get back to posting regularly.
I must say that taking up work residence in Kansas City’s River Market has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. Seriously, I was lucky enough to stumble smack into my dream space! It really goes to show it is who and not what you know. A HUGE thank you to Kelly Jander, Shaul Jolles, Courtney Beaumont and Alan Waterman for helping me find and get into such an amazing space in one of the coolest communities in Kansas City. If you haven’t been down to the River Market in a while, I urge you to get down here pronto! The City Market is always bustling with activity, the local restaurants are pretty darn tasty and there’s even great shops to get your buy on.
But that’s not even the best part. My favorite thing about the River Market is the true sense of community. Delware Street is filled with a fun mix of both residential and commercial tenants and I really don’t think there is a more dog friendly neighborhood in this city! Not a day goes by that I walk down the street and don’t get a hi or a friendly wave from a neighbor. From the first day Square One Interiors moved down here, everyone has truly welcomed us with open arms. So thank you River Market community for making each work day seem more like a vacation day!
I’m still venturing out to the various restaurants and shops but here are some my favorite places so far. Go check them out next time you’re down here!
Cascone’s
If that isn’t enough to get you down here maybe a party will motivate! Come join us for the GRAND OPENING of the Square One Interiors new showroom. We’re celebrating with food, cocktails, live music and great door prizes, so save the date and come celebrate! Thursday July 8, 2010 4pm-8pm. Please RSVP to hilary@squareoneinteriorsllc.com
Hope to see you there!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
Wow, I can’t believe it has been nearly a month since my last post. Apologies! Things have been crazy hectic but that is no excuse! The past few weeks have been quite a roller coaster ride. As many of you know, I’m smack in the middle of opening a new showroom in the River Market. Construction work is beginning to feel like my second (or third) job. Good thing I’m married to a contractor huh?
This little endeavor has given me a unique perspective on what my clients and prospects go through on a daily basis. Take the average person’s zillion to-dos, emails and other “day” job responsibilites add the stress of project managing construction timelines, budgets, finish and furniture selection, move coordinating etc…you get the idea. Makes plate spinning look like a piece of cake! There is a huge difference between helping with a handful of aspects in a new space and having your hand in the project from start to finish.
To help contain some of the chaos, I’ve created a project management kit that has become my roadmap to sanity. It’s helped me stay on top of what seems like a million details without going completely batty. I’m still working on the final polish, but if anyone is interested in a sample kit contact me at courtnay@squareoneinteriorsllc.com
At the end of the day my hope is this experience will help me be a better partner to my clients. Now I can say I’ve been there done that…and have pictures to prove it!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
Brrr. It’s been a chilly and slower start to the new year than I anticipated. Starting week one of 2010 with a nasty head cold is not what I had planned but I’m finally starting to feel a bit better and ready to kick our new decade into gear!
2009 was a pretty exciting year – you know a company launch and all! :) But I will say, 2010 looks to be pretty exciting itself. We have lots of big plans and we’re getting really close to crossing off a couple of big goals set before we started in July.
Thanks to 2020/Creative we have a fabulous fresh new website: www.squareoneinteriorsllc.com (A special thank you to Pete & Jeff – you guys ROCK!) So after you’re finished reading this post, feel free to have a look around! We are still in the process of adding content and lots of great tips and tools so please check back often for cool new stuff. While your at it, take some time to join us on our social media sites. Become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and connect with me on LinkedIn. I promise it will be worth it! Each connection is a chance to win super cool products and prizes throughout the year. First drawing is February 15th for a Diffrient World Chair from Humanscale.
The new year finds us with a new home! We’ll soon be moving into the historic River Market onto what is the most charming street in our city. (Ok, so I may be a little biased) We’ve got some work to do in the space, but we’re targeting March as our open date. I’ll be posting construction progress and sneak peeks via Facebook – so see another reason to become a fan!
We’ve also got a couple of really cool community projects in the works. These are taking place later this year so they are still in the planning stages but we’ll update everyone via Litterbook (my pet name for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook) and the website soon.
So see, an exciting year lay ahead. Bring it on 2010!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
In the past week I’ve met with approximately 30 people – a mix of both vendors and clients. When meeting or greeting these 30 or so people, I gave or received a hug from 11 of them. Now, I know that’s a strange thing to keep track of and I usually wouldn’t tally up a hug list (cause that’s weird), but clearly this hugging phenomenon triggered a response because here I am blogging about it.
I’ve been pondering this all weekend in anticipation of today’s post but find what I’m trying to say hard to put into words. Maybe all the warm and fuzzy feelings have gone to my head and I’m reading too much into it, but those hugs represent the way I want to do business. I’m not saying we all need to replace handshakes with hugs so don’t start running the other way! :) I am saying my company and the way I do business are defined by the relationships built. In my opinion, the people I genuinely like to greet with a hug are certainly people I want to continue doing business with both as client and provider. These people are or are becoming good friends. I mean how much fun is it to work with all your friends every single day?
Am I being too much of a romantic? I don’t think so. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the old saying that people do business with people they know, like and trust. Isn’t a hug a good indication of all that? I know I wouldn’t spend my time and money with people I don’t enjoy working with.
So really business isn’t always just business. It’s people and it’s very personal.
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
I have been fretting for WEEKS (really months but that sounds really long) over how to get this blog started. I am a people person, not really the shy type, but it’s still a little intimidating to cast myself out there into the great abyss of cyberspace. I don’t want to bore anyone to tears, and seriously, what am I going to write about every week that will be of value to anyone but me????? I finally decided to get over myself and just get to writing! If anything this will be a journal (therapy) documenting the evolution of Square One Interiors!
I am using this first post to set the tone and perhaps lower expectations for future blogging. I plan on keeping things very laid back, if only to keep my stress levels manageable! The goal is to offer this blog as a tool for clients, prospective clients, friends, business partners, and anyone else interested, to learn more about who we are, how we operate, and what we do. There won’t be any fancy writing. I will try to throw some witty prose in when I can, but make no promises! This is simply me sharing our experiences and perspective on office environments, business ownership, furniture trends, client projects, issues companies are facing and our thoughts on solutions! Hopefully you will find a valuable nugget somewhere in the mix!
Check back often – new posts will appear on Monday’s (uh oh, now I have gone and committed myself), but in the meantime friend: Facebook, connect: LinkedIn and follow us: Twitter! We love social media!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
