My business started out as a plastic bin. Then it grew to a flimsy garment rack. Then to a commercial rack. Then to an Ikea closet. It went on to take over the living room and a storage space. Eventually, it forced us to move to a bigger place where I took over the largest room in the house!
I feel very fortunate to have this room all to myself. It has great natural light, beautiful wood parquet inlaid floors, art deco crown molding and a high ceiling to boot. It keeps all my stuff out of the rest of the house and frankly, has probably saved my marriage (my husband hates clutter!). The room used to be the perfect size, but business has evolved and I do a lot of private shopping appointments. The space isn't quite big enough to function as a shop, photography studio, and shipping annex. I started looking at commercial spaces, but now that I'm moving into Chelsea market it's on the back burner for a bit.
As a result, I've come up with ways of shifting pieces of the room around with relative ease to get tasks done. The rolling racks all get moved to one side of the room to reveal bright photography walls, and behind them are two white cabinets. The hat boxes are stuffed full of hats and accessories, and that cute little dresser holds all the folded things. All of my off season garments are being moved to a small storage spot.
Regardless, I think the space looks pretty cute when it's set up as a shop! If you are in Astoria and want to come visit, drop me a line!
