All I can say is...WOW. What a difference a year makes. If you were a steady follower of the blog (thank you!), you may have noticed the dramatic halt and transitions over the year. I'm going to go out on a vulnerable limb here and say that we had some major personal hurdles and leaps of faith that quickly changed a few things. It's a little early to be talking about the new year, but hey – things don't always go according to plan, do they?

Through a vague turn of events, we made the decision to move to Los Angeles last October. For those of you that know us – we don't sit still for long. Shortly after our move, Brandon had an amazing opportunity to work at Apple which required us to move to San Francisco temporarily. During that time, we made some incredible friends, traveled, sold our house in Michigan – the house where Fairly Modern was born – to my lovely sister and brother in law, and I started to re-evaluate what I wanted for myself and my career. 

In June, I made the very difficult decision to quit my steady, full-time job with no plan other than I knew I wanted more. I left knowing I had given it my all and that it was about to be the biggest personal leap I’ve taken in my life. I’ve always played it safe. Had a plan. Crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

This time was very different.

After a week of hanging poolside, I knew sitting around eating bon bons was not the future I envisioned for myself. I like to work. Actually, I love to work, but amidst scrolling handfuls of qualified job listings....nothing felt right. So, with a few years of working on interior side projects and encouragement of clients, friends, and family (you know who you are) – Fairly Modern went from a blog and limited clientele to a full-time business in the blink of an eye. Its grown, I’ve grown....

And I am insanely humbled to announce that Fairly Modern now has a home of its own!

Starting today, Fairly Modern will be operating from 401 Cypress / Los Angeles, CA as a full-service Interior Design + Brand Identity Studio. I will be launching “The Market by Fairly Modern” after the new year which will include our line of hand-made candles (yes, we make them all ourselves!) and other Home + Lifestyle products both in-store and online. 

The studio is located in my neighborhood of Arroyo Secco (Cypress Park / Highland Park for those unfamiliar). I'm not only looking forward to my short walk to work, but planting some roots in this wonderful community of "urban pioneers". 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of my wonderful clients, family, friends, business partners, past co-workers, and those of you who continue to send me work, a text, buy a candle, be a good friend, be a good stranger, offer advice – the list goes on and on. This sincerely would not be possible without you.

Be sure to follow along for studio updates on facebook and instagram @fairlymodernhome and our retail shop @shopfairlymodern and/or fairlymodernhome.com/shop

A while back, I wrote a guest blog post for Tiny Blue Sky offering tips on how to work with a designer to get the most from your brand and was interviewed on the TBS Podcast. Below you will find excerpts and links to the full features.
 

THE PINTEREST TRAP: HOW TO FOCUS YOUR BRAND FOR RETAIL DESIGN AND BEYOND

"Without a doubt, Pinterest is a tool built to provoke ideas, facilitate collaboration and curate just about anything. At Fairly Modern, we use Pinterest not only to pull inspiration, but to collaborate with our clients gaining a better understanding of their vision and design direction. The drawback of using a site like this is also the reason we are drawn to it: endless possibilities. So, before you get caught in the Pinterest trap, we’ve put together a checklist of what you should have prepared before you create another Pinterest board or meet with a designer."

Read the full blog post here.

PODCAST: EXPERIENCE DESIGN FOR RETAIL SPACES

What is your process when designing a retail space and how do you incorporate branding into the process?

Well, every project is different. And, rightfully so in this case. First, I spend time understanding the product or the business. What makes them unique? What stories do they tell? Once I have a good understanding of that – I like to pull inspiration from there and incorporate it from a customer experience standpoint rather than focusing on the space itself. For example, think about an ordering process. That really has nothing to do with the design of the physical space, but it is important and can be built upon. Are the orders by number or do customers stand in a line? If they take a number, what would it be made of? What is something interesting I could do with it? Things just come to life when you start with the customer first.

Listen to the full podcast here