Securing the studio was the easy part - furnishing it was the headache! After securing the space, the both of us sat down to discuss the aesthetics of the space and with a small space of 380sqft, we knew we had our work cut out for us!
The studio needed to serve two main purpose: (1) as a showroom for our customers to browse our products and learn more about the artists; as well as a (2) workspace where the both of us would be doing the unboxing, taking photos, packing orders etc (and replying to customers of course)!
For a showroom to be a showroom, we obviously needed:
1. Product display setups
And of course, we went to our favourite furniture haunt - IKEA. Made a few trips (and filled our stomachs with as many meatballs as we could at the same time) and finally decided on the 'IVAR' shelves and the 'Malm' Drawers.
Our mugs looking grumpy on the 'IVAR' shelves
The surface of the 'MALM' drawers as a display top
The 'MALM' drawers were perfect for the space below our windows as it fits nicely in and had ample storage space! Next, we had to look for a table that would act as our main display table for the products.
Not too shabby, we reckon!
Lastly, we wanted a display area where we could highlight certain unique pieces for that particular month. Drawing inspiration from the museums (and now hooked on DIY), we made these 3 boxes (below) and spray painted them pink! (Confession: it was more of Liyuan's dad who did the woodwork)
They double up as storage space too as they are hollow!
2. A 'home' setup
At the initial brainstorming of our studio, we disagreed on plenty of things but we saw eye to eye on one vision; that we wanted the studio to be a cosy space where customers can take their time to browse or even to just sit down for a chat with us. We didn’t want our studio to look intimidating, and we hated the idea that sometimes customers entering a shop feel obliged to purchase an item (or feel guilty if they don’t).
This was one of the harder considerations we had to execute as space was a huge concern. But I think we did somehow pull it off, and we love the space we have now! We also had the honour of hosting a couple of artists/ceramicists/customers who had drop by for a chat!
The cosy corner - Liyuan's favourite part of the room!
Our 'deposit' corner: our dads unknowingly planted this idea 20+ years ago as they were always waiting in a corner somewhere while our mums shopped. Our loot here includes the armchair from Hock Siong and stool from the vintage shop in Junkies Corner.
We've also managed to collaborate with some talented local artists and what you see on our walls are their masterpieces!
My favourite artpiece!
In all, I think we did fairly good considering it was our first time furnishing a space on our own, we even did some electrical work ourselves! Shoot us an email / DM us if you have any questions and we will gladly answer them!
Here are some other photos for you to oogle at till our next blogpost -
Love,
Liyuan & Shah
Leave a comment