my favorite color

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INTRODUCING PURPLE

Purple embodies the balance of red's stimulation and blue's calm. This dichotomy can cause unrest or uneasiness unless the undertone is clearly defined, at which point the purple takes on the characteristics of its undertone. With a sense of mystic and royal qualities, purple is a color often well liked by very creative or eccentric types and is the favorite color of adolescent girls. Written by Kate Smith, CMG, CfYH

Girlie Girls

When I was 12 years old my parents built a new home.  This was the first time I had my own room and I was able to choose the colour scheme and decorate (of coarse with my Mom's help). My first selection was gorgeous wall to wall two-toned purple shag carpet! Then I added a mini-print purple and white bedspread with an attached ruffled skirt and matching shams. The drapes were also coordinating with a ruffled detail. It was my dream room.....of coarse there were a few posters; Shawn Cassidy, The Bay City Rollers and Donny Osmond.

I've always secretly been in love with this "royal" colour and it's resurgence in the last few years has ignited my memories and my love of all things purple.

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The A Team

Every business needs an "A" team.... the people you call when you need help; the people you count on (key suppliers, contractors, the people who offer services that you require to run your business). We have lots of people on our "A" team and I think that team is what makes our business a success. Today alone we had three very important people from our "A" team make a big difference in our day and our business. It started this morning when I met our drapery specialist on site at a designer's client's home. These clients are out of town and they left their designer with their house key. Our drapery specialist was pre-installing hardware so he could get exact measurements for their custom roman shades. I met him there and let him in, we had a nice "catch up" chat, a few laughs and then I went back to the studio and left him on site to complete his install. I know many of you are gasping at the thought of leaving a contractor on site without supervision but if you have the right people on your team you know you don't have to worry. Later in the day, we had an appointment with our bookkeeper (I think any business that operates without one is not serious about being in business). She patiently listened and answered our questions and assisted us with our accounting software.  Throughout the day we had our very young, adorable and very funny IT guy drop in and out (you know the type; he doesn't look old enough to shave but his knowledge of the computer and the world around it is effortless and amazing) . He was setting up our new scanner. The first one he brought in turned out to be broken so out he went to replace it. Later he showed up again with a replacement and was able to hook us up to our new toy (although we are not techies we love what all of this stuff can do for us and we are very excited about our new scanner...think of all the blogging possibilities!). And right before the day ended our drapery specialist popped by to drop off our client's house key. Our day was filled with laughter, great connections and relationships that are invaluable to us. They make our jobs easier and much more enjoyable.  We value our "A" team and we let them know it! I hope you do too....

relationships

isn't that what it is all about...great relationships. In all areas of our life healthy relationships make everything so much better. We don't spend lots of time with people we don't enjoy in our personal lives so why is it that we will put up with an unreasonable demanding client or a supplier that does not appreciate us? It's O.K. to expect our work lives to be about building relationships with people that we enjoy. We spend a lot of hours every day / week / month working so why would we settle for anything less in our business relationships. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind being challenged, as a matter of fact if I'm not challenged I get bored pretty quick, however I look for these challenges in other areas. I don't need to be challenged by difficult, unreasonable clients or suppliers. It's too exhausting. Focus on the clients that don't scream the loudest, the ones who don't subscribe to "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". Build your business on great relationships and enjoy the process!

here we go....

O.K. so here it is....finally my first blog post. I've been thinking alot about my blog; what should it communicate / how should it look. My "Virgo - A" type personality desires to have it laid out perfectly with hours and hours of research on the subject matter and then tada....the perfect blog! As I mature (a nice way of saying I'm getting older) I am working on letting go of this need for perfection (didn't say I don't do it anymore I just said I'm working on it...LOL). So "here it goes"....just start writing, sharing and having fun.

A little bit about me...well I am blessed with a loving husband, kids (all grown and living on their own now) & family, great business partner, good friends and good health. I'm passionate about music (all types and it makes me very happy that I have been able to share this passion with my children), dancing (my favourite dance partner is still my Dad - and the kitchen is still the best place to dance), running (I've met so many wonderful friends through this experience and completing my first marathon, last year, with my husband was definitely a highlight and an experience I will never forget) & my hair (my hairdresser is "the other man" in my life).

My business is also a passion and I love being a part of helping others achieve their goals. My career has been focused in the interior design industry. My new business is also focused in this industry....and we've met so many talented young designers recently. Very inspiring. I guess I feel like a new phase of my work life has started and I could not be more excited....I've always loved change. It energizes me. So I hope you will check in once in a while to see what we're up to....sharing great products, good design, and the talented designers who make it look easy, so.....here we go!