I have been a huge fan of FOUND Vintage Rentals for awhile and was browsing around and instantly realized I basically wish I had everything in their warehouse to furnish the ADORED VINTAGE shop! This afternoon my fella and I had a relaxing visit with some of our shop friends over at Individual Medley and Myrtle and being in their shops just really inspired me to really get going with the brick + mortar.

The past month has been spent trying to catch up on work, processing tons and tons of packages coming in (I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I bought a vintage store that went out of business in the Midwest...so yeah, LOTS of deliveries to process lately!), and getting my new dwelling in order...so needless to say, the brick + mortar went to the back burner. Now that everything is all good to go with the apartment, it's time to really focus on the shop! For the most part I have just had the hardest time getting into some kind of schedule or sense of order because I was half living out of boxes and moving stuff around...do you get like that? Like you JUST CANNOT FUNCTION properly because half of your life is out of order?

ANYHOW... back to FOUND rentals... I was revisiting their lovely site again and started saving pictures as inspiration for store fixtures for my vintage shop. I spent about 2.5 hours doing research for other shop decisions, but the part I am most excited about is decorating the vintage shop and sourcing fixtures at the flea markets! Sometimes I can't believe I do what I do. It's pretty incredible and humbling.

If I may just go on another tangent for a minute... if you have a dream to do something (open a shop, write a book, become a designer...), you can bet your bottom dollar that if I can do it, YOU can do it. It won't be easy, it won't be cheap, and it won't happen right away. I get emails from women asking how I did it, if I have advice, what are my sources...and the best advice I can give is that if you're committed to your dream, your vision, it will come true because you'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

When I went full time with Adored Vintage back in October I had no idea that in 5 months I'd be opening up an actual shop! It's pretty crazy. And wonderful.

Progress has officially been made in the shop! A new door has been installed so now I can move to and fro much easier than the past few weeks since I've moved! I don't know why, but this ONE single "to-do" (ie. Get New Door Put In) has been such a mental block for me about owning a retail store. Maybe one of those when one door closes another one opens...except there WASN'T A DOOR so...ya dig?

So now that THAT'S done, I feel like we are moving forward! The shop doesn't have great lighting as is. There is a single ceiling fan light. I'm not in love with the ceiling fan but the tiny shop REALLY heats up during the day so for practicality, the ceiling fan stays. As you know, this is our first time opening up an actual store front, so we're getting ideas and figuring stuff out as we go. First on the list... lighting! So naturally, I went on a hunt on Pinterest for some retail lighting ideas.


src: // Afflante.com


src: // House of Bliss via Artilleriet


src: // Pinterest


src: // Rose and Grey


src: // Blood and Champagne


src: // Pinterest


src: // April May Studio


src: // The Pantalones


src: // Pinterest


src: // Pinterest


src: // Pinterest


src: // Flickr

Let me just preface that many of my posts this month well be interior design and retail design-centric. I sit here typing this in my kitchen (I'm not sure if you knew my "office" in my apartment is literally next to my refridgerator...but now you know!) and feeling quite sad about the move.

So to console myself I've been admiring photos of other people's lofts and daydreaming of how my own loft apartment will look.

I can't stand sterile looking lofts though. You know the type. Very minimalistic, very cold, hardly anything in it at all! I don't get the appeal. I also don't understand where all their crap must be hiding! Have they got a separate loft to house all their things? To me a home is cozy and lived in with lots of plants around (even if they're all half dead which is the case of my apartment), knit throws, pretty found little objects, and a faint scent of jasmine and vanilla in the air. I sound like I'm describing a grandmother's home, but I like all these cozy things to be in one of those stark white boxes. Aka "The Loft".


So my new loft doesn't have an amazing industrial kitchen (much to my sadness) and has *GASP* brown cupboards. *make puking sounds* I really hate these cupboards. BUT on a happier note my new place has a dishwasher!!! HOLY SCHNIKIES! The convenience if it all!

All images are from ADORED: Home Inspirations board on Pinterest! Some of them don't link to the original source unfortunately :(

Well, the vintage atelier is finally coming around. You can see some before photos here and some progress photos in this post. And if you follow me on Instragram (adorevintage) or Twitter (adorevintagecom) you've probably seen my mini adventures with moving stuff around and painting this place.


There's still a lot more I need to do. I just bought sheer white curtains, still need to move in my large industrial storage lockers, get another garment rack, and replace all the plastic hangers to wooden ones (I have two boxes of hangers I need to actually use!). Oh, and I have a ton of art I still need to hang up! I'm really happy with how it's coming along, but in about a month it will definitely look a little more put together! But, anyhow, for now, here is my vintage work studio! If you're in LA, I'll be taking appointment only visits on Saturdays!


Here's my building!


The studio is pretty much a square-ish box with big windows along one entire wall.


The start of my studio garden. I want to get a lot more plants in here and I need pots! I'm fortunate enough that my building is a couple blocks from the Flower Market and there are lots of garden shops close by that's pretty cheap.


Yeah, it gets kind of messy in here.











The hallway. All the walls are painted bright white. I love it!

Yesterday was suppose to be a day of whale watching, taking in some sunshine, and kayaking along the southern California coast... but because of a sudden wind swell the day before, the expedition was rescheduled for this weekend... so, what to do?

We decided to do a little exploring in San Diego instead. Grabbed quick beers at a brewery, Cuban pastries to munch on later, and set out to peruse some antique malls which is kind of our Sunday ritual anyway. We chanced upon this one antique mall called Vignettes and my eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets, this place was oozing with Frenchy, girlie goodness. It was like Anthropologie on vintage crack.



This is one of the first things you see when you walk in. The dresses are vintage reproductions and mostly just for decoration.


I am such a sucker for fresh flowers in booth displays. They're even pretty when they're wilting.


This was my favorite little vignette. Industrial meets French shabby chic, which is what I really love.

















Sorry these photos aren't the greatest quality, I stupidly left my camera in the car, so phone photos it is! But...isn't this place amazing?!? And the most incredible part were the prices were so reasonable! Here are a few items I'm considering to populate my vintage atelier.




These last two pieces are from the antique shop down the street, still reasonable prices. Trying to decide which piece I want the most in the atelier. I really love the French looking china hutch cabinet, but it's a rather large piece, but for $235!? That's a steal! I am probably going to get the white wardrobe piece since I really need storage that can hide a "mess". Because let's face it, sometimes running a vintage shop just ain't always pretty.

Have to make a decision by Sunday, so we'll see which piece comes home with me! *wink*