Behind the Scenes: Our Addictions

The women of AsterHouse Design may or may not have an addiction...to accent tables...of any style...any color...any height...and any shape.  We do not discriminate in any way...AT ALL...

Which is why we have this table...

and this one...



...this set...



 

and the one it sits under...along with this one...



 

this one...

and...drum roll please...this gorgeous lady...



 

all living in our office.  Yes, that is right...we have that many tables in our office...don't judge...the space  is only 20' x 30'...we only have so much room, ya know??!!  We will bring in more when we can...an no they are not for sale...at least not until the lamp shipment gets here...then we might need to make some room!!

Behind the Scene's: Eryn's 2013 Professional Goals-progress report

Can I just say...I am addicted to lists!!  I love to have a long list of goals!  I add to it...and then when I am done, add some more!!

Now, let me clarify...just because I have long lists of goals does not mean I get alot of things accomplished. I battle my "high-quick-start-itis" all day every day...I can get a thousand things going because I have tons of great ideas (I think they are great anyway!!) popping around my mind at any given moment.  However my follow-thru stinks!!

So, knowing this about myself has been a huge help (Thanks to the Kolbe test, which I highly recommend to everyone!!)  With this in mind as I made out my personal and business goals for 2013, I began with this.....



-"follow thru challenge"...choose areas of weakness-develop tangible goals-set dates!!  As I mentioned, follow-thru is NOT my natural tendency...and so, I have purposed to strengthen that area.  (I am soooo thankful for Amanda...I'm pretty sure follow-thru is her middle name!!  And thank goodness, she is rubbing off on me!!)

So, here we are May 23rd and I thought it would be a great time to give an update on how things are going at the "half-way-through-2013" mark!!

My AsterHouse Design Goals for 2013 are:

-Take a photography course with Amanda:...hmmm...can't check that off yet...but a half check for talking with a very talented photographer who will be doing our "after" photo shoots!!

-Regular blog posts...one per week:  Well, they haven't been quite that frequent...but definitely much more regular!  And in fact, one per day for the "12 Days of Christmas" series!!  We have also added a Facebook page where we post daily life snapshots!

-Finish Sheffield course:  This course came highly recommended as a great intro into the business aspects of running a design business...I had started it before we launched our business and have yet to finish it up...so, I have emailed to find out what I need to do to finish...I guess that is another half check!

Along those lines, Amanda and I feel strongly that constant education is a huge priority...online, print, industry shows, traveling and time with other designers...we are always looking to increase our knowledge and understanding of the industry!  So, we are sooooo excited to attend Tobi Fairly's Designer's MBA in July!!  Stay posted!!

-Fine tune blog:...last year I signed up for "The Blog Class" in an effort to take our blog to a new level!  And it has been fabulous!  Emily and her team have done a stellar job with step-by-step tutorials for those of us that are less than tech savy!! So this year, I have adjusted a few key things, and my summer goal is to fill in some of the missing details on our blog!!

-New Office!!!!!  This is getting sooooo close to being done!!  We can hardly stand it!  We are so excited to show some "after" photos!!  This space is so fantastic!!  Here is a quick peek at the most recent installation...

Our new inspiration wall!!  This product is a self-healing bulletin board that we purchased by the sheet through The BoxLab here in Manhattan.  We plan to cover it with photos and design ideas...it sits directly next to our desk space and will be a great "real-life" inspiration board!!

When projects and creative ideas are what you "do", your space must stimulate and support those endeavors...our new office space is both our creative space and our "experiment lab"...we have had alot of fun trying out some products that we have not used before...can't wait to share more!!

How are your 2013 goals shaping up??

AHD Office Update

[caption id="attachment_529" align="aligncenter" width="470"] Comfy on the backside...easy on the eyes!![/caption]

 

So this will be the second time we have remodeled our office...it is true that our own homes (and now our office) are our personal "experiments"...but two versions in one year is alot even for us!!  The reality is that the first spot was spacious...but it was right smack-dab-in-the-middle of the guest area in Eryn's home.  So as we began to see that we would be using this space alot, we began to make plans for a redo.  And to be completely honest, we never really finished that first office...we just got busy with "real jobs" and never got back to our space, which always drove us crazy!!

 

So, when we decided to relocate to another area of Eryn's home, we promised ourselves one main thing...WE WOULD FINISH IT THIS TIME!!!!  And we are well on our way!!  Here are a few sneak peaks of the progress!!

 

[caption id="attachment_530" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our "favorite things" wall...[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_531" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Fabulous new rug for our desk area!![/caption]

 

Our original plan was to go with a neutral scheme and add shots of pink and orange....we came up with an inspiration board and began finalizing our plan.  But, I couldn't bring myself to begin placing orders, because something just didn't feel right.  The neutral pieces were perfect...but the pops of pink and orange???  Although very fun, neither of us really "do" pink or orange much!!  And so when I came across the fun art deco inspired rug with great blues and teals and shots of orange/yellow...I knew it had "Amanda and Eryn" written all over it!!  After that the details have fallen into place easily!!  Just a couple more items to be put in place and you can see it all!!!!!!!!!!  Stay tuned!

(Chairs...CB2 Rug...Joss & Main  Desk...West Elm)

 

Behind the scene's: Project "AHD Office" update

 

 

 

 

So the floors of our new office are painted, the walls are painted,  the new trim has been installed and  the fabulous wall sconces are in place...

Let the fun begin!!!  And just so you can see where we are headed on this project....

The aged brass sconces are already in place...eventually we want to do a wet bar with the reclaimed wood front as seen above...and our overall concept is light, bright with plenty of work space to spread out our latest project(s)!!

OF course what good is an office if you can't lounge a little...this area just begs for inspiration to hit!!

And as much as we love white...we need a few pops of bold color to make us smile!!

We will keep you posted on the progress!!

 

sooooo excited...

I am sooooooo excited...a new office space is in the works for AsterHouse Design!!

Why??  Well, our office is housed in the lower level of Eryn's home...our first office was quickly thrown together.  We desperately needed one!!  It has been wonderful to have an designated office.  A place for samples, a spot to host clients and room to splay out products, floorplans, etc.  But we never really finished it...we never had an actual "design plan"...we are the proverbial "cooper's children" or "mechanics's car"...always so busy planning everyone else's spaces but never taking the time to focus on our own studio space.  So, we are backing up the train...shifting focus to our own space so we can better serve our clients...boost our creativity and fill our "inspiration tank"!!



This time around we want a "serving station" for our own enjoyment as well as offering clients beverages while we share ideas!!



Loving some aged brass...looking for a "collected", coordinated but not overly thought out aesthetic!!



WILL USE...gorgeous tile...somewhere...



A few shots of pink and orange???





 

We will keep you  posted!!!!

 

Form or Function?? Yes!!

Over the last few months, Amanda and I have been slowly but surely pulling our own design space together.  We approached our office in the same way we do any client's space…we have just been implementing our plan VERY. SLOWLY. 

Honestly, we didn’t actually set out to “do” the AsterHouse office…we had literally dumped all of our paraphenalia into the raw space and thought we would tackle it when we had the time and budget to do it "right"!!  But because we both operate best when we are inspired by our environment,  it didn't take long to see the need to get the office done…or least started...

As much as we desired the space to provide the inspiration for great design ideas…we knew it would never be right unless it functioned well…and that, we knew, was the first place to start.  AsterHouse loves to create gorgeous spaces, but if that space does not function well it is a huge FAIL in our minds…so, that is where we always begin…whether for a client or our own office!

For our home away from home, the wish list was kinda long…we have a nice size space…about 20’x18’, but it needed to house two desks, an "island-ish" place to lay out projects or splay our huge drawings.  We needed a “lounge area” to host clients as well as attractive storage space to hold our growing collection of fabric samples, vendor catalogs and our office stash of Twizzlers!!  (Must have creative fuel!!) 

When thinking through the function, elements of form always enter the mind and often inform the layout…for instance, we like to work facing each other…it makes bouncing ideas off so much more fun when you can see each other face to face…so, instead of two separate desks we found this fabulous “dining table” at West Elm...

...and it was our jumping off point for the whole work station!  We sent a friend on a wild goose chase through IKEA (a whole other post!!) to pick up some fabulous storage pieces for the walls and we had a local contractor build us a custom wall unit!!  (the top will eventually be covered in stainless!!) 

With the white laquered furniture, storage pieces and white trim, we chose a pale gray for the walls...I will admit that it took two tries to get it right...but we love it!!  Perfect backdrop to all the gorgeous colors that roll around our creative space!!

SW7671 On The Rocks

So here is what we have so far!!  I don't really have any good "before's" and it is not even close to complete so it cannot be referred to as an "after"...so here is a "now"!!

(I will save the lounge area for another post....the furniture is in place but everything is still in "before" condition!!)

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AsterHouse is Featured in Manhattan Magazine!

Eryn and I are giddy about the new issue of Manhattan Magazine!

There we are in bold letters...AsterHouse Design!

It's official-the town knows who we are now!
Here's my hubby at the launch party. I made him read it first; I was too nervous!

Amanda & Eryn

Katy Ibsen, Chief Editor, Manhattan Magazine

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