Week 6: Day 2

Today was a busy day. I spent the morning going over a couple of e-mails from my Boss's client in Boston. She wants her to help with a living room space. Over the space of a couple of e-mails there were pictures of what is there, what she is interested in, and a bunch of questions. So I read over everything and complied what exactly she is looking for.

I also found a delivery service in NV that would be able to accept a delivery of furniture and then deliver it to the residence of another of my Boss's client's in Hendersen, NV.

The main thing that happened today was that the new intern came in. She starts next week, but my Boss wanted her to come in and see everything and have me brief her on what I have been up to, where everything is, what exactly she will be doing. I think my Boss did a better job of explaining things to her than to me when I first started, but nevermind. It was really fun to show her around and explain everything. Just goes to show how much I have learned the past 6 weeks. The new intern is awesome. She is going to a 6 year Interior Architecture Program in So Cal. It sounds amazing. Her only complaint was that it wasn't 'real world' enough for her. No business classes or anything unless you minor in Entrepreneurship or something. So she was looking forward to getting familiar with the materials, and have some interaction with clients. I will get to see her again next week at the Parade of Homes house.

Speaking of Parade of Homes - our GiftCraft order had a couple of pieces back ordered so we might not get the shipment in time. Awesome... not. The Linen Source order should have been sent out today - cross our fingers on that one.

Other joys of ordering things... I placed an order for blinds a couple weeks ago - which was supposed to be shipped on the 7th... yeah still not shipped. Apparently they were waiting for some of the blinds... now the shipping date is tentatively the 16th. *Fingers Crossed* Thankfully they aren't being installed until the 25th so there is some leeway there thankfully.

Week 6: Day 1

So my last week at Rice&Strand has finally come!

Today was pretty busy. My boss left first thing to go to Huntsville so I took care of the showroom, placed some orders, answered the phone, and took care of the deliveries. We had some  fabric delivered and then a shipment from Paragon. I opened up the art from Paragon - one of the boxes was totally trashed but luckily the art piece inside was fine.

We got a box of C.R. Laine fabric samples. I only made it through half of them. The samples are arranged in numerical order which is a plus. I put away all the samples that have holes in them to be displayed on the rings, and tomorrow I will tackle the boxes of samples. Wish me luck.

Things are gearing up for Parade of Homes... we made arrangements for Unique deliveries to come and pick up the furniture that we are going to use from the showroom. I also got to call and double check on the linen for the master bedroom - which of course did not ship last week.... >_< hopefully tomorrow!

I ordered a couple more lamps from Lite Source for Colonial Court. It's amazing how many things are back ordered. That was a little bit of an ordeal.

Other fun things today were having one of my boss's clients come in and ask for advice on getting a chair reupholstered. I started reading 'Cradle to Cradle' - it's about time. I have started it many times but never been able to finish it - school and other things always got in the way. So hopefully this time I can!

Week 5 roundup (days 4 and 5)

We got the art for Colonial Court. That was the main excitement. There we 14 pieces plus the mirror we already had at the showroom. Thursday night I took 5 pieces down to Ogden in my car, plus the rest of the clocks and two more lamp shades. I am a master packer.

Friday was great! We started at 9 at Colonial Court to hang the art and place accessories. It was fun to run around and place things... then the designer would change her mind and we would switch things around a bit. I think the best part was that my cousin was visiting and she came to help us. We finished everything then went to lunch and were done for the day!

Everything looks great but they changed their minds about the layout a little bit. They were supposed to put a pool table in the social room, but they think it looks too nice so they want to keep the pool table in the game room now. So that means probably ordering a couple of tables and chairs to fill the space. Everything is looking really good and most people who walked through complimented us on how great everything looked. : )

Back to Thursday - it was a pretty low key day. My boss had a couple of clients come in to choose material, so I got to put all the catalogs and material books away. My Boss and I did a walk through the showroom and talked about everything that we are going to use for the Parade of Homes. It was my idea to use the tall red-orange chairs and I picked the comforter set for the bed. So things evolved from there - can't wait to see how everything comes together!

Another highlight or at least event on Thursday was we had our yearly 'Fire Safety Inspection'. I was sitting at the front desk then I looked up to see three firefighters stroll in. It was very unexpected! There were a couple of things that we will need to get fixed of course. They were really nice.

Week 5: Day 3

Today I got to start off by opening two boxes of 'nesting tables'. They were easy to get out of the box but each leg was double wrapped. It took a while but I managed. Then I had to find space for them in the showroom. Here's a picture:

Other tasks from today included finding a black and white pattern in the Braxton Cullur fabrics, putting away all the returned catalogs, keeping track of which fabric books were checked out, answering the phone, looking up the price on a C.R. Laine sectional sofa - who knew you had to buy the two parts separately?

Highlight of today was driving down to Farmington to check out our house for The Parade of Homes. We went over to the past model homes and took stock of furniture pieces we could use, then went and saw the new one. I think my favorite part was the granite counter tops. Gorgeous!

No pictures of the inside for now. Maybe I'll post some before and after pics when it's finished

Tomorrow we are expecting the art for Colonial Court and then hopefully a final install on Friday!

Week 5 :Day 1 and Day 2

It felt like forever since I had spent a whole day in the showroom yesterday. Last week was so crazy! Colonial Court is so close to being finished! The blinds went up yesterday and we got the clocks from IMAX today... now if only our art would get here then we could hang it and put out all the accessories!

Today was fine. Although I nearly sprained my ankle while taking a piece of art off the wall. Totally lost my balance and rolled my ankle. You'll be glad to know that I survived. The piece was from Art in Motion so I am in the process of locating their catalog and seeing if those pieces are still available. I was on the phone with Butler today. Just making sure that we actually have preferred dealer pricing and to find out the specifics on our credit with them. They have some awesome pieces of furniture. So does Coast to Coast! I started dreaming about my dream home today. :) Other events from today: made lots of phone calls. Placed a fabric order, looked through the new rug and art catalogs we got, and sold three pieces of art! Yay for commission! Then I shuffled some other art around to make the holes not so noticeable. Can't wait until our GiftCraft order come so I can rearrange things. I am enjoying that part. My Boss and I have quite different tastes but most arrangements I do she keeps. Speaking of arrangements - she really liked the foliage arrangement I did above the door. I am so glad - I still have the scabs to prove I did it!

Lots of coming and goings the last couple of days. My boss had a couple clients come into the showroom to meet with her and pick fabric etc. I am trying to get familiar with furniture and the different manufacturers styles etc. Commercial is still more my thing, but there's tons to learn about residential here.

Good news! Tomorrow I am going with my Boss to the Parade of Homes House! We are going to check out the new house, then go take an inventory of pieces that the builder wants to use from previous projects in the new home. Should be interesting. The house is in Farmington. I know the exit and right where to turn because back around Thanksgiving, my car got a flat tire and that is the exit where I pulled off and got help to change my tire!

Week 4: Day 4

Today I was needed at the showroom, so I was there first thing. It was almost weird to be back there as I have spent most of my week up in Ogden.

My main task for the day was to replace the old garland above the main door with new floral pieces. I got to start from scratch. It was an interesting experience as I have never put anything like that together before. By the end though my hands looked like I got in a fight with a cat. scratches everywhere. Nevermind, I didn't feel them when it happened and they aren't deep so I will live.

From this:

To this:

Right before I started with the garland we got a call from our designer in charge of the Colonial Court project... one of the desks was missing the hardware to put it together. I hadn't seen them bring in the desk, or touched it as it was damaged. Then a miracle happened... we found the hardware.... in our warehouse! My brother had been cleaning things up a bit and I went down to check on him.. then I happened to look down and voila! There was the package of screws. Once our other designer came to the showroom I drove up to Ogden and we put the desk together and put out all the lamps. Some little changes need to be made... and we are still waiting for the shipment of art. Monday the window treatments are going in. The rest we will have to just wait and see.

Week 4: Day 3 - install continues

And so it continues. No pictures today... I left my bag in the car locked away. We were back at Colonial Court at 8am. We spent most of our time putting together the desks for the office. Then we got most of the furniture and accessories place in the lobby and by the elevators.

The room I took a picture of yesterday still looks about the same. Stuff everywhere!

Then after a quick stop by home to change clothes and grab a quick lunch I met my boss at the showroom to go help her in Bountiful. We got to add flowers to a greenery arrangement over a front door. I wish that I had my camera handy... the house had a dolphin fountain similar to this one:

pretty sure the one at the house was bigger... and had a pond around it 

Afterwards I went back to the showroom. Just went around and made sure everything was in place. It looks so different now that all the Colonial Court order is out of there. Tomorrow I will be there in the morning - if they need more help at Colonial Court then maybe I can head down there after the designer gets in.

Should be exciting!