Our new office space

In the beginning of February we suddenly made a big move to a new office space. During our annual January strategic meeting, Amy and I discussed leasing a new space and decided on a move-in goal date of June. We wanted to be proactive about it and discover what's on the market these days so that we'd be prepared come early summer, so we began looking around early... and ended up winning the office lottery with West Ashley Executive Suites! The very day we called was the day the building had opened for leasing, and though we had to sign much sooner than we expected, it was well worth it.

While driving by, we had been impressed with the exterior of the building (a green Lowcountry style one-story), but hadn't been able to see in the windows due to closed plantation blinds. Once inside with the owner of the building, Dalton Mackey, as our guide, we were seriously impressed. He had spared no expense on this building, half of which also serves as his own insurance company's headquarters: high-end commercial carpet, beautiful sinks in the bathrooms, baseboard moulding throughout, every item chosen by a professional interior designer, individually controlled thermostats in each office, the best air conditioning system money can buy, and &c. Everything is included in the monthly price, too: a very advanced phone system, fax system, internet connection, janitorial services, a genuinely delightful administrative staff to answer the phone and deliver mail, shared kitchen and conference room facilities, and more.

West Ashley Executive Suites offers leases as short as three months, but we knew when we sat down with the also genuinely delightful Dalton (of whom Amy and I are already very fond) that we wanted to sign the longest lease possible. By happening along when we did, we had our pick of the eight offices available, and snagged the corner office, which had originally been intended as a conference room. Not only was it the largest, with windows on two walls, but it came with additional conference room lighting and a slightly different carpet.

Dalton and his staff, including his son, Jason, have bent over backward to welcome us into the space. Although all the offices come furnished with executive-level furniture, because we operate a design studio, we asked Dalton if it would be possible to furnish our own office. He immediately had the furniture moved into other offices (where others will benefit!) by professional movers free of charge. When my Outlook program discovered it did not agree with their firewall's virus-scanning program, Dalton and Jason immediately called in a very competent computer technician, also at no charge. When the cleaning crew accidentally locked me out of the office over the weekend, Jason quickly came to the office to let me in, and come Monday will provide me with additional keys to prevent such accidents in the future.

I'm including two quick snapshots I took of the office while working this weekend. We have Yolanda at Haverty's to thank for the exquisite yellow loveseats, which every visitor to the space have loved, and Leigh at Dwelling (see my blog several posts before this one) of upper King Street's design district to thank for the desk, actually a mahogany dining table full of character, as it cushioned the fall of a chandelier one night in the shop. The table itself was already distressed as part of the design, and we love the story! In one of the photos you can also see a bit of the filing cabinet and wall cabinet (we use it for our business stationary) crafted by Patrick Jonas, my talented husband and custom furniture designer.

We also looked at two other facilities and called about several others, just to be sure. We found West Ashley Executives Suites to be perfect for us and the best value for what we need and want. As we're hiring currently, we plan to take another of the offices soon... but for any other small business owner, especially those in upscale industries, Amy and I both highly recommend these offices. There are virtual spaces available (two of those are filled) and because it's so new on the market, if you act fast, you'll still have your pick of the remaining seven offices. They're located at 3527 Mary Ader Avenue, just off Glenn McConnell Parkway between St. Francis Hospital and all the new neighborhoods on Bees Ferry Road. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments area of this blog and I'll try to address them within one business day.

A walk down Charleston's design district

I've missed another weekend of posting, but better late than never! Things have been crazy busy here; I've taken on my first employee and am in the process of rebranding my graphic design business to reflect that it's transitioning from a single practitioner operation to a firm. In a few weeks it should all be sorted out, but it's meant about 12/7 (as opposed to 24/7--mercy) for the past several days!

I made myself break away from the desk on Thursday evening, though, for the much-anticipated (at least by me) spring design walk on upper King. For those who don't live in Charleston, King Street is a rather cosmopolitan shopping boulevard in historic downtown Charleston; CNN has called it the "Rodeo Drive of the Southeast". A bit north of Calhoun Street (a major downtown thoroughfare), though, King Street has seemed rather downtrodden in the past. During the past few years there has been a revival of sorts, with lofts and hip new restaurants going in... and even better for the likes of someone like me, design shops of various stripes: lighting, furniture, home decor, commercial decor, etc. Now it's quickly becoming known as Charleston's design district.

(For more on the revitalization of upper King, read Caroline Fossi's tidy, very good article in the Post & Courier. Unfortunately I believe the Post & Courier now charges for its archived stories, but you may be able to locate the article elsewhere.)

Likely based on the highly successful French Quarter Art Walk a bit to the south on Charleston's peninsula, the design walk opened the shops up to attendees without any unwanted sales pressure, whether real or imagined, accompanied by some rather upscale refreshments... very nicely done! No plastic wine glasses here.

So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite items from the evening...

Interior design shop Dwelling made the top of my list Thursday evening. It's hard to choose favorites here, but the sight that greeted my delighted eye as I first entered the shop is to the right: a modern little living room vignette. Coffee tables can often be boring but this one, with its Asian-inspired curves and dark lines, is pure elegance. I'm confident Carisa (Bravo's Top Design) would love the retro green pillows.

Another from Dwelling: this bedroom vignette was *much* more striking in person. It has all the right elements, which can be distilled down to two words: comfort and style. I especially liked the padded headboard and stainless steel desk lamp used on the bedside table.

Just one more from Dwelling! Unlike the bedroom above, it's not high on comfort... but it's definitely high on style. I imagine it can be difficult to pull off the equivalent of a bus stop bench with flair, but this designer has done it. I'd love to have that in my bedroom or foyer.

This scene, from restaurant Chai's Tapas, wasn't on the design walk's list of participating venues, and indeed Patrick shot this picture through a wrought iron gate/fence since the restaurant was closed at the time, but the fountain and modern courtyard decor caught our eye as we walked by. The camera angle (necessitated by the fence) perhaps do it justice, but in person it was quite striking.

Two displays of teas caught my eye at the French Hare. (www.frenchhare.com) Elegantly designed, each silken tea bag was housed in a paper pyramid stretched tall, with a single paper leaf atop a flexible wire stem extending from the tip. Each pyramid even had its own little square ceramic serving platters shaped perfectly to its base. I was sorely tempted and may go back for these.

I'm hoping I have the name of the shop right in this case, since we came home with quite a collection of photos and only our memories to match them up with the proper locales... but I believe this sophisticated little table set for two resides in the rear of Lesesne. (www.shoplesesne.com) The wood and the craftsmanship of the table itself was stunning.

Besides memories of all the eye candy and a determination to come back to many of the shops on a more regular basis, strangely enough I came home with a hefty bar book from Maine Cottage. (www.mainecottage.com) Can't wait to try out some of those recipes! Though I don't take time away from my business often enough to indulge, an interesting cocktail is one of my favorite things. When my schedule becomes sane again (stop laughing), it's off to Total Wine for whatever ingredients I'm missing.