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IN HER SHOES: Bryn Alexandra

Filed Under: In her shoes

Aug122011

When I first “met” Bryn from Bryn Alexandra she was a living in California, working in Advertising and dreaming of one day quitting her 9-5 to start her own interior decorating business. Enter a move across the country to North Carolina for her hubby’s job and Bryn can now call herself a small business owner. It’s been fun to see the transition and I think so hopefully for a lot of people who have dreams of doing something similar. Take a peek into Bryn’s new decorators life!

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7 AM – My husband wakes me up and brings me a cup of coffee in bed.. he’s the BEST!! I probably shouldn’t admit this, but Charlotte (my dog) and I stay in bed while I drink my coffee, write my blog post for the day, and catch up on urgent emails and blogs. It’s my little “luxury” I enjoy while working from home and not having any children (yet).

Before my husband leaves for work, he tucks Charlotte in, she LOVES it and often snores while I work.

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8:43 AM – Blog post is up, some emails are answered, blogs are read and coffee is gone. Time to get out of bed and get ready for the day. I head down the hallway into my home office and continue answering emails.

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10:11 AM – I’m working on a client’s source list and I have to go down to my garage (aka the furniture graveyard) to measure some of the pieces we are reupholstering for her. While I’m down there, I load up my car for the day. Man, those IKEA boxes are super heavy, but I manage to get them all in by myself.

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11 AM- Back working up in my office. I’m wondering if the CB2 marble coffee table would work in this room? No, I don’t think so. Too stark, I want it to feel warm and inviting. Moving on…

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12 PM – My first of two client meetings today; I’m presenting a master bedroom design. Out with the old red and gold, in with a more calm and soothing plan (but with really great fabrics and patterns). She loved it, I’m so glad!

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My client showed me this quote she hung in her closet.. it’s so perfect! And yes, I totally agree 😉

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My client is SO sweet! I was admiring her beautiful jewelry on her dresser; she had gotten three really cool cuffs from a flea market in DC and she gave me one! I love it… and decided to wear it the rest of the day.

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1 PM – After my meeting I grab some lunch. It’s not unusual for me to pick something up and eat on the run. Jimmy John’s today, one of my favorites!

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1:30 PM – I have some time before my next meeting at 2:30, so I head to West Elm to return some items from a recent project. While there, I checked out this headboard for a client:

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WAY too short!

I was happy to find this large swatch of fabric, though. We are using it on a living room chair (as seen in the plan above).

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It’s a beautiful fabric and only $30/yard!

2:23 PM – My next client meeting today is in the city in a really cool part of town.

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I LOVE living in Charlotte! It’s such a great city.. even though it’s overcast today.

During the meeting we measure out some furniture selections with painters tape. I always like to do this to get an sense of scale. Even though I do floorplans, it’s hard to visualize until you actually have something to walk around.

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We also put together the beginnings of my client’s desk from IKEA. Uh oh, it starts to storm outside (you can see out the window).

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6:20 PM – Heading home and sitting in rainy traffic. Not fun!

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7 PM – Home, sweet home! The storm has passed and husband and I eat our leftovers while watching Storage Wars. I also check my emails and play on Pinterest.

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8 PM – Ice cream run!! We take Charlotte on a little car ride and get some ice cream from McDonald’s drive-thru.

Charlotte LOVES car rides!
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And I have SUCH a weakness for sweets.
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8:30 PM – Husband and I settle in for the night and watch this week’s episode of Design Star. We both love to hate this show.

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9:15 PM – We head upstairs to read our books on our iPad (him) and Kindle (me). We read for about an hour and then it’s lights out. Goodnight!

Thanks so much Camila for letting me share my day with your readers.

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Great day. Sounds really similar to a lot of my days. Dog side kick included except I have two little helpers.

*Thank you so much to everyone for all of your responses on my baby registry advice post. There were so many great responses. Going over everything again today and starting to register tonight. Thank you!

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14 Comments

Comments

  1. Abby @ a delightful design says

    August 12, 2011 at 8:44 am

    I love Bryn’s style and her blog! You are both so inspiring to me as I keep moving forward in my business. Thanks for sharing!
    abby

    Reply
  2. Carly says

    August 12, 2011 at 8:55 am

    This sounds like a fabulous day! 🙂
    Glad I stopped by!
    -Carly @ Createlive

    Reply
  3. Amanda Eck says

    August 12, 2011 at 9:29 am

    I just LOVE this series! and now Im headed over the check her blog out!

    Reply
  4. autumn clemons says

    August 12, 2011 at 10:22 am

    i love bryns blog! it is always so fun to get a peek into others lives.
    🙂

    Reply
  5. becky says

    August 12, 2011 at 10:53 am

    What a great post! And Charlotte is sooooo cute!

    Reply
  6. Lauren@BaylorSays... says

    August 12, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    Another happy Volvo owner…I will drive this car until the wheels fall off. What a fun series! Love darling Bryn and bitterly jealous of her Eames chair. Happy to have found your lovely blog!

    Reply
  7. jess@birdhouse says

    August 12, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    I love these “In Her Shoes” posts. It is so fun for me to see how other designers go about their day and their businesses. I’ve noticed that all of you are much more early-to-bed and early-to-rise people. I figured since Bryn didn’t have kids yet (neither do I) she might be more of a night owl. I stay up till 2 and don’t start my day till 9.

    Keep em’ coming. Thanks.

    Reply
  8. Sharon@Ms Magpie Designs says

    August 12, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Love the post! I’ve been reading Bryn’s blog for several months now. I am currently working a 9-5 job and longing to do design full time as well. It’s encouraging to hear a success story! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Karena says

    August 12, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    I adore Bryn!! She is so talented Bryn, I have a very similar bracelet from Bly Design and love it!

    Thanks for this fun, fun feature!

    xoxo
    Karena

    Art by Karena

    Reply
  10. Amanda says

    August 13, 2011 at 9:59 am

    How terrific! There is nothing like being your own boss. So glad she broke from the 9-5!

    Reply
  11. Kristy Swain says

    August 13, 2011 at 12:52 pm

    I loved reading about her day! My favorite may have been the painter’s tape. I always insist clients do that even if we did a floor plan. You don’t want to order a piece to find out that it just isn’t quite the right scale and walkways are too small or things don’t flow like you thought.

    Reply
  12. Haley @ Cardigan Junkie says

    August 16, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    Aww, I would love days like that. I keep hoping something happens that will make it a smart decision to quit my job and try something new. Maybe one day 🙂

    Reply
  13. Kimberly Moore says

    August 18, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Love this series. So fun to have a sneak peak into the real lives of these amazing designers! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  14. Kylin says

    January 3, 2012 at 3:29 am

    What a great post and a great series! I’d love to know what shoes Bryn’s wearing in the Storage Wars photo. They look so comfy and chic!

    Reply

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