Hang on to your hats!!!!!

Let me just say this... 2012 is off and running with a BANG! Many of our readers follow us for market news and of course much of this is related to our construction business and I can confirm that trends are up. It is interesting to see how much of our renovation is turning into "restyling" as well. We see that people not only want to improve their living space, but they want to change how they live and re-invent their personal style to fit a new age. Out with the clutter and heavy appointments. Home styles are going more feminine, lighter, more streamlined and without a doubt - downright flirtatious in their appearance. Fresher colors, softer neutrals.

It is on this note, that we write our dear friends and notify them that the demand for consigned items is not what we expected and sales and orders for new furnishings are well above anything we considered. Due to that demand, we have decided to let our consignment end go and embrace where the market leads us. We are moving to suite 100A offices two doors down, less showroom space since what we do is mostly ordering in. We are very excited about how the "market" is dictating what we need to be and flexibility is key here. So let us know as we will be in Highpoint for the spring market, if you are looking to expand or change your home style.

For our construction clientele, stay tuned as an important announcement is soon to follow in our next blog. Many things are happening - by the minute. It is almost as if a bear has awakened from hibernation. What a relief! It has been a long four years and we are thrilled to receive the calls from our loyal clients asking for more of everything.

Out of the dark and into the light... Peace and enjoy!

Lila

Welcome 2012!!!

Amazing how time flies! We have been busy bees at The Nest on Main. We had our February tag sale and saw many familiar faces and some new ones too! We are preparing for a trip to High Point Market to see the new lines for spring. And we have been at work preparing the way for some new vendors to rep for custom installs.

Our workshop schedule has started with a terrarium building class led by, none other than, Nancy Wallace of Wallace Gardens. You are certain to go away with a cool terrarium with today's designs built with your own hands. We will offer up several workshops through the year... it is our way of saying "come socialize, enjoy and bond with us while learning many ways to refresh your style and showcase your things in a new way!"

It is an exciting time to grow a business. Being a very hands on person - I can tell you that the small business world is changing everyday and it takes lots of creativity and motivation to stay on top of all the ways you need to be savvy to make a business successful. I am no longer certain that any of the old rules apply. Opening a design center and dabbling in a little retail to service our clientele has been a very motivating and rewarding addition to our services.

Henderson & Adams continues to add new projects to the spring schedule board with complete kitchen overhauls and master bathrooms as a popular contender. While we always have a unique terrace level project on hand - the strongest additions that we see in the new market year are add ons! We have several new clients in some popular golf communities taking the plunge into adding on family rooms with new casual dining, while reworking the kitchen and adding outdoor living. The vibe is very upbeat, modern and there is definitely a more streamlined look now.

It seems that spring has the potential to offer all the requirements needed to wash off the winter doldrums and head into a vibrant, exhilarating new year! I am sure we will see you there! :)

Peace and Enjoy.... Lila

What now!

So our caboose lighting night was a huge success and we have had several people come back for more "stuff" after they left that night. Now we are winding down for some time off during the holidays and to regroup for spring.

We are in the midst of rearranging and configuring what we want to show in the New Year. So if you are in need of any items that you saw in the last couple weeks - call us for an appt to come in and shop or perhaps if it is close by we can arrange for it to be delivered. We are getting more and more requests for new furnishings. This is great! But requires 8-12 weeks from market to us. So be patient and look for some new postings about what we are planning to show for our 2012 inventory!

In the meantime, have a very Merry Christmas and don't forget the reason we are celebrating. God has blessed us all with many things, you only have to take some time to reflect and see all that He has provided! Black Friday is not included in this plug!:D

From our Nest to your home! Peace and Enjoy!

Lila

Snow - Really?!

Okay, so I have seen a lot of weird weather but snow today before it is December was one for the top five! It was also sort of exciting - makes those early Christmas tunes seem a bit more timely.

If you didn't make it down for Small Business Saturday, we are sorry we missed you!. But we are busy now gearing up for the Downtown Business Alliance (Suwanee business merchants) mixer Thursday night. We will be seeing lots of friendly faces from our local businesses at The Nest. On Friday night, the streets will be closed to pedestrian only traffic as the annual lighting of the Caboose takes place. It is looking to be a frosty one, so we will have the heat cranked up for everyone who needs to thaw out between musical performances by The Sounds of Suwanee and the local elementary school chorus performances.

If you haven't picked up a fresh green wreath for you door or over your mantle we have a few left, but they won't last long. We also have one of our elves packaging up fresh mistletoe available for Friday night.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family and took time to remember our many blessings. I hope we get to see you during the holiday season!

Lila

Countdown to the holidays!

Today it is windy and cool and the sound of leaves scurrying across the pavement outside the shop reminds us that Indian Summer is coming to a close and the holidays are on us for sure! We had what we call our "soft opening" yesterday. Not lots of fanfare yet as we will save that for later when we are more fully stocked. We had several visitors and made our first few sales!

There are lots of neighbors who live nearby and they love to stop in and visit and fill us in on all the details of the history of Old Town Suwanee. Once you come down to Main Street it is just like being in a very small town with all of the wonderful ambience of the past. People are so friendly and there is always someone getting their photo made on the train tracks and the caboose.

We are all looking forward to the festivities in Suwanee! Bring the kids to the Caboose Lighting. It is on December 2 and is an annual event and for many local families - a traditional way of bringing in Christmas with friends and neighbors. So bundle up and head down early - they shut Main Street down to walking only traffic around 6. Santa will be here too! See you when you come into The Nest to get warmed up!

Evolution.

I have been using this building for my office and a meeting place along with our design selections since last winter. It is such a cute location and a charming building, I keep getting visitors who want to know what we are! :) Me too! One day, out of the blue (I kid you not) I just made the decision to take it to the next level and quickly!!! If we were going to have retail, I wanted to open during the Christmas season.

I know what you are thinking... "how much preparation did you have to do?", "how much stock did you purchase in advance?" etc... Oh well, truth be - we didn't do any of that. We just made a decision and put our faith into it. My dear friend Nancy Wallace, owner of Wallace Gardens, had wanted to be a part of something like this - so she has been "drafted" to assist us in getting this puppy off the ground. Nancy does our containers at the front doors as well as the garden at the porch and has some nice decorative items for the home and garden inside for you to purchase when you visit us.

Many of my friends and clients received an invitation to become a consignor and they all have WONDERFUL furnishings to sell. In my role as a builder/designer - I have the unfortunate curse of frequently changing, moving or redesigning my personal spaces and it is time for that now. So I have been bringing one thing after another to the shop on the weekends.

We are now tagging things, bringing in more stock, pulling out the holiday decor and preparing for our opening. All at the same time we have to find software for inventory and sales, credit card receiving and various boring business details that are necessary evils (my DH is handling that part)! We had already done the work to the building with monies from my building company - Henderson & Adams, so the amount of money now was all relative to the business of the retail establishment. Approximately $500.00 so far... and The Nest on Main is born!