Well, I don’t have much to say. Other than, I am so excited to finally get these photos and I would LOVE your feedback. More to come!
– Smid
*Photos by Renata Stone www.bigbearphoto.co
Well, SMID launched and not necessarily like a rocket, as my son has asked me. The party was a huge hit. I had a great turn out. Beautiful talented people joined me to celebrate.
The Vetted Table & MIHO Gastro Truck catered the event. Their food was amazing…so I heard. I was too busy talking with all of my guests. Every time the tray went by, I sacrificed a yummy treat. It’s actually not like me at all. I love to eat and consider myself a foodie. I just didn’t think it would be good to have food in my mouth while I was talking about my designs. The MIHO team designed a cocktail for me based on my favorite drink (a french 75) and served it in the most beautiful vintage glassware from Hostess Haven.
I think I had one drink the entire night. Well…I think I was served three or four but every time I put my drink down, it was picked up. Darn! That was part of the plan. They just did their job too well. I met with the lead coordinator, Samantha,ahead of the event. I stressed, at that time, that this would be an interior design studio launch and therefore, all furniture and space in the house were on display. I wanted drinks and plates to be picked up quickly so that the visual was not broken for any of my guests.
It’s Funny! I felt like a bride on her wedding day. I had a ton of attention. I was talking all night and thanking people for coming. I didn’t drink or eat anything during the event. I was exhausted afterwards but, there was no honeymoon.
When the night ended, a few close friends stayed behind to celebrate more intimately. They slowly dropped off one by one. My adrenaline kept me going until 3:30am. I was alone, with my thoughts….NOT always a good thing.
My creativity sometimes comes to me right as I am about to fall asleep. It’s a blessing and a curse. Having the launch party that night, experiencing the build-up to the party, receiving the positive feedback and having key people attend that I will potentially work with in the future somehow, in some way was overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. My mind was like a caged animal trying to free itself or like a hamster on a wheel, going round and round. No sleep at all for me that night.
I am overwhelmed by this experience. I am grateful to have the opportunity to take this chance. I am excited to share my ideas. I am fervent to design for people who want to take a chance, explore themselves and have more fun than the “usual Joe” in their homes. I am scared for the possible wrong turns I may take in building my business and for the amount of work I have ahead of me.
I knew the launch of SMID was not a launch into my new career and then business becomes usual. I know the launch party was only my first tiny step to getting my portfolio out there. It was a way to let all the amazing people I have worked with over the years while designing my home, know that I am taking this step. One very small step for my company. One giant step for me!
Here are some pictures from the launch party by my amazingly talented, stupidly beautiful, and generous friend, Renata Stone. I will post more pictures of my work later this week. Stay tuned!
-Smid
Party favors
My outfit…I don’t take myself too seriously. I love fashion but always like to toughen it up a bit.
the beautiful Lace and Likes and my hot nanny 🙂
Flowers by Lace & Likes
When creativity strikes, I always say you have to go with it. Jot it down, act on it immediately, just go with your gut. You get the picture. This time however, it failed me.
Two days before the SMID launch, everything was nearly complete. I was doing a walk through of the house to make any final decisions on the finishing touches, when it struck me that the classic black bench in my bedroom needed to be pink… hot pink.
The master bedroom had been finished for quite some time but there was something not quite right in my mind. Something was missing. The black bench was bugging me. So I get this wild hair and decided to paint it pink. I got Stewart sanding (there was no time to waste) while I ran to Michael’s to buy spray paint. They have all the wicked colors at Michael’s.
I primed the bench that night, woke up early to put the first coat on, did a lunch coat and then an after dinner coat. The night before the launch it was dry and ready to go up to the room.
We brought the very hot pink bench up and placed it in front of the black and white wallpaper. Then we threw the baroque cushions on it that I had made a few years back. Oh my God! It was a Betsey Johnson Handbag!
Stewart told me to “sleep on it” and maybe I would adjust to it in the morning. There was no adjusting to this. Trust me. The combination was all wrong. I was so frustrated. I would have never bought it from the store like that and knew I couldn’t display this in my showing. Why? One day before the launch! Somebody mute that thing! It was so loud.
We tried taking the pillows off and throwing a few different textures on it. Wrong, wrong, it was all wrong. I was tempted to throw it in the cul-de-sac but that would have been ridiculous. I gained my composure and realized the best way to mute this thing, would be to put it with another color, a lot of one other color that would help tone things down and make the bench pop in an appropriate way.
It’s in our yard, under our cherry tree, where there is a lot of green. It looks quite good actually. The pillows are in the garage. I moved this insane vintage fan (one from an old movie set) upstairs in front of the black and white wall. We needed a better looking fan in our room anyway and it gave some height on that side of the room.
I still cannot believe I did this so close to the launch but, I am forgiving myself and having a good laugh. Hopefully you will too. My Mother told me me that true artists know how to keep going and make their mistakes into a masterpiece. Well I wouldn’t go that far on my account with this bench but, I get it and I completely agree. In the end it worked out ok
-SMID
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