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Urban Eclectic Jewelry

Handmade Jewelry For The Bohemian Soul

Search Results for: remodel

Vacation Mode

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This is the first vacation I’ve had in 2 1/2 years.  It feels sort of funny to say that because even though I work 6 days a week, around 8 hours a day, let’s face it, I walk out my door and see the amazing Costa Rican ocean and I make jewelry for a living.  How hard can my workday really be!?  But time away is time away and I think it’s important to find time to re-set yourself regardless what your daily work situation is.

This vacation ended up working out really well.  I usually have my semi-annual sale in late September both on-line and in the shop, but since I was going to be going on this trip,I decided to do the sale earlier so I had some time after to complete orders and then start the shop remodel.  Since there were still some tourists in town in early September, I ended up selling much more in-shop than I normally would when having the sale at the end of the month when Tamarindo becomes a virtual ghost town.  By the time I left, I had sold my entire inventory other than 26 pieces.  That’s not bad!!

I feel really good about this because by the time I get back into the shop next Wednesday, my brother-in-law will have finished my new tile floors, the walls are painted and completely bare, my husband will have made my new desk and I get to go back and completely re-design all the displays and set-up of my shop.  After that I will have a month to re-fill the shop with a whole new collection of goodies before our season starts up around the last week in November.

It’s going to be like a whole, new, fresh start!!

Shop Renovation

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I’ve been wanting to do some remodeling in the shop for a few years.  For one reason or the other, I just haven’t done it.  At the end of every high season I always think about it, but it just never comes to fruition.

This year, I’ve really been putting some thought into it and decided that THIS is the year that it’s gunna happen!  I’ve had cement floors since day one and let’s just say, they’ve seen better days!!  I haven’t repainted in about 3 years other than a few touch-ups here and there.  I’ve been unhappy with my workbench situation for a while and definitely wanted to do something about that set-up.  Since October is pretty much a ghost town here in Tamarindo, I decided this was the time to do it.

My clearance sale ended on Tuesday, I finished up the last of my orders and got them in the mail, so the plan was today was day one where I’d start packing up the whole shop, strip and prep the walls and start repainting.  I’ve been toying with different color combos.  I’m a sucker for my favorite color – a Caribbean sea blue/green.  But I’ve had the color for a really long time.  Considering how much time I spend in the shop, I’ve been thinking maybe a change could be nice.  Here’s how it currently looks.

Shop Sept 2014

 

I’m installing terracota tile floors, which will be awesome.  Considering how dusty it gets here in the dry season, tile floors will be so much easier to keep clean than porous cement!! Plus, I love the color of the tiles and I think they’ll bring a lot of life to the shop.

So, all excited to start today, I arrived at the shop to find it flooded over the ankle-deep.  Ugh!!

Oct 2014 shop floodIt absolutely POURED almost non-stop for 11 hours.  It was probably one of the heaviest rains I’ve experienced since living here.  So, anyhow, I had to clean up the mess before I could get into the packing, etc.

By the end of the day, I had the walls stripped, the shop packed up and I’m ready to start the painting tomorrow.

Empty Shop

My brother-in-law is doing the flooring for me and I was “instructed” that he wants to start ripping up the old cement at noon.  Looks like I better get to bed soon since I’ll need to be arriving to do the painting e-a-r-l-y!!