I’m sitting at my desk in my new studio space while writing this blog post, I’m officially moved in to Artspace downtown Raleigh in early July and opened for business just last week, it took my hubby and I roughly two weeks to prepare the studio space, including repaint the wall ( I decided to go bold with dark color, I’m so in love with the deep blue I chose, it really makes everything pop in my studio, and it keeps my studio cozy and chic.), set up all the equipment and tools, decorating the space which I didn’t have room to do in my old space, and most importantly- putting my new jeweler’s bench together, it was so much work than I expected, but it was worth it!
My first day in my new space.
My enameling station and jeweler’s bench.
My little office area.
I just want to share two behind the scene stories during my setup, I hope you might find it entertaining. When I was waiting for my new bench delivery, the freight company delivered the wrong parcel, instead of getting my 200lb of solid wood jeweler’s bench I ended up with 200lb of k-cup in boxes that supposed to go to a local coffee distributor just few miles away from me, this was one of the reasons my reopen was delayed. After many times of back and forth calls, the freight company was able to locate my bench and made the switch while I was on vacation, easy peasy, and my bench was delivered safe and sound. But boy, the facial expression on my hubby’s face when he opened the k-cup boxes was priceless ; P
I got wrong delivery from the freight company, 200lb of k-cup but no bench lol.
In addition, I was able to find the perfect chairs for my sitting area during our trip, we were in Spruce Pine, NC for my birthday, it’s a cute little mountain town just outside of Asheville known for its gem mines, and we stumped into this cute antique shop, I spotted this Rococo (or I thought) style mis-matched walnut chair right away, they have beautiful ornate wood carvings on the backs, armrests, and legs with new upholstery. It was love in the first sight and the price was so affordable, I didn’t think twice but bought these chairs even without knowing if we actually have space in our car, we had our dog Nora with us for the trip as well (speaking of impose buying lol). I’m so glad we didn’t camp but decided to stay in a RV for my birthday trip because there was no way we can fit everything if we’ve camped, it was meant to be. Couple days later, I was just curious about the history of these chairs since the owner didn’t really know much about them. I found out they are actually Victorian style dining chairs from the 1900s, I believe they are from that era but not replica because the steel metal riveting works on the back of the chairs. Then my jew dropped when I saw the prices listed on the major antique websites because I only paid less than 1/20 of the price to the store, I feel like I was one of those lucky patrons from “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS!
My favorite spot in the whole space with my precious Victorian era dining chairs.
I’ve been working in my new space for a little over a week now, and I truly enjoyed it. I found myself getting more work done and staying focused in a professional working environment without distractions, the benefits have outweighed the inconveniences. The Artspace is also taking precautions to protect all the artists and staff in the building in response to Covid 19. While the building is still closed to the general public, I can meet clients in my studio space, and all guests are required to wear face covering during the visit, we also provide surgical mask and hand sanitizer for all visitors. Interested in having a custom jewelry made just for you or your loved one? Send me an email or check out my website to start the conversation today!
Signing off,
Hsiang-Ting