December 4th (not 1st) is the current expected date of opening. The Lamoore Designs Studio Shop will be open to the public Thursday, Friday, Saturday, noon (12:00) till 6pm--at least until the summer when the hours may be extended. Hope to see you soon!!

Yesterday, one of my fab Friends of Lamoore Designs sent me some great news: a story about my company is featured in the latest issue of Progress Magazine.
Thanks for the heads up, Meghan!
Click here to read the article!

Those who know me know I love giving presents--I am also known for giving presents early--because I just CAN'T wait!!!
Stocking the retail portion of my shop feels like buying presents for a hundred friends, it's wonderful!
In addition to my own Finders Keepers line, every item that comes in has me bursting with enthusiasm, and I hope you enjoy this little taste of what is to come once we open the doors to say hello (we're still hoping against hope for Dec.1st)
Each item you'll see has been carefully researched and chosen according to the "Lamoore List" of criteria. While appeal (does it look good?) and originality(is it "uncommon"?) rank highest on the LL, raw materials and place of origin are important to me, as is the passion and soul of the person behind the product-- I hope you enjoy this selection as much as I do!

Since the last journal entry, the new shop has come a long way, but we still have a way to go before we're ready.
here's a rundown of what we've done:
walls: installed drywall,painted and wallpapered. Thanks to Roy Clark at MacRae's Home Hardware for being truly helpful in matching my 2 color choices: Menthe and Cinder Block.
electrical: replaced existing lighting with tracks, installed outlets, ran conduit, etc. THANK YOUCape Breton Centre for Craft and Design!!! All track lighting in the Lamoore Shop is courtesy of the fine folks at CBCCD who thought of me when it came time to dispose of their old, obsolete lighting--the lights are very "retro" looking and fit in perfectly with the theme of my place--can you believe my luck? Phone calls from Diane Campbell, Carol Beaton, Michelle MacKinnon, and Holley Grant often have a way of making my day, but this took the cake!! Huge appreciation also for the efforts of Adam and Connie who installed everything just so--and let me help out along the way--ever use a pipe bender? I have! Superfun!


Crown Molding: wow. The David and I attempted this with zero previous experience/know how. Not recommended (see above photo? that's 3 hours worth of puzzlement over how to cut those angles). The job seems simple, but it's deceiving, seriously. My advice to anyone about to try this: check out Youtube for how to videos--we watched them afterwards, and boy would they have come in handy at the beginning!


floor: refinished original linoleum tiles, GIGANTIC thanks to Kevin Jackson. Kevin's mad skills made this formerly grungy floor a shining gem. Astonishing. It was important to me that we preserve this floor, this little piece of history. By taking the time to do it right, we were successful in avoiding a trip to the landfill, as well as conserving the energy and resources used in the manufacture of new flooring. Bringing back the tile's original beauty was a tremendous amount of hard labour, but I will smile everytime I look down, hope you like it too!

Now it's time to dress this naked room! We have shelves to build and baseboards/doortrims to install, signs to hang, mats to source, and windows to treat. oh! and we need a front step! My cash counter is still a work in progress, but I think it'll be a really fun piece once it's finished. The process of designing an interior can be daunting, but I have found it invaluable to have inspiration in other people's spaces to serve as a guide. Consulting Megan Jeffery's retro/crafty interior when choosing wall colors and trims really helped me when I felt overwhelmed with different styles. Thanks Megan for all your help!
Aside from setting up the shop (hoping to open December 1st!), I'm also reworking my entire brand identity. Logo, packaging, signage, everything is being overhauled to reflect the new Lamoore. This is perhaps the biggest challenge of all, and I may have to be "sign-less" for a little while until I can figure out this tough cookie. That's difficult, because I'm really antsy about getting my sign up--I've always wanted a real sign of my very own, and now that I have one, I can't decide what it should look like! ha!

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