If you know me then you know I LOVE color and pattern. Now that my work and living space are one I am having to decorate with different rules. I have to think about the use of the room along with how I want to feel in each space. I miss my shop!

When I started at the shop the design was about flow, feel, and scent. These are the top 3 things to think about when you’re setting up any retail space.

---

• Create a space for the customer to breathe and take it all in. It doesn’t have to be big, but should be as they walk in. Make your displays & merchandising flow in a way that feels approachable and easy to walk through.
• Use color and pattern as a guide. Determine how you want the space to feel (for you & your customers). I always went for calm and happy, which meant punches of bright color surrounded by quieter tones.
• Scent is a huge one! In the winter I used mint in my diffuser because it felt clean and bright. My customers always complimented on how fresh it felt in the shop. It gave a lift to their shopping experience.
• Sound is another good one to consider. Personally, I don’t like to wander through a shop with no sound but I also don’t want to be bombarded. Country music was always appreciated! I loved listening to people sing along as they shopped.

---

Use all or some of these suggestions but always keep the feel of your shop in mind. When you can invite your customers in, encourage them feel joy in your space, and merchandise well you will almost always make a sale.

Speaking of merchandising…did you know there is a difference in staging, decorating, and merchandising? I didn’t for the longest time!

The biggest difference between staging and merchandising is accessibility. I staged my merchandise to look good and to show it off but customers hated destroying a display. A friend in the business explained how to put specific merchandise out, still displayed well, but in a way that invited folks to pick up the curated goodness and have a closer look. Merchandising!

Decorating is what we do in our homes, dorms, shops, and front porches. We put pieces with meaning together with season or holiday specific decor to create a pleasing space to be in. It isn’t meant for anything other than to make the person doing it smile. That is my favorite part of all of this!

I hope these tips were helpful and encouraging. It may be a retail space but you are in it many more hours than the customer is so make it yours. The customer will love it even more, I promise!