Style Stories

I wanted to share with you what I have been loosing sleep over for the past couple of weeks for my J-O-B! If you do not know by now I am a Visual Merchandiser for a furniture company. I really love that I get to utilize my design degree in my profession as much as I do. This project was especially fun.

So, I have been challenged to influence the accessory buying and create a new buying program for support items to the larger main products. For example, the matching lamps, tables, and rugs to a sofa collection or linens and art to a bedroom collection.

My idea is to create these lifestyles that evoke emotion through personal aesthetic or what you personally are attracted to when it comes to design. I started with 15 style stories that across 5 different styles (Traditional, Transitional, Casual, Casual Contemporary and Contemporary) that I created 15 Inspiration Boards for. Now these styles may not be industry standards, but its what I created base on what we sell, which honestly is not the purrrtiest stuff, more price driven than anything.

Based on my research I found that we sell more Casual Contemporary then we do any other style once I assigned a style to every LR and BR collection. So I rationed the 15 style stories based on the popularity of each style we sell. Without boring you with any other details here are the numbers:

If I have 15 Style Stories:

• 2 TRAD - Traditional
• 3 TRNS - Transitional (A mix between TRAD and CASL)
• 3 CASL - Casual
• 5 CC - Casual Contemporary (A mix between CASL and CTEM)
• 2 CTEM - Contemporary

This TRAD board is inspired by a Gentlemen's Library! Very  Ralph Lauren! As designer,  I would love for these style stories to be designer, but  I  also have to keep them commercial because they have to appeal to a broad audience. The idea is for the accessory buyer to buy all support items within the style of the inspiration board. I also included a color palette for guidance.

This TRAD board is inspired by European influences like, Old World, Tuscan, Spanish Colonial, and Mediterranean. This is probably one of the most popular traditional design styles.

This TRNS board is the more updated light and airy side traditional style. I was thinking "Father of the Bride" with this one! Happy and whimsical yet cultivated in tradition. The dining chair is the signature piece for this one. Its a fresh gingham check pattern with a tufted rounded back and nail heads. This can go into any traditional or casual room.

I was definitely going for updated vintage with this one. I wanted to capture a collected look over time that is constantly a work in progress with updating and reinventing. This TRNS board, I am still not convinced on which one to go with. The first one would work with most of our sofa covers because of the colors. The second one would work with way fewer.

This TRNS board was made to appeal to be romantic, relaxing, and charming. I was thinking English Country. This is where you curl up in coziness in front of a warm fireplace. I mixed some rustic with some sparkle. The color palette is very soothing and pleasant. My favorite par of this are the backcloth curtains because of they are practical yet stylish.

This CASL board is for the primitive yet spunky cowgirls and boys. I went for inspired by nature with the color of autumn! Although not my personal style, I had fun with this one. I just imagined myself on a weekend vacation in a private fishing lodge and riding horses through shallow creeks.

This CASL board is a typical beach house. Once again natural and soothing color palette. I thought of a spa like environment or a warm outdoor shower.

This CASL board is exactly what it says, good old simple American living. This one was another fun one. It started out one way and ended up another, but I love what its came to be. I think this one will hit a home run.

This CC board is for the "Modern Hippie!" I am partial to this one because it was the first one I did. I thought  of waking up every morning, knowing that everyday is fresh start to a new beginning. I think of  a kumbaya moment with and acoustic guitar where you meditate on love! 

This CC board is for the well traveled adventurer. Someone who likes to discover new things and the world. This person also appreciates diversity and different cultural traditions. I also thought this person is a keepsake souvenir person where there is a story or journey behind every item.

This is my favorite CC board. My inspiration behind this was a uptown material girl with an edge for fashion. She is a busy fashionista where her life is hectic by day, but she comes home to a comfortable yet stylish abode where she kicks off her heels, turn on some soothing tunes, and relaxes to a glass of wine. Its a soothing palette where she plays off of sculptured textures and shiny material finishes.

This CC board is bold Hollywood edge glamour. I am thinking of black and white plus bold colors like red, yellow or green. I through in gold accents to get the glam factor!

This CC board is a play off rich jewel tones. This is made for the color enthusiast! I just thought of rich happy colors like PURPLE and ORANGE!

For this CTEM board I thought of a juxtaposition of hard and industrial vs soft and textured. Its kind of like an innovative science project.


So I have a presentation to prepare for over the next couple of weeks, and I posted this because I am looking for feedback. Its my own little test. I want to see which ones are the most appealing. Let me know because I want to be able to give this data in my presentation.

Just a disclosure: due to the uncanny amount of images there is no way I could link these all back. So thank you to the world wide web I was able to create a collage of images that are meant to inspire a certain design style. I give credit to all resources I used in this post in this one statement !