Shop’s Open: More News From Merrypad

Editors update: Sorry to disappoint, but the shop highlighted in this post is closed! I learned so much, and appreciate your support, but have taken on other endeavors to support my blogging hobby.

A surprise to some, not a surprise to others: I launched my picture frame shop this week.

OK, you can’t tell how excited I am by this by that sentence.

I’m off the ground! It’s a Merrypad empire! And I’m really, really, really excited about where this might lead me! Lots of exclamation points in this paragraph!

Formally named For Your Merrypad, FYM is an extension of merrypad.com, and an online shop to promote products that I want you to have and appreciate in your own merry little pad. Don’t confuse that casual abbreviation with “Free Your Mind” or “For Your Man” or “Farmyard Manure,” it’s all about the home this time around.

You can visit foryour.merrypad.com anytime you want.

Some of what you’ll see on the site has been handmade by me. Others things included are vintage treasures that I’ve come across in my travels (after all, if I kept everything that I found, I’d be eligible for Hoarders). Everything on the shelf is something I love. The products are actually right on my etsy page, so head on over there and start marking your favorites.

Of course, now that I’ve officially been working virtually for a week, I’ve been slowly customizing my home to suffice as a legit workpad and storage space. The sunroom has been getting a good workout, since it gets the best light during the day and all I’ve wanted for 5 years is to sit in a warm, bright space while I work, but the dining room is getting a slight transformation too.

Before I show you where it’s headed, the “before” looked just about like this. Nice big table to work on, comfortable seating, nice view of the backyard that you can’t really see here… and a nice big wall with nothing on it:

I had a new idea of what I could do with that space (after shotgunning three cups of coffee the other morning).

Yes sir, it’s slowly being transformed into a gallery of product. I expect that the empty frames will extend all the way to the right at some point in the near future (I have some more merch clamped up on the deck right now). Basic hooks were used to hang the smaller frames, but knowing that I’m really going to focus on building larger frames, I installed two brackets with anchor bolts to hook bigger ones on.

The brackets were from Urban Outfitters about 3 years ago. A true demonstration of me in decor-commitment-phobe-mode, I kept waiting for the perfect location to hang them… at least that’s what I kept telling myself as I vacuumed around them twice a week.

The plant I hung there is stationed in one of three little ceramic and wicker planters I scored from Anthropologie on 80% clearance over the winter. The only bad thing is that the opening in the top doesn’t fit a plant pot larger than a yogurt container, which is why that viney plant is actually hanging out in a recycled light & fit cup. But you can’t tell. It’s still a nice size for a ornate hanging basket; it stands about as tall as my venti Starbucks mocha cup (my standard for measuring everything):

I hope you all make it over to For Your Merrypad today or over the holiday weekend; All-in-all, I’m excited for the new business venture and the new dining room decor. Thanks to everyone for your interest and support so far; it’s going to be a fun, busy business-y summer.