Fresh Configurations

fresh-configurations-header

Welcome to Fresh Configurations!

Fresh Configurations is a service that provides guidance and physical assistance to express your own style with items you already own. Suitability, Simplicity, and Proportion are three components that need to be consistently  addressed when configuring  any space.  There are times when one element may take precedence over another when one is creating change, but these principals are symbiotic with one another.

Suitability

Whether your house needs refreshing at the turn of a new season, you are merging two households or introducing a new member to the family, or you need to accommodate a number of people for an event, your space needs to be suitable to your needs.

Proportion

What is the relationship of a part to the whole?  Striving for balance in a space is paramount.  Proportion is not only working with scale in a space, it is also about establishing harmony.  The issue of light, color, materials and textures are key elements that weigh in on proportion.

Simplicity

Simplicity introduces ease into one’s space.  Organization and purpose for the components at hand is addressed with simplicity.  What is essential?  What brings you comfort?  What things are you weary of contending with?  Dealing with these types of issues can be very liberating!

So Satisfying!

The idea is to never eliminate character or personality when reconfiguring a space, rather the opposite in fact!  Reconfiguring a space brings forth and celebrates elements that are unique and important  to one’s style.  Read on & see examples of how we may be of service for your home or business.

How we can be of Service, examples…

Family Home & Organization

Create Structure for the entire family to share common areas, such as integrating adult office & kid project space.
Optimizing space in children’s area(s) for play, learning, and creativity, including toy & book management.
Organization & consultation for wardrobe.
Refreshing & de-cluttering rooms and storage spaces.
Strategize & support for household purge.

Design & Decorate
How to be more confident and playful with an eclectic mix of furniture & accessories.
Choosing paint colors, patterns (fabric), textures (rug & furniture) to enhance what you already have.
Integration of art and decorative pieces. Refreshing art with new frames.
Adjusting a space (interior & exterior) for an event, using what you have.
Staging a home for real estate or preparing a home for short-term rental.
Holiday decoration and seasonal shift and spruce up.
Other ways I can help
Furniture re-arrangement~ room by room freshening up, light cleaning and organizing
Bucket List~ create a task list & plan for what you want to accomplish over time
Look Book~ create a memory book of your beautiful home and its special details
Table Top Pop~ setting and seating for a special dinner party using your things
Porch & patio~ container gardening, fresh flowers, and interior plants
Sourcing~ furniture, home accessories, textiles, colors, art framing
Coordination & connection~ sub-contractors and specialized services
FRESH CONFIGURATIONS for BUSINESS

Annie Taylor brings 30+ years of expertise to business owners.  Here are some examples of how she can be of help to your retail establishment, restaurant, hotel, or other business.

  • Visual Merchandising
    • fresh displays that celebrate the product’s beauty & potential
    • product placement to maximize sales
    • psychology of the shopper’s relationship to the product
  • Branding
    • how does your product support and sell your business?
    • product development to enhance the spirit of your business, fill in the gaps?
    • creating collections of products that are unique to your business?
  • Packaging
    • packaging is promotion on the street. Is it dynamic?
    • product protection, gift wrap, special touches
  • Configuration
    • store fixtures & furniture, is it important to rearrange regularly?
    • store fixtures & display complement or compete with the product & shopping experience?
  • Storage & Organization
    • back stock storage, inventory accessibility, tidy sales station
  • Signage & Information
    • pricing method consistent, effective, efficient, informative
  • Customer Service
    • staff training & workshops on customer service, sales techniques, keeping a tidy shop, and product knowledge
  • Creating, Sourcing, Buying
    • help in finding special products to achieve sales goals and further promote the philosophy of your business.
  • Pop-Up Shop
    • taking your wares on the road, trunk shows, bold presence at public events.
  • Holiday
    • celebrating and maximizing big shopping times.  Being prepared ahead of time.
About Annie as a Retail Consultant

Annie Taylor has been passionate about retail all of her life.  Her first line of work (as a youngster) was working as a shop girl.  It was an opportunity to be around the things that she loved~ art supplies, photography, clothing, books, fine art, plants, furniture, and the decorative arts.  The environments seemed to suit her love for satisfying customers, keeping things tidy, visually pleasing, and being a salesman.  As a teenager she had freelance jobs creating window displays for the shops in the small town of Flagstaff, where she grew up.

At the Cleveland Institute of Art she immersed herself in color, composition, critical thinking, with a focus on fiber arts.  Upon graduating, an apprenticeship with the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, and various odd and interesting jobs, she felt the need to further round out her design skills and ventured to New York City to attend a professional certificate program at Parsons School of Design / The New School for Social Research.  This was a self created master’s program focusing on Retail Design.  Her thesis was the manifestation of Annie’s Omnium.  A visual business plan encompassing graphic design, typography, interior & lighting design, visual merchandising, fashion forecasting, and then some. New York City was the ultimate classroom and her professors became mentors for her talents.

Austin, Texas seemed like a good fit after New York and Annie quickly fell into dynamic work at an internationally acclaimed life-style store and landscape architecture firm called Gardens.  There, Annie put her passions and education into play as retail manager, visual merchandiser, and buyer.  This was an incredible chapter in her development as a designer.  Gardens closed its doors after 25+ years of adding grace, sophistication, and beauty to the community.

Annie’s creative services have continued in various ways.  She and her husband Jason Minshew have owned and operated a successful landscape design business, called JBird & Company since 2008.  She has been a consultant & visual merchandiser for retail establishments, created branding for the successful restaurant Dai Due, and was chosen to make a mural and signage for the Dell Childrens Hospital, to name a few projects she has been a part of over the years.

Why Work with Annie?
Testimonial~

How we Work & Pricing

Step One, On-site Consultation~

We take an honest look at your starting point. Our discussion will include challenges, priorities, goals, time frame, budget, and ways of accomplishing the task. I will provide advice, encouragement, inspiration, and some strategy during our time together.  Our initial meeting & consultation session is $150.00 for 2 hours.  Contact Annie at annietaylor1@mac.com or call 512-619-6146 to get started.

Step Two, Proposal~

I take the information that has been gathered and create a proposal for how I think we need to proceed given the tasks at hand, your budget, time constraints, and business dynamics.  The provided estimate is based on the scope of service and complexity of the project.  An hourly rate is charged for all services. Contact Annie at annietaylor1@mac.com or call 512-619-6146 to get started!