Things are moving along

My contractors started today. They tore up the floor and the kick boards on the walls. The weather isn't great so the rest of our project has been halted until Thursday. We ordered our chairs. They are set to arrive on Monday. WHAT?!?!?!?! It was supposed to be a  6 to 8 week waiting period for those suckers. They had them in stock so everything will ship out and get to us on Monday. I'm super excited. The contractor today said that he estimates our build out will be done by March. March? I've been banking on April. I didn't know these things could move so quickly but these guys aren't playing around. We are still thinking about keeping our opening at the beginning of April so we can have time to get things exactly how we want them. Plus I have a few surprises up my sleeve that can't happen until April. I'm posting a few before pictures so you guys can see the progress.

This is where the shampoo bowls are going. They pulled up the wood floor right here today for the plumbing.

 This is the client bathroom right now. The person before us put in this crazy sink so everything has to be replaced. 

This is the employee bathroom. Just like the other one it will have new tile and some pretty cool vintage industrial hardware in it. Gotta love etsy.

This thing is a beast. I think that you could hang a 500lb man from this thing. It's bolted and glued onto the wall like crazy. I think a chiropractor put it up.

These guys are awesome. They got the crazy beast down finally.

And this is the backroom. I was very relieved to see that drain in the floor. Otherwise we were looking at a much higher plumbing bill. These guys worked hard today. they pull up all the bad flooring and made it out before the weather hit. They even cleaned up after themselves. 

Permits!!!

I woke up this morning and checked my email from bed like I do most mornings. As I'm looking I get an 8:30am phone call from my general contractor. He was heading to the city to pick up our permits. We got our permits! What a wonderful way to wake up on a Monday. We literally break ground tomorrow. The guys will be coming to take up the wood floor where the sinks are going and then cut the concrete so they can lay the pipes. HOLY COW!!! It feels real now. It's all happening. And it's happening really quickly. I have a To-Do list that is 5 miles long but my other half does a really good job at getting everything done that I can't do. Holes are being patched as a type. I'm beyond excited! Woohoo!!!

April

  Things seem to be moving along as they should. The count down has begun. We would love to open our doors in about 9 weeks. Once we get our permits the build out will begin. Until then we are trying to get the small things done and have all of our ducks in a row. My other half is hell bent on getting the painting done this week. Although one wall will be messed up during our build out it will benefit us if the other walls are painted and ready to go before the furniture arrives.

  I'm hoping this week holds a lot of milestones for us. It would be nice to update everyone next week that our contractors have begun their mad dash to the finish. Until then we will find patience and take care of as many other things as we can. 

  Thanks to everyone that is helping us. We couldn't do this without you!

Best Yet!

I'm soooo excited about these two pieces of furniture. They will be facing the product shelf. The chair will have a thin cushion on it. Probably white or teal. The table is made from an old milk jug. These guys are my favorite so far. I think it really helps to pull the front desk and the product shelf together. It's setting a tone for us to finish picking out stuff for the rest of the salon. With every step we take closer to our finished product I feel more and more at ease about everything. I'm not a designer so this part stresses me more than hiring stylist and running the actual salon.

And away we go

We signed the lease today. It was a big relief to finally have that part of this journey done. The building is ours for the next 3 years or more if we like it enough. The Plans have all been turned into the city so now we wait for permits and then we can start the build out. We went shopping today and got some pretty cool stuff. We found our front desk. Imagine that the name of the salon will be on the front of it in some form or fashion. We got the product shelves. This was a hard decision. We went back and forth between an old antique wooden hutch and the shelves that we ended up with. In the end it came down to versatility. The last picture is just a cool thing to hang on the wall. I'm sure I'll think of some crazy purpose for it.

 This is the front desk. It has so much stuff cluttered around it at the store but you get the picture. It's wood with a little but of metal thrown in.

This is the product shelf. It's pretty tall. I think it will fit nicely in the space.

I don't usually buy things like this but it caught my eye. Like I said, I'm sure I'll think of something cool to do with it. 

Ready, Set, GO!!!

Tomorrow we sign the lease. Let the madness begin.

Shears

These are my very first pair of shears. My sister gave them to me as a birthday present when I was still in high school. I think it's safe to say that my family trusted me to cut their hair way too early. I think my sister always knew that it was my calling though. She was the first person to invest in my future. It's time to retire those shears and a few others. I have sent them to a nice gentleman I found on etsy. He does steel welding. He's making a sign out of my shears that says the name of the salon. I'll post more pictures when it comes in.

In other news... I think we have found someone to make our front desk and product shelf. We went to an antique mart this weekend and found a couple that does wood work with steel. They have very reasonable prices so hopefully we can get a few really cool custom pieces from them. I'm excited. We were looking for antique hutches to use as product shelves to go with our industrial/vintage theme. But they were all very over priced and didn't seem strong enough to withstand the everyday wear of being a product shelf. This couple will distress the furniture to look worn but still nice and sturdy. I'll post pictures of those later too.

So as a whole things are moving along really well. The stress level goes up and down. We try to look at the little set backs as small speed bumps or signs that maybe that wasn't the right direction anyway. But it's hard sometimes when you have your heart set on something and it falls through. I know that everything is happening as it should. Thanks for all your support. We love you guys!

Our Chairs

We have Chairs! I'm pretty sure we have settled on these chairs. The arm rests are real wood and the leather is soft. They have great padding and aren't too narrow for those of us with bigger hips.

Doors

  So this all started with a dream when I was little. I think most little girls dream about wedding dresses and unicorns. I was running around the neighborhood in my sports bra thinking about how I could build an empire where everyone did exactly what I wanted them to. Thankfully I'm not that controlling little girl anymore. I'd like to think I've turned into an organized, detail oriented, business woman.
  We are starting our own salon. This page is for my family. And by family I mean everyone we love. Blood related or not. I know that everyone wants to know how we are doing along the way. So we will be posting here as much as possible so you can keep tabs on us. There are a few details we should discuss. We aren't leaving our posts open to reader comments for our own safety. The salon industry is very chatty. One false move and our plans could all be foiled by wondering ears or fingers. However, We would love to hear from you. Text us, email us, call us, hunt us down. If you have any ideas or input we would love to here them on a personal level. And don't worry. We will try not to leave anything out.

If opportunity doesn't come knocking, build a door.

  I read that quote about 6 months ago. It spoke to me. It said... Okay, It's time. It doesn't feel like it's time, but it is. The next step of your life can't happen from where you are sitting right now so we need you to place yourself somewhere else. Change something.  We promise that if you build the door and open it everything will fall into place. All the actors will show up and say their lines on cue and the movie will end happily ever after. Just give us some sort of stage to play on.
  So i did. I took a leap of faith. It's something I've gotten really good at lately. I made a phone call and then another and then another. I shared some secrets. I asked for help at times when it felt so incredibly embarrassing. I believed in myself so much that everyone else started to believe in me too. That's the most important part I think.
  So here we are. We are a few emails away from signing our lease. I have my funding. I have my family for strength and sanity. We have a theme... Doors. We have a Motto and a logo. We have a culture. This is really happening. My dreams are really coming true because on some random Friday I found 3 seconds of courage. Just enough energy to step far enough out of my world to open the door to our future.