Vend Shop Revamp
I don’t really know what I was thinking, but I decided to completely renovate my small shop at Vend (Virginia, Brisbane)! When I say ‘I’, I really mean Tim my husband! I had been wanting to do this for nearly a year because I moved into the space mid 2021 so I felt like it was time to spruce up the space. Little did I know what I huge job it would turn out to be! I think Tim knew all along how big it would be and he did keep reminding me how much stuff we would have to organise and prepare for it. I kind of just thought we would throw it all together (last minute). But there was so much planning involved - even the paint colour and texture I agonised over for months! This may seem a bit trivial but the reason I wanted to put so much effort into this space was because I know in future I would love to open my own little gallery and I wanted to mimic the aesthetic for my future space. So Vend has sort of became a ‘trial’ run for having my own gallery shop.
Looking back, I’m really glad we persevered and did the reno. The space looks lighter, fresher and really beautiful! It makes the art and designs stand out with the lighter wall as opposed to the grey. There are still things I need to fix up and work on but that’s just life really. The whole renovation took us three massive days and it was a mammoth effort from Tim and also Tim’s dad. Very, very grateful to have had the help as we ended up removing the plaster off the walls and replacing it with thicker mdf boards so I could hang artworks and shelving. I went with a textured white wall background because I felt like this was quite a contemporary look and the stained timber shelving would suit the tones and texture in my art without overpowering. We had to use four coats of paint to get the thick textured look and for the white paint to coat evenly. We also had to fix up the flooring, sand everything back, drill all the holes and hang the shelving. It may not sound like much, but there was so much involved in getting to the finished result!
Why VEND? Many people ask me why I choose to be at VEND and I guess although it may not necessarily be my style, I find that it brings in allot of clientele who really wouldn’t know about my work. It is such a busy place and the cafe it so amazing as well. I find my designs more successful and popular as gifts rather than original artworks. This honestly is fine by me, because not everyone wants an artwork and not everyone wants a product. I will never please everyone and that is OK! So my reasoning for being at VEND is rather that it diversifies my customer base, it has increased my sales in Brisbane/Queensland and it has also given my customers a reliable place to find my work and browse through all of the designs.
What do you think?! Hope you love it as much as I do! If you have any thoughts or feedback I would love to hear them!
Thanks for checking out my latest journal post! Hope you enjoyed reading it and seeing my revamp at VEND.
PS: It’s only three weeks until Christmas so if you are planning to get an order in soon here are some dates to remember. All orders in December will be upgraded to EXPRESS POST. Cut off dates for Australia Post are as follows:
Posting within Australia (except WA and NT)
18 December 2023
21 December 2023 Express
WA
15 December 2023
20 December 2023 Express
NT
14 December 2023
20 December 2023 Express
Posting Internationally (most countries)
5th of December 2023 (Standard)
Please note that my processing times are 3-5 business days. It’s only me in the studio and I make and design everything, create the artworks, package and post them. I am working super hard to post everyone’s order in time. Not sure your parcel will arrive on time? Please email me at hello@katepiekutowskiprintmaker.com if you have any questions.
Kate xx
