It’s been a while and we have decided we want to revive our blog posts. What better way to start than with our Grand Opening Party! We celebrated moving into our new studio space this year. After a build-out, we moved into our new 6,700 sq ft. studio space in Clearwater, FL. We said goodbye to our beloved “old house” that had housed Studio M for over 20 years and moved in June this year. We spent our time getting every detail just right and wanted to share it all with everyone. So naturally, a holiday grand opening party was the perfect chance to do so!
Being the detail-oriented designers we are, we planned our space out over the course of 6 months. We will share all the details of that in a future blog post. Then it was time to put the finishing touches on the office and PAR-TAY! It was a magical night and so much fun to see how far Studio M has come and where this new space will lead us.
We started our party planning by creating mood boards to get an overall sense of what we wanted that night to be. We chose a color palette of white and gold with pops of blush and berry to make it festive. These colors complement our signature colors of white, gold, and spruce that run throughout our office space.
We knew we wanted the night to sparkle. After all, we live by the motto, “There is gold in every piece of your story!” There were several items we chose to use that were a given from the start. We wanted groupings of gold tinsel trees with white ornaments. They turned out so cute and really filled our space well. We started floofing and fluffing all the trees (8 total- wha?!?) weeks before. This allowed us to move them around the space and find the perfect placement. We realized that our corner next to our new Hickory Chair sofa looked a little bare. So, we ordered one more huge 9’ gold tree. We placed it right by our entrance and it was such a pretty way to be greeted.
At the same time as the party planning was in full swing, we also focused on getting custom art made and hung throughout the office. We chose minimalist art in custom Studio M colors that are accented around our new space: White, gold, spruce, and blush. We loved how it turned out! We also completed a gallery wall of some of the most recent projects in our portfolio. We love being inspired by our gorgeous completed projects every day!
We created lots of fun moments around the office like a balloon arch at the entry, tinsel backdrop for photos, and floating ornaments over our workstation. This was super easy and a great way to add impact. We bought large shatterproof (that’s an important detail – no accidents people) ornaments and used clear Command hooks and fishing line to suspend them from the ceiling. Voila!
The showstoppers of the night were the curtain fairy lights. They offer huge impact for little effort. We used 12 sets of these curtain lights all throughout the office. They come in 10’ lengths which were perfect for our office: floor to ceiling baby! They created the most beautiful ambient light for the evening. They really gave that extra shimmer and shine to our celebration!
We want to say a HUGE thank you to our sponsors for the night: Ferguson, Jimmy Johnson with Foundry Commercial, Empire Office-OFS Furniture, and Wolf-Sub-Zero. Their generous donations helped to make the grand opening a great success. We had a fantastic giveaway that included a hot chocolate basket and VIP concert tickets! Congratulations to our winner Mary del Cueto: our rep for Vanguard Furniture, Wendover Art Group, and Klaussner Outdoor Furniture.
We could not have pulled off this event for over 150 people without help from our vendors. We used Delectables Catering for our heavy hors d’oeuvres menu for the night. Everyone loved the food! All the Buzz Cookies made the most amazing custom cookies for our guests to take home and enjoy. Not only are they picture-perfect, but they were absolutely delicious too!
We collaborated with Petal and Vine Garden and Marketplace for our floral arrangements. Niki and Diane exceeded our expectations! We met with them early on and provided our initial mood boards, but to be honest, that was it. They effortlessly honed in on our vision and made the most epic floral arrangements for the night. They perfected our tablescapes. We loved the fresh, organic shapes they chose and how they incorporated our pop of berry throughout the space.
Our custom kitchen was transformed into a swanky bar set up for the night. All Mixed Up bartenders made the night flow smoothly and created all our libations. We had a signature cocktail for the evening in addition to a full bar. If you have not tried a Winter White Cocktail, definitely put that in your holiday rotation. It’s slightly sweet and refreshing. Delish!
To up the ante on the festivities and lively atmosphere, we transformed the back office into a speakeasy-esque sipping bar. With the new addition of the dark, moody York wall covering on the back wall of our CEO Tom’s office, it created a perfect setting to sip and mingle. The guests enjoyed garnishing different craft bourbons, gins, and rums while watching our portfolio reel.
Dynamic instrumentalist, Chris Barbosa, kept the ambiance lively and vivacious all night. A talented musician, he can play the violin, viola, and piano. He specializes in creating a loop on one of the instruments and then playing live over that track. It is truly spectacular to watch!
Overall the event was a wonderful way to celebrate and introduce everyone to our new space. It was the perfect setting to mingle and jingle and ring in the holiday season. We have a TON of exciting upcoming projects slated for 2020. We are so excited to be able to spread out and let the inspiration flow and share our journey with you!
