At Red Koi Collection we showcase artists from Kauai, Hawaii and from other creative places. We are committed to enhancing the quality of life through exceptional art, service excellence and uncompromising integrity. Please enjoy and also view REDKOIHAWAII

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Quick Layout

Bad picture, but here is one of our layouts that we worked on about 2 months ago.  Both sides of the store are pretty much still the same though the middle is changing somewhat, but the display merchandising is an evolving art and our style is to create it in the moment.  Lisa works best when she's in the space and telling me what to move and where.  Very much like our personal life too. ;)  Sorry for the poor photo quality.


More Furniture

The fun part is going to be blending all of the different styles of furniture into a "feel".  I think we can do it with all of the beautiful pieces that we have.  The koa cases cleanup really nicely, two days of work but worth it.  The large square cases have their first coat of gold paint and today I'll put on two more coats.  In the photo with the Asian screens is our wrap desk.  The last image of the large black case with gold accents will be where we display most of our ceramic vessels; Wishkeepers.

Oh and by the way, I have been living on straight coffee for the last couple of weeks.  Living Foods makes the best Americano and their sticky buns, coconut macaroons, and chocolate chip cookies are some of the best that I have ever tasted.  The coconut macaroons taste almost as good as my late Gramma Dolly's and it takes me back to when I was 10 years old, spending my summer months up in Maine.  She would let me pilot our little boat around Flander's pond and would fill me up on coconut macaroons and peanut butter fluff sandwiches; all I could eat.  Could a kid ask for anything more?  She was the best.


Monday, March 15, 2010

Moving in some furniture

Galleries with built in walls covered in carpet is out.  Our concept is to have a gallery/boutique that has more real furniture.  Something that you might find in a resort or very nice home on the islands.  Place the paintings directly on the wall as if it was in your home.  A lot of our furniture pieces will be made from Hawaiian Koa.  We were lucky to have some beautiful cases from Marty and Carole's private collection for use.  They are the best.

Some of the other furniture has been bought new, and the "best" stuff is from Island Liquidators.  Shhhhhhh.  Keep that a secret, they have some of the best resort pieces, and the more banged up the better they look.  Lived in looks best in my opinion.

You can get an idea as to the colors of the store with some of the furniture to view so see for yourself.

Track lights are in today

Track lights will be in today.  The great guys, Chris and Derrick at Ken Wheatley; Wheatley Electric Inc. in Hanapepe have done an awesome job!  These guys even mopped my floor after working on it on Friday before they left.  Oh, reminds me I gotta treat them to lunch!

I highly recommend Ken and his crew if you need electrical done right and professionally.

Ken  Wheatley
335-3777

Signage

Here are a couple of signs that we are working on. The goal is to have a sign that pops visually, is clean and easy to read, and uses some of our colors from inside the store. We did not want a bamboo font. Horrible!

A sign that has a Hawaiian plantation feel, with a little Asian thrown in.  The top sign is our first choice.  The outer border will be a little darker brown, "Collection" in black letters.  Both have that horizontal wood texture.  What do you think?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Sign Art Kauai is making our signs

Yup, every store needs a sign, and ours is gonna be great....I hope.  I really never thought about how much thought must go into making one.  After all it is the first thing that a potential client sees of you, and do you remember what your mom used to say about first impressions?

I have every confidence in Sign Art to give me a strong yet elegant expression of our gallery. However if our sign is junk, then the only person I have to blame is me.  My thought is simplicity is best and use the colors of the store on the sign for flow.  Any ideas?  You can post or email me.  Here is SIGN arts info:


Dawn Lagundino
General Manager

WE'VE MOVED!  NEW ADDRESS BELOW!

SIGN art
3-3586 Kuhio Hwy., Suite 2
Lihue, HI 96766
Phone:  (808) 246-6812
Fax:  (808) 245-8797




Monday, March 1, 2010

Primed the Walls



Just primed the walls and had the primer tinted tan color so the final coats will cover easier.  This is the primer and the final coat is a little more lighter tan.  The floor also needs another coat of stain, but since it was the weekend and the Tsunami watch/scare had some stores close down earlier than usual, so I was unable to secure more stain in time.  Most of the time you want your floor completely done and sealed before painting.  At least that is the way I wanted to do it.  I'm using Masons Select stain and go it from Puhi Paint. Ron and Ron and the other guys are great. 

Puhi Paint across the intersection from Kauai Community College  4490 Puhi Road Lihue, HI 96766-8922 - (808) 246-8828
 
So today, Monday I'll finish the priming, stain the floor one more time and try and get the back room primed as well.  Not enough time in 24 hours.  Oh well, just keep plugging away with a smile.

Red Red Red


Here is the first coat of red over a grey primer. We had Barbara Cameron come and help us finalize the red, she is a great interior designer.  Her design studio is Yochi Interiors in Lihue on Akahi Street, same side as Tip Top.  She is also a LEED accredited designer, and you can check out her site below.

yochiinteriors.com

The red wall will take about 3 coats of red to get the desired tones.  Take a look and see what you think.  You can see the brush marks and the top of the picture where the color is a little darker.  We are going for darker.