A Little About Me

Hi, my name is Ashley! I am a Visual Merchandiser for a chain of 10 furniture stores based in Salt Lake City and I love my job. For awhile I have thought about starting a merchandising blog, and I am finally making that dream a reality. When I decided to start this blog, I sat down and wrote out my goals I want to achieve with this blog and I wanted to share those with you:

• ·         Learn more about merchandising

• ·         Share my passion with others

• ·         Become an authority in the field of merchandising (for furniture and home decor)

• ·         Keep being inspired to do my best job and pass that inspiration on to others

So there you have it! I also thought I would do a quick introduction with my background. I grew up with three sisters in a very happy home. My mom shared with us her love of reading. When I was in the fifth grade I read a book (“The Secret Garden” by Julie Andrews) that describes a little cottage the orphan girl runs off to. I could see the cottage so vividly in my head that I recreated it with a cardboard box, scraps of wallpaper, and shells for the bookshelf. My mom showed it off to my aunt and cousin when they were visiting. My cousin saw it and said “Ashley should be an Interior Designer!” and from then on, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.

In 2003 I attended to FIDM (the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in Los Angeles and received an Associate’s degree in Interior Design. While going to school, I participated in two internships. The first was with Ruthie Sommers at her store Chapman Radcliff. The second was at another small furniture store called Noble House Interiors. At both internships I was introduced to interior design and merchandising and started to learn the basics.

In 2005 I graduated and started looking for my first “real job.” I had many interviews, but the best fit was as a visual merchandiser at a furniture store- Hamilton Park. It was the perfect job for me! I loved creating new and inspiring vignettes that helped sell furniture. I worked with a few different bosses and coworkers and learned many things I still use every day today. I worked with high-end furniture brands like Henredon, Marge Carson, Drexel Heritage, Ralph Lauren, and more. I loved it! My favorite part of my job was doing furniture launches. When a new set of furniture would come in we would re-do a showroom with paint, rugs, and lighting. Then we would merchandise the furniture and accessories. Last, we would create invitations, choose food and music to make the furniture come alive and present the new collection to the designers.

In 2008, I changed gears and became a wedding planner at a local reception center. I loved working with brides to create their dream wedding. I got to coordinate décor, flowers, invitations, and food. The best part was seeing the bride’s vision coming together and, of course, I am a sucker for a beautiful ceremony. After a year and a half as a wedding planner I was advanced to the manager. I missed being creative everyday, but embraced the times I could like our annual wedding show.

In 2011, I found a replacement job (and my current job) - I became a visual merchandiser once again at a furniture store. This time it is for a chain of 10 stores that I take turns visiting. I spend a lot of my time teaching stores how to display items so that they sell quickly. I love coming up with innovative displays and implementing them in the stores. Being creative everyday is a dream come true for me. I also get to be the stylist for our photo shoots, the spokesperson for all home media, and I am the designer for all new store openings (I have done three so far). I love, love my job and can’t wait to share that passion with each of you!

I have the world’s best husband and we have two dogs- Derek and Lucy. They are King Charles Cavalier Spaniels and are the sweetest. We live in Bountiful, Utah.

So there you have it! I hope to be posting the following:

• ·         Practical merchandising tips

• ·         Beautiful store examples

• ·         Introduce other successful merchandisers

• ·         The history of merchandising

• ·         Share lots of tips and inspiration on how to keep inspired at work and to do your best possible job