10 SMALL BUSINESSES

10 DESIGNERS

10 MAKEOVERS

10 DAYS

MAIN ST MAKEOVER

Old Town Commercial Association 1232 Turner St.

Here we are at the Old Town Commercial Association.

My name is Jamie Schriner-Hooper. Come on in.

I am the executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association.

I am one of two staffers for our nonprofit down here.

My job is to oversee the revitalization efforts of the entire community.

I'm working with the city to get historic streetlights in our district.

We'd like to get more banners up and to have flowers everywhere.

I represent Old Town businesses at meetings. Keeping it in the media.

Working on great things like the IKEA project.

A business owner read about the contest on IKEA's website.

And approached me, and we approached another business owner who has a video production crew.

I was willing to do the video, so the Old Town could enter.

None of us expected to win the contest.

It was fun. The biggest part was fun and a competition.

Before we knew it, we were in the top ten. It happened really quickly.

We tried to get people to vote and hand out the flyers.

- Always we worked as a team.

- We had signs around Old Town.

People with an e-mail were asked to vote for us.

We passed the word to get people to vote for us.

Until the last minute ...

We won!

Old Town Commercial Association is basically the ad agency for Old Town. They needed help with freeing up their space so a small space feels larger.

Here is the association's office. This is when you walk in and you see our pile of stuff. We'd like to become more organized.

We only have two staff people and utilize a tremendous amount of volunteers and interns. Our interns are crammed into this area.

There's tons of stuff. I'd like to give them a better work environment and if we're more organized, we can do that.

I'll show you my office. Even though it's my office it serves several purposes. This is also our meeting space.

I often meet potential business owners or members of the city.

- Not everyone can sit.

- It's a very small space.

With stuff they found on the street or that was given to them.

In a very small space that's rarely a successful way of storing and working.

The only things I want to keep are my posters and the portrait.

Other than that, take it away.

PLANNING THE MAKEOVER November 2007

Hello!

My name is Chelsea. I'm a decorator for IKEA.

I'm to redecorate the Old Town Commercial Association for the IKEA Main Street makeover.

The OTCA is, in short, like party planners for the city.

They represent the whole area. It's very important that a visitor feels welcome and that the people working there are professional.

They are, but they just don't look it.

- We're ready.

- Shall we go to the table?

- This is so exciting.

- I hope you think so.

It's been a challenge to figure out who needs what and what's good for you.

We'll give you visually unified and more functional storage more workspaces and more chairs for your guests to sit on.

And a better solution for the kitchenette.

- We want to keep the funky chairs.

- I like the leather chairs.

They're a fun, little shape. Otherwise I don't want to keep so much.

- Take it all away.

- I really like working with Mats.

He's a very laidback individual, but he gets the job done.

He's an excellent designer. A good person to work for.

I'm off to Portable Feast, so I hope you like what we started with.

I'm leaving you in the safe hands of Chelsea. A pleasure.

- I'll see you in January.

- Thanks, Mats.

- Take care.

- See you later.

- This is what people walk into.

- Isn't it lovely?

You come from the door to this.

Do you need all these pamphlets?

We don't need to have all of them out all of the time.

We have our intern desks. We're hoping to get three computer spaces.

Three intern workspaces where they can work comfortably and not be confined behind these giant walls. And Shannon's desk.

She's the other half of our office. When people walk in the door she has her back to them and a big desk that she doesn't need.

- You don't use all the space here?

- No, I need binder storage.

And a little file storage. Handy would be great.

I see a lot of binders. There's this huge work area.

I need a spot for the phone and a small area to work.

- I love the posters.

- Those are the fundraisers.

- They're the things we want to stay.

- Okay. Cool.

- This is your lovely kitchenette.

- We do use some of the stuff.

It doesn't have to be out in the open, and we have a tiny sink.

Yeah.

That's small for anybody. So a bigger sink and a recycling center.

- That would be wonderful.

- I've got my work cut out for me.

January can't come soon enough. It's going to be gorgeous.

THE MAKEOVER January 2008

We had no idea we're getting all new cabinets along the back wall.

Each step we go through ... We took out modular furniture and it took me days to get used to. And then we took out tons of furniture.

And we painted. It's like each step is new and exciting.

- I can't wait to see it all together.

- Jamie and Shannon were great.

They were laidback and open to all our ideas.

They only wanted to keep the beautiful chairs.

They wanted something fresh and new and inviting. And a lot of storage.

They helped by going through their files and purging unnecessary papers.

That helped because they had so much when we came before.

I wasn't here the first two days, but I sent Peggy the floor plan.

She began implementation and when I joined her we finished it up together. We were given a plan but often things look good on paper but when you get to the space, it doesn't always work.

The doors on the storage unit scraped against the vent.

- We got a small problem.

- The ceiling is a bit low.

The door scratches the ceiling, so we're trying to lower the cabinet by adjusting the feet. If that doesn't work, we'll take the doors off.

And have an open solution, which is an option as well.

I'd prefer the doors on because I like to hide everything.

The door is still going to rub, but we'll give it a try.

- Can't you adjust them downwards?

- They're all the way down.

- Maybe some open storage?

- That's what I said.

- I prefer closed storage.

- So do I.

Would it be weird if we let one open?

One is maybe weird because it looks like a missing tooth.

It would only be that one, and then you leave that one open.

- Then it would make sense.

- That's for magazines.

- So continue with magazine shelves.

- Yes, it'll look like one unit.

- A good solution.

- A good idea.

- All in all it went very well.

- It was great that Peggy helped out.

She's very professional and has been around for a very long time.

- But she's crazy.

- How's my hair?

Can you pull?

Newton's Law no. 3. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction

In the main office area or foyer I added a reception area.

It includes their two chairs, so visitors could wait for their meeting.

When you see how the first space was before the furniture, screens and cubicles filled up the whole area.

You were met by a wall and stands of brochures.

Visually it was a filled room. And they painted it in dark colors which didn't help. They liked the colors, so we kept those somewhat.

But we freed up the whole room, so it's open and storage on the side.

The work area for both Shannon and the interns is tighter so they can talk and see each others' design.

One good thing is that the graphics person is directly behind Shannon.

So she can see the design and not walk over to a cubicle.

Shannon now faces the door, so she can see people coming in.

Before her back was to the door. We've added more storage.

The pamphlets are on display, and they can hide stationery and mess.

We improved the kitchenette area. It wasn't functional. Storage was poor.

I'll take these two off first. Then the drain line.

And then unscrew the bottom of this and pop the top off.

- Thank you.

- Go right ahead.

We're getting new countertops with cabinets below.

And cabinets above. A beautiful white sink.

- With a beautiful faucet.

- It's going to be gorgeous.

- And it's going to work well.

- We can actually fit dishes in it.

Everything's hidden behind doors and drawers.

They're excited about their sink. Before it was hard to wash things in.

Now it's bright and open. They're just in love with it.

This is so nice. We had a tiny sink before.

This is great. We have countertop space.

We can put cleaning stuff down here.

Jamie's work area.

- I've added a meeting table.

- Chairs, a big table.

Before they needed space for about 15 business owners.

They had a table for four people. Not good for a serious meeting.

Now they have an expandable table and enough chairs and can talk about business matters at hand.

10, 11 ... Now they can seat all their guests.

They wanted to keep their event posters. Festival of the Sun.

And they have this bi-yearly, so they wanted to keep the posters.

I framed them and made them a focal point as you enter the office.

There's a glass desk for Jamie, which she absolutely loves.

- Want to try it out?

- Yes.

I love the desk. It's so nice. What a huge difference.

Now she faces the door and can see out the window to Main St.

Shannon and Jamie loved the space. It looked nice and professional so now they have to act nice and professional.

I'm happy with the result and that Jamie and Shannon like their new work environment, and that it's functional.

It's so nice to have everyone in this one space.

There are no walls. We can just talk to each other.

Being able to welcome people and see them is kind of nice.

Our hard work has paid off. We're excited to share the transformation with the Old Town community and the IKEA business network.

It's open and welcoming, which is how Jamie and Shannon are.

It embodies the feel of Old Town. So I wanted to reflect the feeling of Old Town and the owners that work so well together.

And bring it inside to their office.

It's always good to see your designs on paper come to life.

I'm glad I was given this opportunity and to give somebody something that they really needed, and that they really enjoy in the end.

IKEA BUSINESS A better life at work