Archive for the ‘Green Couch Design’ Category
Kara Paslay Designs “Inspire Me” Series: Green Couch Design
We we’re recently asked to be featured on an up and coming home interior design blog. Have you heard of Kara Paslay Designs? Well if you have not you definitely need to check out her and her husbands interior design company based out of Tulsa. They’ve always got lots of home projects going on with simple DIY’s perfect for any budget.
Kara asked us to share our story behind starting Green Couch Design, and the road we’ve taken to get to where we are today in a new series called “Inspire Me”. It’s a pretty heartfelt post, but one we’ve truly enjoyed putting together and going over some of where we have been and what we have overcome. Sometimes you just need to remind yourself of the process.
We hope it inspires you today as you pursue your dreams! Read the feature at Kara Paslay Designs and make sure you tell her we said hello! 
From the Farm 
Related Posts
No related photos.
Lesson #4: Have an Orginal Idea
I think for creatives, for anyone really, the hardest part is coming up with that truly “original” idea. But, sometimes it doesn’t take a truly “original” idea, it’s just looking at something that has been done before and finding a way to make it better and make it your own. How can you take a tea towel and customize it to your design aesthetic? Are there products that you love, but that you wish came in a certain pattern or function? Our entire Kitchen Line was started with a need for a modern Mixer Cover Design. When I couldn’t find the style of prints I wanted I decided to make and sell my own. I can’t tell you how many handmade stories I have read where entire businesses were started from an absence of a specific product someone was looking for.
To help define if your idea is original you have to be able to look at your product and/or service and answer the following questions (be honest now!):
- How can we make our products/service more original and uniquely our own?
- How can we make our products better and different than our competition?
- How can we make our products/service harder for people to copy just from seeing a photo or sharing a bit of our process?
For us the process of answering the above questions developed as we walked through the following phases in our product development: Phase 1: Materials, Phase 2: Production, and Phase 3: Value.
PHASE 1: Materials: While it’s ok to start with what you have it’s also important to think about the type of materials you are using, what do they say about your brand, the over quality they add to your products, and their availability? Stores want to sell and customers want to buy a product because of it’s unique materials and style. If you have to change your product depending on the materials available it can be harder to establish brand recognition and in turn see a consistent profit.
Originally we started creating our concrete jewelry out of materials we had found like: rope from the old pull windows we took out of our house, recycled wire, carved bones, found buckles in an old shed, and metal casings we purchased at a local craft store. All these materials worked great until we sold out of that particular style of necklace and people wanted more! It was at that point we felt stuck because we didn’t know if we could re-create a similar design without those exact materials. We decided to think of our first initial jewelry set as a sort of “test” round. Taking a step back we did lots of research and established new relationships with vendors that were reliable and could provide an unlimited quantity should we need to order large batches in the future. By slowing down our production and taking time to find quality materials that were available at our disposal we were ready to meet the need we had created within our own market, felt confident about the materials we were using, and also opened up the doors for both consignment and wholesale retailers.
Lesson #3: Start With What You Have
When launching any business it’s easy to get frustrated with inadequate resources. Don’t get me wrong, there are some occupations where expensive equipment is needed but when Cale and I started Green Couch Design we knew we had to build a business with the resources we had on hand. We started with what we had.
Nearly two and half years ago, on an October Monday, we met up from our corporate design jobs for a quick lunch date. We had been talking for years about running our own design firm, but it was time to draw a line in the sand and just go for it. We decided then and there that unless we felt a blatant “no” within our spirits we would quit our jobs come the first of the year. That was Monday. On Thursday Cale was laid off from his Architecture job. Obviously this was not the plan we had figured out in our heads, but we saw this as an opportunity and a definite sign that it was time to pursue our dream of establishing a business around our home life.
At that time I continued working full-time while Cale started up the business from home. Because of my employment at that time we could not offer any kind of graphic design services. We had to come up with another way to make a living; an original idea that would allow us to show off our design skills in a creative way. With no savings, not even a printer for our computers, and an income that barley covered our monthly living expenses we had to design products using the materials we had on hand.
For us, that was an extra bag of concrete found in our old Milk Barn.
Once we narrowed down the materials we had available we began asking the following questions:
- What products have been made with this material before?
- What products can’t be made with this material?
- What are the type of products that people want to buy on a regular basis?
- Are there everyday items that are typically seen in a gift/retail shop that you could put a unique spin on?
When starting your own business it’s easy to get intimidated by the lack resources that are available. Don’t get me wrong there are things that are needed to start a business, but you cannot let a lack of resources stop you from moving forward! In the beginning when we found ourselves in need of extra overhead to produce products we would look around the house and see what we could sell off? We sold all kinds of stuff from old windows we replaced in the old farm house to a quesadilla maker! Ultimately, we refused to let lack stop us from moving forward.
We didn’t know at the time that a bag of concrete would help launch and establish our little business, but out of it grew a series of concrete jewelry, candle holders, and pots! Obviously we don’t sell all these items today, but that bag of found concrete gave us a starting place to hone in on our craft, experiment, and find a niche that is truly original to what Green Couch Design is today.
Who knows, maybe it’s your lack of resources that will be the thing to force you out of your box and into an idea that is uniquely your own! 
Are you having a hard time getting started with your home based business? What resources do you feel like you are lacking? What resources do you have access to that you may not have considered before reading this post? Have you or do you know of someone who has come up with a new idea or spin on a product due to their lack of resources?
From the Farm 
GCD: Concrete Jewelry in Dwelling Spaces
This past Monday we took a little road trip and dropped off our first batch of concrete jewelry at Dwelling Spaces in Tulsa, OK. We have heard amazing things about this store and it’s owner, Mary Beth, but had no idea just how wonderful it was until we we’re able to visit in person. Not only is the store aesthetic eclectic and fun but it’s got all the heart and soul we could ever ask for from a store carrying our products.
“Meet Mary Beth Babcock, the thirty-nine-year-old geek-chic cheerleader for all things Okie who makes you want to wear state pride like a party dress.” – Oklahoma Today: Mary Beth Babcock named Oklahoma Today’s 2011 Oklahoman of the Year
For the past six year Mary Beth has created not only a store but an art district and culture born out of a genuine passion to support local art and artist.
“Art feeds the soul, so she would feed the art.” - Oklahoma Today: Mary Beth Babcock named Oklahoma Today’s 2011 Oklahoman of the Year
We only spent 30 minutes with Mary Beth (and mostly that was us talking), but instantly we found a friend that loves pushing boundaries and is not afraid to take things to the next level. Her passion is truly contagious and something we hope you’ll support by checking out her wonderful store; Dwelling Spaces.
From the Farm
You can also purchase our jewelry at Shop Good in OKC and online!
Lesson #2: Work Smarter Not Harder
This week we’re sharing lesson #2 in our series about running your business around your home life instead of letting your business run your home life. Figuring out how to work smarter not harder (thanks for the title James!) has been a very important lesson for us and something that we are still working on implementing. In order to work smarter not harder you first have to recognize that even though the marketing world would tell you something different there is no right or wrong way to do this. It honestly starts with knowing your own lifestyle and business perimeters and setting up tasks to help you stay within those boundaries. This will look different for every person, every family, every business. If you are single you may not mind working late into the night and if you are a mom you may find that you get your best work done early in the morning before the kids are up. Either way, you figure out how to work smarter by first recognizing what daily tasks are foundational elements to establishing a satisfying home life for you and your family.
Start by asking yourself what are the day to day tasks that have to be done in your home life? As fun as it is to dream up the perfect home life at the end of the day what stresses us out is the stuff that everyone has to deal with; chores and all that responsible adult stuff! More often times then not it’s the daily tasks of running a household that can easily distract you when you work from home so it’s important to figure out what those daily tasks are and how they align themselves up with your preferred lifestyle.
For me (Meg), my list looks like this:
Based on the list above there are four categories that are important to me and the home life I desire to have:
- Chores
- Marriage/Immediate Family
- Personal
- Social/Friends/Extended Family
By going back through the individual pieces that make up each category I was able to establish simple, everyday tasks that have helped me meet and maintain a healthy and realistic balance to my preferred lifestyle:
GCD: Okie Charm SWAG at SXSW Buffalo Lounge!
It’s that time of year where our twitter feed becomes all a buzz with the latest happenings from one of the coolest festivals around the country. In case you have been living in a hole (or WAY out in the country ) South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin, TX.
The last few years it’s been really exciting to see Oklahoma art and music represented at SXSW and one of the ways this has been able to happen is through The Buffalo Lounge, presented by The Oklahoma Film & Music Office:
“The mission of The Buffalo Lounge is to promote Oklahoma’s film, music, and interactive industries to a statewide & nationwide audience. The vision is to be the premiere event and outlet for filmmakers, musicians, and interactive companies to connect with their supporters and attract a new audience, including the chance to gain national attention.”
LESSON #1: The Kitchen Table is NOT Your office!
The last few months we’ve been determined to get our priorities straight and run our business around our home life instead of allowing our business run our home life. As we have continued to get re-focused and better organized we thought it would be helpful to share some of the key factors that have helped us find and maintain balance. Lesson #1 is a really honest post featuring some of the cool and really awful home offices we’ve established over the past three years.
Recently, the biggest thing that has helped us maintain the separation of our home and business is the realization that we had to STOP using our kitchen table as our home office! You might be wondering… don’t you have a home office? Why, yes! Yes, we do indeed! But… my architect in training husband built it in the laundry room (which you should take note of) and didn’t think about the fact that our old dryer could quite possibly and did fry our hard drive (even though that was the same computer he had in college?). After that catastrophe Cale refused to let our new iMac take up residency in our official “office” so it quickly became the dumping ground place of storage for all things business related; thus, turning our kitchen table into our actual work space.
Sounds like a mess doesn’t it!? Talk about being stressed out! No wonder our business was taking over our life! It was time to make an executive decision about the space available and needed within our home and completely give up our guest bedroom. 
We had been using half of the room for storage anyways, so we moved the entire “office” into the guest bedroom and opened up the laundry room as the future baby’s room. I know, I know… we are sticking our poor child in with the dirty laundry, but we promise to decorate it and make it look real nice!
LIFE: Guess What We’re “Growing” this Spring?
Today is a big day at Green Couch as we celebrate the announcement of our first baby! That’s right… all this talk and dreaming of our little farm family is finally coming true and we couldn’t be more excited. It’s been one crazy ride after another since we literally found out the day we we’re leaving to go to KS for Christmas! It was a total surprise and although we we’re thinking we would start this summer it’s taken sometime to wrap our brains around “having” a baby when we thought we would be “starting”. I guess that is what we get for trying to “plan” this whole thing out! Lets just say the “plan” has been thrown out the window!
LIFE: Beauty in Chaos
Since I’ve gotten back from ALT Summit I’ve had a hard time re-gaining my focus. We’ve had several life changes and new developments in our business that have been difficult to transition into. I’m having a hard time taking all these pieces and things we want to do and the things we should be doing and knowing where to even start? To be honest it’s made me desire house chores over Green Couch Design! Which to me is a HUGE sign that I’m totally avoiding the process and proves just how annoyed I am with “not knowing” exactly what to do.
It’s in this time I find myself relating to a style of imagery where all the “pieces” are still there but organized neatly. I find the white space around each item to be a breath of fresh air and hope in this time of chaos and confusion.
GCD: Selling a Lifestyle or a Product?
We are excited to announce that we are officially working on a Look Book featuring our Green Couch Design Kitchen Line and Concrete Jewelry! The conceptual process is just getting started but we are already asking ourselves tons of questions as we figure out what are the key messages that we want to say about our products, our brand as a “lifestyle”, and/or both? If a picture is worth a 1,000 words then we had better make sure we have a clear vision about who we are and the type of visual messages we are sending our customers.
As we’ve been researching ideas for our Look Book we’ve noticed two different approaches toward selling a product:
1: Lifestyle Based Marketing: Imagery that forces customers to desire a product because of the way they feel when they are wearing that object or have that product a part of their life. When you aim your marketing toward a lifestyle approach you want potential customers to first fall in love with who you are and as a result purchase your products. With this type of imagery you are not just selling a piece of jewelry, you are selling a feeling based on the type of lifestyle your customers long to have.
Example: In this commercial you see the target audience is young adults and young families that are adventurous and want to “go” and “do”. They are not ok with sitting by and letting life pass by, instead they want to live life to the fullest. Ford focused it’s marketing efforts on the “feeling” their target market wants to have towards life (the problem) and how the Ford Explorer can help their customers accomplish that (the solution).
2: Product Based Marketing: Imagery that sells you a product by focusing on it’s features and services. Typically, this is for a product that is very specialized and more focused on the individual. Marketing efforts are narrowed into making one type of product and making it better than anyone else in your market. Customers purchase this type of product because it’s the best in the industry and it offers them something that your competition does not.
High class design in overalls. It's the simple life of a farm through the eyes of a couple of crazy designers. We call ourselves Green Couch Design and we are Bringing Design Home.
