Well we are just shy of 1 year since our last blog post. Totally unacceptable, but we're easily distracted, what can we say :) We've been working on becoming an LLC and it's officially happened. We'll always be A+A in our hearts, but Kroesser + Strat is our new name- and we love it!
A+A
So much has happened in the past year, we just feel beyond lucky to have made it this far. As a young business, in an industry that was hit hard during the recession, we took a big gamble opening up shop when the economy was still so fragile. And let's face it, we're two young-ish chics working predominately with a bunch of men. We've been called bitches, told we're too emotional and occasionally laughed at. Luckily, we made our way through the growing pains of working with alpha males who don't respect women (yes there are a lot of them out there!) and found ourselves an amazing contractor who has wonderful subs and we have created quite the team. They understand us for who we are which is strong, smart + creative women. They call us "The Boss" (what girl doesn't want to hear that?!), listen to us, respond to our 1am emails when we are stressed about a lighting delivery and genuinely respect us. We're not uber feminists, but we believe in women's rights, and feel we deserve to be treated as equals. Well we fought hard, harder than we thought we would have to, to earn our place as legitimate female designers amongst a bunch of men. It was all worth it.
Did we mention we're two women running a small business? That in itself poses it's own stresses. We met at a design firm and quickly became friends, but it was always business first. We think that's why we've been able to go out on our own and still keep things kosher- because we became friends as a result of working together. Yet, we are sensitive and proud and sometimes feelings get hurt. We've learned to check in with each other when things are getting tense. At the core of this business is a lot of love and friendship, a ridiculous amount of laughs and crude behavior, and an intense drive to make US succeed. We know we are so blessed to have one another when we are out there taking on the design world.
SOCIAL MEDIA + WORD OF MOUTH
We are new to the social media game for our business. It's a lot of work, and you have to work at it every damn day. We have dragged our feet for months before a friend gave us a quick boot in the tush. We aren't there yet, but we are trying. We've set ourselves up on twitter, pinterest (we're obsessed), instagram + facebook. We'll go weeks without posting a thing, but we'll keep plugging away. The reason we bring up social media is because it's amazing, you can't get around that, it can do wonders for driving business, but our true bread + butter comes from word of mouth. Our client list in the past 6 months has doubled and it's all via recommendations from past or existing clients or through a contractor who wants to continue to work with us. We try very hard to create a positive work vibe and it seems like it's paying off. Shrieking like a strangled bird only gets you so far :)
CLIENTS
We don't need to say much here, we have AMAZING clients!! They trust us to come into their homes, which is such a personal thing, and advise them on the changes to make. They challenge us, respect us and want us to succeed. We aren't your cookie cutter designers- well neither is our design vibe. We wear too many rings on our fingers, have a couple of tattoos here and there, and dress to impress ourselves. Our clients get that, they get us and we've been on a wonderful journey with every single one of them.
PROJECTS
A lot of you know we've been working tirelessly on a renovation on the UES. It's our baby, we love this space, we love everything we spec'd for it, we love the clients. Well it's coming to a close and the finishing touches are happening now. Floors are being finished, the paint + wallpaper is going up, furniture + lighting is just a couple of weeks away from installation. Every day we are pushing to complete this on time- it's exhausting and exciting at the same time. Here are few progress pics:
This beautiful stair is custom made from Acadia Stairs in Fishkill, NY. We were so picky about every little detail, and Peter and his team really came through.
Re-pointing brick that is original from the 1800's was NOT an easy task. The mortar used was lime based and the bricks are odd shaped and just not fun. It's hard to tell in this pic, but the apartment now looks cohesive and beautiful.
Carlisle Herringbone Oak Floors. Need we say more. They are ga-ga gorgeous.
They have a small kitchen as this was originally a pied a terre. Poggenphol custom kitchen cabinets in white back painted glass, make the whole space look so much bigger. Concrete countertop and backsplash to be installed.
In addition to this reno, we've been working on a beautiful office down in the financial center, wrapped up a ton of kid's rooms earlier in the year, and are just gearing up for for another renovation in a beautiful Art Deco building, a classic 6 duplex, slated to start next month. Stand by for lots of carrara, black and white motifs and overall gorgeousness. We have a handful of other projects on deck, but don't want to jinx anything just yet :)
Thank you for all the love + support you've shown us. Hoping this is just the beginning.
xoxo
a+a
