Tuesday Made Office Tour
I’ve been meaning to give you a proper tour of our Tuesday Made office for over a year now… today’s the day! I’ve finally accepted the fact that it will probably never be totally finished, as we’re always busy working there and crossing the important things off the list- like packing up & shipping out your orders. I photographed our workspace just before Emmett’s surgery last week and this is how it’s looking these days… click through for a peek into our office, take the complete tour, and get a glimpse into our day-to-day at the shop. This is what my work life looks like. Also be sure to save the date for our warehouse sale, so you can visit in person! This is a long post, but a good one…
Our building is a typical cinderblock industrial warehouse with an office inside. We rent this space and our landlord happens to be the best (Emmett’s boss)– remember when I designed their Mapleleaf offices? We seriously lucked out. We were able to make some easy and affordable improvements… like renovating the kitchenette, painting walls whatever color we’d like, etc… all thanks to his flexibility. At the end of the day, it’s still an office space with drop ceilings, cinderblock walls, and ADA compliant features, but I did my best to make it a happy and aesthetically pleasing place, using what we had- and on a major budget. Want to see some before and process images?
The office itself was occupied by a construction company before we moved in. It was in rough shape and was extremely dirty, but it was a deal and our only feasible option. I did a terrible job of taking before images because we were in such a rush to move in, but there was a lime green wall I had already painted over, as well as giant bison taxidermy hanging on the wall- an interesting choice for office decor, ha! The previous tenants even left some of their furniture behind. We ended up keeping some of it and donating the rest.
My plan for the office was fairly simple, and Emmett & I pulled a lot of late nights to bring my vision to fruition….
- Deep clean– It was pretty gross. Think nicotine yellow walls, bad carpet stains, and lots of dirt & grime (and even spoiled food hiding in drawers).
- Paint everything– I just wanted a fresh start, so I decided to brighten everything up with neutral white paint.
- Renovate the kitchen– Having a nice break area was important to me because I knew we’d be spending a lot of time here.
- Paint & clean the bathroom– A clean bathroom was a deal breaker for me and I wanted to add storage for toiletries & supplies.
- Add shelving for our shop products– We turned three offices into organized product rooms and used secondhand shelving from a shop that had closed.
- Create a functional shipping room– We knew we needed a place to pack and ship orders, complete with organized packing materials.
- Setup some desks and a workspace– I wanted a happy place to work, so I decided our desks would live in the largest open concept room- the only space with natural light.
We’ll begin the tour with our workspace… initially it was just me working alone in here. Emmett would occasionally come in after hours to help pack orders, but we have 3 matching workspaces / desks.
To give you a little background on how we ended up here… I had always dreamed of having a shop. It was a longtime business goal and passion of mine. The pandemic was well underway and I knew I had to pivot and make a career shift… the timing seemed crazy, but I felt the need to go for it. We moved into this space in June of 2020 and Tuesday Made launched in November 2020, just after Thanksgiving. It was a whirlwind, but it kept me sane and optimistic during a really weird time.
Eventually, Jordan joined us and began working alongside me at the office (her desk is the one with the iMac), I sit in the middle, and Emmett’s desk is closest to the back wall- though we hardly ever see him because he still comes in after hours. Click here for to meet our team– we’re a small (but awesome) team of four. I do feel very lucky to have the most amazing work family.
In the same large open concept space where we work, we also have a couple seating areas. This room is actually my favorite because it feels the happiest- thanks to the natural light that pours in.
If you’ve been hanging around here long enough, you probably recognize all of the furniture! I shuffled things from our home to the office… the vintage rug, our old sofa, the coffee table, the lamp, etc. They really helped to make our office feel less sterile and a bit more inviting. Immediately after we moved into the office, I received so many messages from people asking why I got rid of our furniture. Ha! I didn’t- it just ended up here.
It’s also fun to style goods from the shop and test things out in this seating vignette. From textiles and books to florals and decor, we are constantly moving things around for photos, and seeing what plays well & pairs nicely together.
This is the view from our front door… we have a fun branded sisal doormat that was key in keeping our office clean & dry during the snowy winter season! It’s framed by our little tiled entryway.
We have another little seating area to the side of our desks that is handy for meetings, styling opportunities, and it’s our favorite place to hang our newest vintage rug arrivals.
We keep a couple side chairs over here that we use for pulling up an additional seat, or most likely- they end up getting stacked with things we carry home to photograph at the end of each workday.
Down the loooong hallway, we have five smaller rooms: three product room and two shipping rooms. You know I’ve be itching to color block another hallway after moving out of our previous home, so it happened here at the office. I also repeated the same budget friendly runner since it can be custom sized!
Want to peek inside some of those doors? Our product rooms look a lot like this… shelving piled with pretty things we curated and sell in the shop! Since we’re such a small business- our quantities are lower- we may only have two or three of something…
Just as we were moving into our office, a local Tuesday Morning (of all places) was going out of business. I stopped in and asked what they meant by EVERYTHING must go, and my suspicion was confirmed- the store fixtures were up for grabs. We bought our shelving, racks, and tables from them for pennies on the dollar… and being a home decor store, they also had speciality fixtures we needed, like rug racks. It felt kismet- like a sign from the universe that this shop dream of mine wasn’t a totally insane idea.
We have an entire product room devoted solely to vintage rugs and it’s my happy place. I’ll admit, it’s a bit of a mess right now (with rugs rolled on the floor), as we’re preparing for our warehouse sale in a couple weeks. Normally, it’s very tidy!
We also have a couple of shipping rooms… one solely for our boxes and one for fulfilling, packing, and shipping orders. This is our box room- we have lots of different sizes. Emmett is in charge of keeping track of these and restocking them as needed.
One thing I’m REALLY proud of is our packing materials. Not the branding (although I did design everything), but we use recycled materials. Everything is cardboard, paper, or something eco that will break down and can later be reused, recycled, or composted. Any plastic that arrives in your order has also been reused… our vendors and artists ship us their goods and sometimes use plastic for breakable items. We don’t like throwing that away, so we empty it into storage bins and reuse it for orders (things like bubble wrap). Therefore, if you ever see bubble in your order, know that it has been reused.
Packaging was really important to me and we’re continually trying to improve. When we first opened our online shop, we had no idea how to pack orders… eveyrthing had to be shipped and our broken rate was higher than we would have liked it to be. I’m happy to report- these days, it’s next to none. Who knew that shipping breakable home decor would be such a challenge? Ha! It hasn’t been an easy road, but we’ve learned so much and made adjustments along the way.
Alright, let’s move into the break room. I’ll link the hallway and small seating area items below…
We have a small dining space with four chairs, and if I’m being honest- we never eat in here. Hah! We always choose to eat at our desks in the sunlight. Can you blame us? It is pretty in here though and we often grab treats from the credenza or the kitchen, passing through.
If I’m working late, I do like to switch the buffet lamps on. They make it feel cozy and less scary when I’m working alone after dark. Those vintage chairs were a fun find, too!
Laurie Anne gifted me a giant print of one of my favorite paintings, so Emmett built and stained a frame for me. We carry her artwork in the shop, so it felt like the perfect large-scale piece for our office.
I also enjoy swapping and testing the floral arrangements we carry as a dining table centerpiece. I try to rotate a different one each month. Have you been keeping up with our floral of the month?! This inspired it.
We have a couple bathrooms in our office, but we really only have access to one- the other is more of the warehouse restroom. I gave it a deep clean, a fresh coat of paint, hung a new mirror, added a rug & storage, and called it done.
If you missed the bathroom makeover, I actually shared it a few years ago- you can see it here, along with the before images! It looks so much better and is definitely more functional than where it began.
The closed storage cabinet holds our office cleaning supplies, toiletries, and keeps our bath products organized. For being an ADA compliant bathroom, I appreciate that it’s clean and convenient.
I definitely appreciate the basic white tile in this spacious bathroom. Sometimes design is about working with what you have, and that was the moral of the story in our office.
The last area I have to share with you is our office kitchenette. This area sees a lot of use and it feels like the biggest transformation. Check out the before images and renovation in this post!
I love this kitchenette, but it took me two years to fully stock it. That has really been the trajectory and pace of Tuesday Made and our office… slow & steady. I wanted to make sure we were spending our money wisely and building something smart and solid. Despite pulling our office together on a shoestring budget, it’s something I’m really proud of. I also think it feels welcoming and happy, despite the industrious architecture.
I really hope you enjoyed this peek into our Tuesday Made world. I can’t wait to see some of you in-person in a couple of weeks at our warehouse sale… it’s going to be really fun! We’ll have lots of good things up for grabs and I’m eager to clean up and restock our shelves with new items for summer, fall, and the holiday season later this year.
The shop has taught me so many things and I feel very lucky to have a job I thoroughly enjoy, working alongside people who feel like family. While it may not be the most life changing or philanthropic industry we’re in, I do hope that bringing beauty to the spaces we call home, connecting with others on a creative level, and supporting other women owned businesses and artists makes small differences in our communities. I hope we’re just getting started over here because we’re having a lot of fun! I’m sending a big thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged us over the years… it means more than you know. Hugs, friends!