Author

Connie Post

Playdates

My mantra has long been, “A Beautiful Room Will Change Your Life.” Of course, as a designer, I love continually changing beautiful rooms too. That’s why I think one of the best parts of my job is that I get to bring home the products I design to “play” with them, just as I expect any consumer who ultimately purchases the products would too.

Here is a peek inside my home and photos of some fun I had on a recent Saturday afternoon playing with my Celebrations Collection. Inspired by my desire to rejoice in both the big and little everyday moments that make up our lives, Celebrations dresses accessories in cream and gold to mark the special days and times we expect to remember years from now with love and laughter.

That’s my handsome husband Bill in one of the frames on the mantle, right below the photo of me in my wedding dress. Definitely a “big” moment of celebration worthy of a place of honor in the room. You’ll note flashes of Celebrations gold in the bookcase, on the tables and the hearth as well. One of the secrets to decorating well is creating a sense of balance.

My over-arching goal in all the collections I create for IMAX is to make it quick and easy for anyone to create a beautiful room with products that are designed to work together for a cohesive look. To achieve great balance, whenever you’re playing with a new color scheme, I recommend standing in the middle of your space and slowly turning 360 degrees. Wherever your eye lands for a moment as you turn is an ideal place to add a touch of the new color. You’ll find the result will be a well-balanced, and of course, beautiful room!

December 9, 2014 0 comment

Graphics and Marketing IMAX Worldwide Home

InStyle: Color Trends for Every Budget

written by Connie Post

Here’s a news flash: Every woman wants to present herself in style. No one wants to look old or tired. We all strive for beauty in our own way, hoping that somehow we do not disappear with age.

What’s this got to do with the home décor business? I chose InStyle Magazine as the inspiration for this month’s newsletter because it is a great example of how the media capitalizes on consumers’ obsession with “the new, the now and the next!” I don’t think any other publication does a better job than InStyle of reminding us how cool we really are each month, or conversely, just how out of touch we have become.

Every thirty days or so I pick up an issue and am reminded on every page that we are ever-changing in our clothes, our accessories and shoes(!), and how we are seduced and captivated by details. This month, the issue is all about the eye-catching effects of color: From Calvin Klein’s vibrant orange, fuchsia and yellow jeans, to a Hugo Boss lemon-yellow dress, Diane Von Furstenberg’s bright prints to Kate Spade’s salmon-colored purses (gotta have it!).

April 11, 2012 0 comment

IMAX Worldwide Home Retailers

ColorPOST in the Bahamas!

written by Connie Post

I recently returned from a trip to beautiful Nassau along with IMAX’s Amanda Djukic where we visited Bahamian retailer Furniture Plus. The three store chain is going big with ColorPOST, featuring six complete color stories in each of their stores.

Furniture Plus is an amazing retailer, and the perfect place to see the color stories in action. I was pleased to see that they were executed perfectly by the Furniture Plus team. The individual color stories not only gave a blast of energy and freshness to their retail floors, they also provided an instant store update without renovations. It was simply perfect. The customers were responding not only with curiosity but with their wallets. I love it when a plan comes together they did a fabulous job with the IMAX pods.

The staff is very excited about the new ColorPOST displays, especially Passion which they’ve placed at the front of the store. Furniture Plus focuses on red in their marketing and branding, so Passion is a perfect fit.

After seeing Furniture Plus’s amazing color story implementation, I’m more excited then ever to start seeing how other retailers around the world are using the ColorPOST collections in their stores!

The photo below features the Furniture Plus team along with Amanda and Connie in front the ColorPOST displays at the Nassau location. In order of appearance from left to right: Chantell Robinson, Troy d’Arville (owner), Amanda Djukic, Dawn Forbes, Connie Post, Christopher Cartwright, Krystynia Lee d’Arville, and Wesley Campbell.

February 29, 2012 0 comment

Now Trending Tips

On Trend Now: Winter White

written by Connie Post

Take a look at this month’s major magazine covers. Whatever the weather report may be saying, the home fashion forecast is calling for a white winter. Why white? White in all its myriad variations is clean and immaculate, pure in heart and spirit. Like a porch light that welcomes us home in the darkness or a cold glass of milk after a cookie, white comforts, calms and refreshes. Sounds pretty good in difficult times, doesn’t it?

Still, as wonderfully crisp and clean as white feels in a messy world, studies show we often choose white for the wrong reasons. Fearing a costly decorating mistake, homes (and retail stores!) get stuck in neutral, with walls awash in all manner of white and beige. Herewith, a few ideas on how to play it for all its worth this season, rather than play it safe.

First, my pick for this month’s most inspirational magazine cover. A simple white sofa surrounded by exciting, color-packed pillows is a quick fix for the winter doldrums. The good news is that it’s easy to harness this energy to promote the purchase of new home décor at your store.

Demonstrate to your customers that the advantage to having upholstered furniture in neutral tones is that it’s easy to quickly and affordably change the feeling of a room setting with colorful decorative accessories. After all, the very definition of a neutral palette is that it works beautifully with every other color on the wheel!

Bear in mind that, for home and home décor retailers, the best thing about HGTV is that all of their content constantly promotes change. My advice is to hop on the coattails of that media monster and start promoting like the savvy home fashionista that you are!

As John Ross, chief executive of Shopper Sciences recently noted in a report on 2011 Holiday Shopping Trends, “Americans may be under pressure from the economy, but that doesn’t mean they want to endure a disappointing holiday… For those retailers and brands willing to share, support and empower shoppers – rather than just sell to them – it has the opportunity to be a bright season.”

IMAX has made it easier than ever to empower your shoppers with an ever-expanding collection of ColorPOST accessory pods. The pods make it simple for your customers to pull a room together and a no-brainer for merchants to project a fashionable image!

January 5, 2012 0 comment

Graphics and Marketing Tips

Influencing Consumers Now

written by Connie Post

The retail landscape has changed dramatically in the last few years thanks to style influencers like Restoration Hardware. Among the retailer’s latest moves: a 680-page “Wish Book” that landed with a resounding “thud” in mailboxes across America this season. Like the September issue of Vogue, aka the bible of Fall Fashion, the sheer weight of Restoration’s publication commanded attention in the daily deluge of holiday catalogs. A lesson in brand strategy, the message to consumers was pretty simple: In a world of retail sameness, when it comes to the home category, Restoration Hardware is, well, Big!

January 5, 2012 0 comment