Design Conference, Junk Bonanza and 100 Cups of Coffee.

A Blain & Grant Collaboration

Spring is in full swing!  Literally, like a full golf swing.  Pat and Grant have just returned from Arizona golf-cations and we’ve squeezed in a couple of quick local rounds at Leonard Country Club to enjoy the pristine spring North Dakota weather.  Aside from golf, spring also means irritable road construction for everyone, planting season for farmers, severe allergies for me, and a full slate of events to prepare for at Grain Designs.

Although we do various events throughout the year, these spring events are undoubtedly the most stressful.  Not only are Eco Chic’s Design Conference and Spring Junk Bonanza two of our largest events of the year; they also fall on the same weekend which has the Grain Designs team scurrying in 31 different directions for the entire month of April.  As stressful as these events may be they give us a chance to explore new products, visit with customers, and share our story.  In case you’re unfamiliar with any of these events, I’d encourage you to visit the links above or read on.  I think you’ll want to clear your calendars the weekend of April 22nd and plan to attend at least one of these events.  Either you’ll be there getting inspired or you’ll have to hear your friends at work talk about their great experience for weeks to come.

Speaking of the scurrying I have to handle some other issues and I’m going to let Grant take over from here.

Eco Chic Design Conference 2017

Without giving away too much information I want to briefly cover what we have in store for the upcoming Design Conference. As we have continued to evolve as both a furniture company and a design company we have come to find a recurring list of questions from our clients. These questions vary from how can I use different products and materials to update my space all the way to ‘are my kids going to destroy this’, frequently followed up with ‘that’s why we can’t have nice things’. At design conference it is our goal to educate the attendees on cost effective design solutions, multifunctional/DURABLE pieces of furniture and decor, as well as inspire new and creative design solutions that can be made to fit each persons specific needs. Now let’s not forget that beauty is also in the eye of the beholder so we are not going to limit our specific design style or pieces to only the products we have. We know and acknowledge that everyone is different and it is our goal to provide informed Design feedback that is not based around one specific style or preference. Basically if you are in love with your printed chicken scene wall paper it’s our goal to help you design with it and around it. However we draw the line if anyone wants a bright red crowing rooster image on their custom table.

Here’s a couple photos of us with the previous Design Conference personalities.

At Design conference we will also have a full booth that will have new products, information on how to start a custom projects and opportunities to win custom pieces including a sliding barn door! We will also be providing a gift to everyone one that attends, along with coupon discounts for everything in our booth. Design conference is our opportunity to give back to those that have given us the chance to start and grow Grain Designs and we are eagerly awaiting the chance to meet and talk with everyone there.

(swig of coffee, quick head in hand back to the keyboard)

Spring Junk Bonanza 2017

As I previously mentioned we will have a FULL booth and display in Minneapolis at Junk Bonanza at the SAME TIME so if you simply can’t make it to design conference you will also have an opportunity to meet us and see more new product on display there. We have updated our booth, printed new portfolios and created custom design sheets to help inform how the custom process works; from tables and doors to mantles and custom signs. We really look forward to this spring event and if you make it there on Thursday or Friday one of us will be there to help you!

If you can’t make it to either of these upcoming events, we hope to see you at an event in the future or jump over to our online store!  For now it’s back to the chaos of the shop but thank you for reading and we look forward to seeing you soon!