OKAYYYYY.
So I officially have been open since May 1, 2021 and it has been both the most incredible experience of my life as well as the most humbling. So much work has gone into this place and an entire TEAM of friends have helped this become what it is today. Shout out to Aaron, Jen, Brittany, Colin, Christina, Alyssa, Matt, Mathieu and others who have directly helped on the back end of things over the last couple of months. None of this would be possible without each of you. <3
I've had a tremendous amount of messages and comments about how I put this place together, where I sourced my furniture, how I decided it was the right time to finally sign a lease and so many more questions. I figured I'd do my best to accumulate all of the answers into one place for easy resources and that's what this blog is going to entirely contain. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to our team (support@thehooknooklife.com) so we can help you! Also, be sure to read my other blog post answering how this shop got up and running - you can find that here!
QUICK REFERENCE INFO:
ADDRESS : 2195 Hyacinth St NE, Suite 145, Salem, OR 97301
PHONE : 971-707-4921
OPEN HOURS :
- Monday : CLOSED
- Tuesday : CLOSED
- Wednesday : CLOSED
- Thursday : 10am-6pm
- Friday : 10am-6pm
- Saturday : 10am-6pm
- Sunday : 10am-4pm
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STORE PICK UP OPTION : If you are local, you may order ahead online and choose "Local Pickup" to avoid shipping charges (and spend a few minutes at the shop with me!). Please come to the front counter with your order number and proof of purchase, or call 971-707-4921 for curbside pickup. This also applies to The Hook Nook Subscription Box.
Ok, so once I finally got the corrugated metal finished on the wall behind the front counter, I immediately envisioned a sign of my logo to sit above the doors. After talking with a few people about ideas, we ended up doing something super DIY and I couldn't be happier! I worked with a local laser cutting and engraving artist (Maria Kessler at Laserfied) to create the custom double-layered wood logo. To make it pop, I wanted to have some kind of faux grass situation (let's be honest, I'm not prepared to care for a living wall 10' up on the wall...) to create a gorgeous contrast. To make that background, I will admit - I could have probably done it better and easier another way, but I simply used the tile outdoor flooring from IKEA and it worked out great!! What do you think?! Also, ALL of the artificial plants in the shop came from IKEA. Just so you know.
For my exterior sign, I asked a fellow tenant here at the 45th Parallel building who they used locally to help with their sign, and they sent me over to 1-Day Signs where I had a wonderful experience and completely affordable!! 10/10 will go back for more signage needs.
Artificial plants are the only thing I snagged from IKEA.. I also ended up using eight 4x2 KALLAX cube shelf organizers. Six of them are in the center of the shop housing all of my delicious yarn, while the other two were turned onto their side, given cute little feet and turned into the front counter! This allows me to have ample storage behind the custom DIY counter front built by Brittany and me. Team work makes the dream work.
I wanted to offer different kinds of "moods" so incorporating other modern designs was fun to play around with. I found these awesome 6-tier shelves on Amazon and bought sooooooo many of them because I absolutely loved seeing how they looked standing next to each other. The storage baskets and that absolutely gorgeous teal knit-style bench were also from Amazon!
I found these bookshelves that I am using for my growing community library on Amazon. The electric fireplace and velvet chairs were found on Wayfair. The rug and mini table were items I already had at home.
The community library was inspired by the Little Free Libraries located all across the country and, with my own personal adoration for reading books, I wanted to offer the gift of reading to those who may be interested, as well as to show our future generation that books are wonderfully celebrated. To participate in this community library, simply bring in one or more books to donate to the cause and take a book for yourself to read! A simple way to explain it, is to call it a "Take One, Leave One" library and I'm alllllllllllll about it. There have already been multiple donations!! Thank you to those of you who have contributed.
If you are interested in contributing to this community library, you can drop off any books to the shop during normal business hours, or mail them to the shop (address is in the beginning of this post). Thank you!
Almost all artwork displayed in the shop is available for purchase and are all handmade by Alyssa Close who is also a Salem local and a personal friend of mine since high school. She is absolutely talented and you can email her at lyss.close@gmail.com.
OKAYYYYY so even before I ever knew I'd be able to eventually have my own shop, it's always been an absolute dream of mine to have a custom mural. However, the only problem with murals painted onto the wall, is it's kind of difficult to take with you if you move locations and I become WAY too attached to things so I wanted something that was able to be transported in the future. If you are local to Salem, you may have come across the artist's work all throughout the city in different small businesses. Christina Oleskiewicz from @pinkhousenw on Instagram created the wonderful mural on the chalkboard when I shared an office with a real estate agent friend of mine awhile back and I've been obsessed with her since.
When I reached out to her for this project, I didn't really know what I wanted but I knew I wanted to be a little bit "testing" of the waters but in a tasteful way. I told her that I'd love to incorporate pink, gold and my pet snake, Basilisk. Other than that, I didn't see much progress as time went on until she brought the finished pieces and unveiled them here at the shop. Once I saw them I literally fell to the floor and started crying. I cannot even begin to express how immaculately detailed this two-piece of art is. I'm hopeful to have proper photographs done of them soon so I can try to capture more of their magnificence for those of you that aren't able to see it in real life. Stay tuned!!
In addition to my product collection, I wanted to also create a space where people felt comfortable hanging out, find inspiration for their own creativity and spend quality time with their friends and family to create memories of peace, joy and love. To achieve this, I set up two sitting areas as well as a small area for kiddos to color and read. One of the sitting spaces
I found the pink velvet couch, both wicker chairs and the faux marble coffee table on Wayfair.
And last, but FAR from least, this is Patty and she sets the mood for the shop - ha! I found this mannequin on Amazon, dressed her in some of my handmade goodies and had my husband (Aaron Carey / @_aaroncarey on Instagram) "tattoo" her arms with Sharpie. She's so freaking cool.
If you are unable to come visit in real life, DO NOT FRET!! You can still shop everything online and I will personally package it up for you and ship it to wherever you may reside on this planet. I got you, boo! And to those of you who are planning to visit, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!
xo,
Jessica
