PHOTO FURNITURE FABULOUS.
by Lisa Feren
pull up to meet Kara Greenwell, founder of Narrative Décor at her new artist’ s studio at Glashaus located in Barrio Logan. I am suddenly overwhelmed with an explosion of ideas of which to write about and I am struggling with which to write about first!
Do I talk about Barrio Logan? Of course! The neighborhood, which is home to Chicano Park, which was recently named a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places— has the largest collection of Chicano murals in the world! These historic murals line the pillars of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. It is breathtaking to walk around what has become known as an open-air museum! The California Arts Council has also selected this eclectic and diverse, yet inclusive, community as one of California’ s premier state-designated cultural districts!( link to press release)
So it is no wonder that Glashaus, a renovated glass factory and warehouse space that now houses studio space for rent to a plethora of artists from goldsmiths, to glass blowers to painters to jewelers reside there.
“ Photos should be seen not stored”
Kara oozes with artistry, originality, ingenuity and all those other buzzwords that make you realize you are in the presence of a true creative.
How did Kara get the idea for Narrative – a photo inspired décor and custom furnishings company?“ Because every home should tell a story. Your house should be a reflection of you: what you love, where you’ ve been and who you long to be. By blending photographs and furnishings, you have another way to express yourself creatively in your space and personalize something that could otherwise be a throw away accessory.”
Kara always wanted to start a company in the home décor space. Kara and her husband are addicted to refurbishing historic homes – having renovated 3 houses over 100 years old. Their current home in Hillcrest was built in the 1890’ s and was used as a carriage house! The actual idea for Narrative came to fruition while Kara was on the phone with her sister who is a photographer. Kara wanted to redo dining room chairs that were given to her by her grandmother. She commented to her sister that it would be amazing if she could put photographs on the chairs. Photographs on the chairs!!!! BOOM! Then came research on how to print photos on fabric( in a high quality way). Then came lots of experimenting. On Chairs. Pillows. Lamps. The dog. Just kidding about the dog …
Lamps when lit up – literally light her up!
Currently, Narrative offers, and will continue to offer, custom designed products such as lampshades, chairs and pillows- but stay tuned you may see her exclusive designs in your favorite home décor shop soon as she has plans to branch out into retail. Kara is also partnering with a fellow Glashaus glassblower to create unique bases for her lampshades.
In Fall 2017, Kara is launching the first Narrative lighting collections. One collection is iconic California landscapes and the other was created in collaboration with youth photographers – through a local non-profit, Outside the Lens where a portion of the proceeds go back to support their efforts.
“ For people who crave personality to light up a room.”
Kara is full of slogans – mostly due to her marketing background. Kara has a long list of corporate accomplishments from Marketing Director of a software company here in San Diego to running a successful marketing consulting firm serving companies in the real estate, technology and consumer products niches.
Marketing consulting gave Kara flexibility on how she spent her time after the birth of her first daughter. It also taught her valuable skills on entrepreneurship, finance, billing, tracking and accountability and time management to name a few.
Not only is Kara creative, smart and adorable, she has a natural calm about her – even in the midst of her crazy, busy life. With two little girls, a husband, a dog and a thriving business, I asked Kara to give us tips and advice on how she balances it all!
Time Management:“ Managing time is a constant struggle. It’ s been important to reflect on what’ s most important to me. Family still comes first, which is always difficult. I learned to allocate my time differently- cranking out work when it’ s working hours. I found it most helpful to get out of the house and into a workspace( hence Glashaus). Finding a collaborative space rather than a coffee shop has helped me brainstorm and interact with peers. For my business in particular, visually spreading out my designs and materials is important. A studio also ensures little hands stay away from finished products! For people who can’ t get out of the house it is important to find ways to still interact with creative fields. Join women’ s peer networks who meet regularly or find some other meet up group. Just keep outside influences so you don’ t feel like you’ re alone and lose focus.”
Best tech tool tip: Use online time management tools! I love Wunderlist and learned how to really use it to maximize its capabilities. I triage my to do list. I list no more than 3 things that must happen that day and put no more than 3 on deck. It’ s important to only list goals that are achievable. Otherwise, you feel like you haven’ t accomplished muchbut you have!”
I also use“ Later” for social media scheduling. Instagram is my primary social vehicle. I use Later to post out 1 week at a time.
Outsource what you can.“ I feel like I can do a little bit of everything but can’ t do it all at once. For instance I have someone helping me with social media posts. I have a seamstress for pillow construction. I also outsource with photographers.. Hint.. Hint … An opportunity for any photographers reading …”
I returned home and caught sight of my couch pillows and my lampshades. No stories there. Then I thought back to my last several family vacations and the photos which live on my computer that I haven’ t looked at in months( or years). And it hit me that Kara is right. My home doesn’ t tell a story. My family’ s story. That needs to change. One photo and lampshade at a time.
Glashaus theglashaus. com