WAS THE NEWSLETTER #113

I’m Paige Wassel. WAS the Newsletter is your weekly dose of design inspiration, where we know that quality can’t be rushed.

THE OFFICE SUPPLIES PHOTO SHOOT

WHO

Office Supplies is the office/vintage store hybrid Kate Leonard and I have opened. Did we think it would be fully operational before now? Um, yeah. We signed the lease basically New Year’s Day 2025, and then I proceeded to have one of the busiest years of my life. But I feel like the big reveal will have been worth the wait.

Also, we funded the whole thing ourselves, which means every shelf, cabinet, and design decision was deeply considered and occasionally delayed until we could afford it. Very glamorous, much bootstrap.

So, today I’m bringing you behind the scenes of the photoshoot for the now-completed Office Supplies, captured by our friend Cara Totman. Or at least the V.1 completion. I think we all know I’m never actually done with a space…

WHERE

We kicked off the Office Supplies redesign last year with the red floors, after a profoundly deep cleaning. Then we added the massive table. Later, we made a pilgrimage to an office liquidator where we scored old Herman Miller cabinets and filing systems that now hold our vintage inventory in the front. In the back, they house our actual interior design projects. I’m talking tiles, fabric swatches, light bulbs we need to organize, etc. (Maybe don’t look inside those cabinets yet.)

The ceilings were the final boss. We ripped out the moldy foam tiles because I’m convinced they were trying to kill us. For a while, we had nothing up there and then our landlord insisted we had to have ceilings, which… fair. We replaced them with wood paneling. We’re both so psyched at how they oddly pull the whole space together

We have only one wall of windows at the front, so I was mildly spiraling about whether the photos would look dark in Cara’s shots. Spoiler: they did not.

WHAT

This whole thing happened because Cara was coming to town. She’s based in Massachusetts, and I’ve shot with her before. Big fan of her work. Anyway, when she mentioned she was coming to LA, she asked if we needed photos of the space. We took that as the universe’s way of telling us to finish the damn office already.

Kate and I both come from a prop-styling background, and it’s maybe the most random career detour that continues to pay off. We wanted the shoot to feel casual, not posey. So, we did us, just sprawled across the table with coffee in plastic cups, materials everywhere, with real “we actually work here” energy. There was a moment during the shoot where our outfits and hair and makeup somehow aligned, which almost never happens, which is why I’m choosing to believe Cara is a magician.

WHY

Everything in these photos is available to shop. We’re launching with:

• WAS pillows, totes, wine glasses, vintage fabrics, and more

• Dog beds (because they take up a shocking amount of visual real estate in your home, so why not make them chic?)

• Vintage furniture and decor

• Art and zines

• Pieces from Studio Leonard

• Work by our friend Basma Alromaih

This is basically our design brains, merch table, and vintage obsession, all under one roof wooden ceiling. We’re still tweaking things, like installing better shelving and possibly warming up the white overhead lights. I mean, we never use the Big Light, but the internet still had thoughts. Still, I’m so proud of how it came together after a year of piecing it together bit by bit.

WHEN

February 21
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. PT

We’re officially opening the store next weekend. If you want to shop what you see in the photos, this is your shot! Come see the wood ceilings. Come touch the cabinets. Come buy a chic dog bed.

We’ll be there, BYOM. (Bring Your Own Matcha.)

DO / DON’T by Basma Alromaih

xx,
P