Making the Most of the Space You Have with Florist Whit McClure

Inspiration can be such a double-edged sword. It can simultaneously propel and thwart us. Finding and pinning the workspaces of my favorite creatives fills my head with a dream studio — a far cry from my current setup. Sometimes it’s enough to make my head spin until I feel stuck.

This is the danger of inspiration. It can make us feel like we don’t have enough to start where we are, but Whit McClure is inspiring me to pursue my creative dreams and passions with what I have. In her case, she uses the dining room in her shared Echo Park, Los Angeles home as the hub for WHIT HAZEN, her floral and jewelry design studio. The space is a blank canvas that ebbs and flows with her creations. She is fortunate to have accommodating housemates, who Whit says are “generally more in awe than annoyance with my process.” It helps that Whit surrounds them with beauty.

Whit launched her business from a place of deep conviction. Flowers allowed her to get her hands dirty and above all, to express her reverence for the natural world. For years, she worked in D.C. in the non-profit world, focusing on community gardening and food justice. She had the opportunity to work with a florist before moving to LA and fell in love with the industry. Whether bonding with neighbors over her small garden, or gathering local herbs and produce from the farmers’ market to make and vend floral creations on the fly, her background in community justice shines through her floral career.

“You can always find a reason not to take a risk in life,” Whit shares. “There will always be something that is not quite figured out. Social media has us all thinking that each and everyone of us *woke up like this* (love you, Beyonce, and get in touch for some flowers) with our perfectly curated lives, when in actuality, the struggle is real, and the rent is too damn high.” So let Whit inspire you to follow your passion and dive right into your dining room, or whatever unconventional space you have to work with. Below, she shares her tips for working with what you have and the advice she wishes she’d been given when starting her floral business. —Quelcy

Photography by Ciarra Walters and Whit McClure

Image Above: Flowers drying in florist Whit McClure’s Echo Park dining room.

from Design*Sponge http://www.designsponge.com/2017/05/making-the-most-of-the-space-you-have-with-whit-mcclure.html

from Home Improvment http://notelocreesnitu.tumblr.com/post/160550069514