Dear friends,
I spent a good part of Saturday unpacking art and craft supplies and making a workspace for myself.
In our former home, we had a large and light-filled sunroom with a southern exposure. I co-opted half the room as a crafting area and gave it a formal name ? the Magpie Dream Studio (Magpie, after my former blog moniker). I miss it.
In our new home, I?ve spent 10 months pondering where to set up shop. Should I decamp in our basement (spacious, and the mess is hidden)? In the laundry room (huge, with oodles of built-in cabinetry and a desk)? In the back-entry alcove (tucked away, perfect size for a desk, and near a large pantry)?
As it turns out, the basement got filled fast thanks to Mr. Mom?s workbench and the kids? ping pong table. He also co-opted the laundry room. I know it sounds like a strange place for him to hang-out, but our laundry room is a gigantic space. It?s filled with light, and because of the built-in desk, it?s a perfect place for our large iMac computer. With both a computer and washing machines handy, the laundry room has become Mr. Mom?s Man Cave. And the back-entry alcove ? my final choice for a crafting space ? has been consumed with jackets and shoes and boots and bags. It?s just waiting for me to hire a carpenter to build a mud-room type bench and cabinets.
So every single space I contemplated has been otherwise occupied. There was only one other possible location ? an alcove in our master bedroom. It wasn?t really on my list because ? I don?t know ? it just seemed like a mixed metaphor, of sorts.? But, upon further reflection, the idea began to grow on me.
Our bedroom is plenty large enough. Like the rest of the house, it?s light and bright, and the alcove is near a large window. I have an easy chair and side table near a television in our bedroom, which is situated right by the alcove, so I could go back and forth between my new crafting corner and my reading/TV corner. And, best of all, it?s one of the quietest spots in the house. All it would take is some shuffling of furniture.
I started by moving a bookcase that had been nestled in the alcove to another location in our home. Then I scavenged a work table (my grandmother?s antique oak table from my former Dream Studio), a shelf, a slip-covered chair, a pin board, and a lamp from other rooms ? and I was almost in business.
Here?s what it looked like before I got organized.
Photo by Instagram, 1977 filter
That stack of family photos had been hanging on the wall above the bookcase before I moved it. I took them down to make room for the new set-up, not sure what I?d ultimately do with them. But once I got everything organized, I realized they?d look just fine (and provide inspiration) hung salon-style back where they began.
It looks like this now:
Here?s another view:
The green shelf is part of a two-piece bookcase that?s been unused since we moved. It makes a perfect cubby for organizing things.
Remember my friend Maridel, the collage artist I introduced you to in this post?? Here?s a couple of shots of her creations, strategically placed to inspire me.
Did you know that shells and stones . . .
and tiny vases could be such lovely works of art?
I?m itching to make my own, along with a collaged greeting card series I?ve got percolating in my brain.
After almost a year on hiatus, I?ve got just the place I need to get creative. Not as large as the space I was used to, but quite lovely nonetheless.
With gratitude {for a quiet place to dream},
Joan, who must leave this post to run to the kitchen, her other dream studio, where some peaches are calling out to be made into pie
Like this:
2 bloggers like this post.
Source: http://debtofgratitude.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/atelier-chick-corner-a-little-of-both-please/
al franken al franken mary did you know seattle seahawks philadelphia eagles vince young vince young
No comments:
Post a Comment