|
|
Saturday was spent at Home Depot picking out paint colors for our studios. For me (and Josh) a trip to Home Depot is dreaded. I find the place to be completely overwhelming, filled with potential that is totally not accessible to us. I see pretty light fixtures and immediately feel my whole body tense up with thoughts of “how the heck would this be done?!” “what if i get the wrong one and it can’t be used?” “who would put the new lighting in for us?” “would they charge us too much because we don’t know what we’re doing!!?” “what if they needed to rewire something?!” so I give up and instead of cool new pendulum lighting I settle for the 80′s glass square fixtures that came with our house. One day.
I go through this process with everything at Home Depot. Putting in a french door, a new bathtub, molding, tiles in the bathroom floor, back splash…you name it, I want to do it and have no idea how. Paint seems to be the easiest decision even though I never have a plan or a scheme in mind. My idea of a plan is gut instinct and hope I’m right. I’m the queen of “make it work” so when I had a gallon of Martha’s light gray picked out with a quart of “dusk” (a purply gray) I felt content with that decision. All over light gray, accents in purply gray. I get back to the counter and the man says to me “I hope I got this right, I dropped the paint samples as soon as you guys walked away” a quick glance and I realize I now have a gallon of purply gray and a quart of gray. I decide that this is the paint gods sending me a message to go all out and say “yup, this is fine”.
Sunday I got to work. Let me just say that painting is a great arm exercise! I got two walls painted in a process that can only be called “half-assed” if my dad was here it would not have approved of my method. Instead of moving furniture out of the room I just moved it to one side. I then covered the floors with that plastic floor/furniture protector and lined the base boards in blue painters tape. I started rolling away. “this is easy!” I thought to myself as I watched the off-white walls turn to lavender and then finally settle into their dark gray purple.
I noticed that I accidentally touched some of the white base boards with my purple roller.
Good thing the previous owners left all the extra paint with labels. I was covered. By the time I painted the middle of the wall I settled on the floor to start painting above the trim and around sockets. At one point I just painted the entire socket and plates because it started to annoy me. And then I moved to the top where I did the best I could to avoid hitting the ceiling with my purple paint. I did this about four times, and those spots mock me.
It looks good! I’m a professional!
Nope. On wall number two I forgo the drop cloth and painters tape all together. At this point I took a break to clean the rollers and when I came back an hour later the excess water in the rollers created a huge mess of streaky paint water running down the walls. Idiot. In shock I rip my shirt of, a shirt I deemed appropriate for painting in and started mopping up the floor. I recover, and repaint the wall. All is good. And I keep going until half the room is painted. Towards the end, the old paint in the tray was drying and starting to peel off into the new paint creating a “goo”. I debated how a professional would handle it. I just kept going scrapping off the wobbly bits as I went along.
I found that the painters tape, for me, only created the illusion of a perfect divide between new paint and white trim. It was wobbly and I gave up on the whole thing too soon, deciding to go back over my mistakes with white paint later.
Do you remember Drew Barrymore’s office in Domino magazine a couple of years ago?I miss Domino magazine. I wish I still had that issue, but you can easily find images online:
 The Decor8 blog did a post about it here. I love the antique/modern/dramatic look of Drew’s Manhattan office. I like the idea of making my studio visually stunning, a place I want to go. And why not? I spend most of my time in this room and will be spending even more time in it once I get everything together.
I like the idea of a drink station, an office area, a place to make jewelry, sketch, and sew. I want it to look like a professional office without the florescent lights. A place to meet people, to hang out, and just spent many creative hours.
****
Using ShopSense I will create a series of my fantasy office inspiration boards. Many of the items featured are way out of my budget, but I like the idea of collected colors and textures to help me as I redecorate and organize my office space.
Fantasy Office Look: Part One
(Click individual images for direct links to the website)
I’ve been really productive this week in my studio. Not so much with the creation part, but with the organization part. After reading Alicia’s post about her studio makeover I looked down at all the scraps of paper in the floor, the piles of books and magazines and thought “this room needs major help” and so I got started.
I grabbed a couple of boxes and canvas shopping bags and started to gather everything off of the floor. No organization, I just need to clear some space. This is where I’m at now:
This is the view from the doorway. I love that this room has hardwood floors and it’s big enough for all of my projects. The cream walls are starting to bother me though. At first I thought it would be a nice neutral but I realized that I haven’t been treating our house as “ours”, we are so used to renting and not being allowed to paint or wanting to invest the time. Panting this room, for me, will be an initiation process from “their room” to “my room” and so this weekend that is exactly what I’m going to do.
My studio has only one small window, eventually I’d like to invest in another window on the wall where the red dresser is. Anyone know how much this process is? I wouldn’t be opposed to french doors.
Here is another view of the couch wall. This couch will eventually be removed. It was very hard to get into this room, but it takes up so much space and I just don’t use it. I’ve had this couch since my junior year of high school because it houses a twin bed. I love the twin bed aspect and the couch overall, but I just don’t know if it’s useful anymore.
Oops! How did that get in here? This is my “jewelry” section. As you can see I forgot to pick the stuff up from this side, but that is the plan for today. The closet is essential for storage and right now I’m using plastic drawers and closet caddies.
Here is another picture of the couch area. I wanted to show how much empty wall space there is.
Here is the last picture of my “office” area. I like that my desk faces the window and as you can see this area is majorly cluttered, no wonder I have a hard time focusing in here.
And that’s it. Crazy, right? I definitely have my work cut out.
Part Two: The game plan.
At the risk of sounding like a crazy cat lady, I love our cats Simon and Garfunkel, particularly this cat above. I picked Simon up at a strangers house just five years ago.
At that time I was still living in Huntington and going to school. I had just come back from a summer living in Brooklyn and I was really ready for a change.
I started an organization on campus called Handmade Brigade, which sizzled along with my academics. One meeting night one of our three members casually asked if anyone would like a kitten. Her roommates cat got pregnant and had too many. I perked up right away and not knowing if I could even handle a kitten right then I said “I’ll take one!”.
The next evening I was walking into a house where a lady was holding two tiny kittens in the palms of her hands. One was calico and the other was orange and white. In my head, I hoped it was the orange and white one. And couldn’t believe my luck when she handed him to me.
The first night I had him I was afraid I would accidentally kill him. Give him the wrong food, roll over on him while I slept…anything. But the days passed and as I got older, he did too. My life was changing in a big way and he was there.
I felt lonely and isolated in those days in Huntington. Long gone were the dorm days with my girlfriends; we were all pairing up and moving on. Me and Josh got back together and briefly he considered moving to West Virginia.
I needed out. I left school, and a few months later I moved to NYC with Simon on my lap. He loves riding in the car and unlike the usual spastic cat with just sleep the entire ride cuddling as close to you as he can get.
He lived in our little apartment with us for two years. We even took him around the block in our shopping cart on several occasions. Eventually we brought a stray in off of the streets and named him Garfunkel.
What I love about Simon and what I think most people love about their pets is that they are constant, endlessly loyal, without judgment and his little velvet ears are source of comfort when life seems uncertain.
Every morning I know I can count on a little furry lump at my feet. He will wake up as soon as he hears us stirring around eventually making his way to our stomachs and rubbing his face against ours. He never gets tired of doing this. I know that if I’m in the bathroom, he will be in the sink. If I’m on the couch watching tv, he is asleep next to me on the arm. If I’m in my studio working he is in the window looking at birds.
Five years later, my life is 100% better (and completely unexpected!) and I’m so glad that he has been here through it.
Here’s to my furry best friend, may we have many more years together!
You know who is really good at lists? Not me! Elsie Flanagan from Red Velvet Art. I’ve been reading her blog A Beautiful Mess for a couple of years now and I’m always amazed at how much she gets done. Does this woman sleep?
I took one of her online courses and during a Q and A session I asked (along with everyone else) “how in the world do you do it all!?” and this was her response:
“Lorrie,
First of all, thank you so much! You are really kind. I am glad you could join us today.
Ok.. as far as daily work; I usually get coffee with Jeremy each morning so I do get dressed each day (unless i am in the middle of a MAJOR deadline or update, in which case i stay home until it is done and pretty much don’t do anything else… haha!). I really enjoy my work, so I don’t have a problem with being motivated but i usually have “too much” to get done so i have to choose the most urgent work first each morning. I try to spend a few night each week creating for fun or doing a personal project. That helps me stay sane too! 
I completely understand the thing about feeling overwhelmed. When I am really stressed it’s easy to just want to walk away from it. It can be daunting. I keep lists and I usually have “musts” and “maybes” each day. That helps a lot.
I also understand the fear of failure. I will tell you this though…. living dreams or making brave career goals is a lifestyle & a habit. It becomes much easier and more natural the more you practice. At first it can be difficult, but eventually you won’t really think about failure anymore. I fail at things all the time. It’s part of life. It’s a form of balance and it keeps me humble. I can appreciate a good dose of failure now and then. Plus… you can’t live a dream without risk! It’s so worth it!!!
Haha… and thank you for the “workaholic” comment. It’s a trait that I’ve learned to develop instead of deny.  It’s not a bad thing as long as other things are also in place! XO.”
I took this class many months ago, cannot remember what it was on, but this response I held on to. Elsie continues to inspire me to create goals and keep going. My default is to pile on so much work that I never get anything done because where in the world do you actually start? So her “must” and “maybe” list ideas help me a lot.
I often get asked how I do as much as I do and I don’t feel I am nearly as productive as Elsie, but the only answer I have is to start somewhere and to keep working. Working for yourself requires a lot of self-motivation, you have to create your own deadlines and importance in reaching them.
Another thing that is hard for me to realize when being “self-employed” is that you have to work 100% harder than you ever will at a job working for someone else. I’m not saying that I’ve never worked hard at a job, or that people aren’t putting in many hours a week, but when you work for yourself, there isn’t a clock in or clock out. You can’t just leave at the end of the day. In fact, if you love your work, it’s always on your mind.
So with that said, I wanted to share my to-do list. Some things are incredibly small, while others may be vague. Here I will navigate my process for working my way through it in a must/maybe style.
- Update both blogs (must)
- Deposit check in the bank (must)
- Go to the gym (must)
- Add clear photos to hotel directory, change phone numbers (must)
- Add new shopping guide sections to hotel guest directory (must)
- Take trash and recycling to dumpster (must)
- Dry and put clothes away (all clothes away! (maybe)
- Clear off dining room table (maybe)
- Work on graphic design section of new website (maybe)
- Update Bio on demand studios (must)
- Write DS article (must)
- Email friends about nyc trip- schedule get-together (maybe)
- Pack for saturday camping trip, buy food for trip (maybe)
- Work on outfits for blogher (yes, I do this!) (maybe)
- Inquire about office signs (must)
- Create tabletop display for WR, find new printer (deadline aug. 12th) (must)
- photograph jewelry on white background (maybe)
- update etsy shop, blogs, twitter and facebook with new jewelry (maybe)
- Change last name on credit card from feen to fenn (maybe)
- Update driver’s license address (maybe)
- Send birthday gift to mom (happy birthday mom!) (must)
- Update September calendar with Artisan market dates, craft fairs, trips etc. (maybe)
- Sign up for food handlers license class (maybe)
- Finish blog header design for Heather (maybe)
- Order jewelry supplies (must)
- Work on new line of fall 2010 jewelry and accessories (maybe)
- Update jewelry table display (maybe)
- Clear off back deck (must)
- Clean out car (maybe)
- Clean out refrigerator (maybe)
- Prepare and photograph foods for catering website (maybe)
- Sign up for October and November craft shows (send application and fee’s) (maybe)
- Update profit loss for Oliver and personal finances (maybe)
- Work on August Budget and projected income sheets (maybe)
- finish organizing studio, donate unused excess (maybe)
- organize clothes, list anything unused on blog for sale (reader suggested) (maybe)
- make secret gift shirt (maybe)
- work on september birthday gift ideas (maybe)
- work on personal binders (maybe)
I happened to stop by west elm this morning to check out their new website and fall collection and have to say that the warm palette is lovely. Here is my interpretation:
I instantly think of the interiors from It’s Complicated:
I admit, I loved this movie for the interiors more than the content. The kids (adult children) were unbearable and she should have gotten back with her ex- husband, but none of that matter because this house was glorious.
My favorites from the fall collection (click for links back to the site):
Since moving into our new home, I’ve been slowwwwly unpacking my studio and getting things organized just enough to use the computer and make jewelry. This is the first time in my life that I’ve had a real room for my creative adventures, and it’s not too small or two big. My own wish would be to have another window, which I don’t think would be too impossible to install down the road.
My first purchase?
 This Braxton Trestle Desk from Target. A steal at $150, and really well made and easy to put together. The first shelf houses printer paper and the second, design books. I needed it just for computer work and writing and it’s perfect.
The room was painted before we moved in to a nice shade of creamy off-white which I enjoy, and have wondered if I should paint it, or if I should go any direction with this room aesthetically? My main goal now is organization. I love that I have a closet now. It has one of those canvas closet caddies that I’ve stored paper and notebooks and extra giant natural lighting bulbs. And then I have a tall stack of drawers for my packaging supplies.
Well anyway, I’ve been thinking of really going all out in this room and making it the best that I possibly can, because this is where I spend a lot of my time. This room should inspire creativity which means lots of uncluttered surfaces.
I need the room to function as a computer/design room, a jewelry studio, a place a paint and sew, and a place to just be.
I found this studio on flowdesignstudio.com and think an island like this would be really useful.
We have one episode left of Pushing Daisies and I’m sad to let it go so soon. This show reminded me visually of Amelie and Penelope, the content was light and airy, slightly morbid, with tinges of whimsy and romance that pulled me in every episode.
The visual, surreal nature of Pushing Daisies is evident in these screen captures.
I’m going to miss you Ned, Chuck, Olive and Emerson!
We’ve been eating out a lot lately making last night’s dinner a welcome change. Squash and zucchini freshly picked Tuesday from the Floyd Eco Village, along with basil for the walnut pesto. It doesn’t get any more delicious than that. Organic tomatoes, hormone-free grilled chicken and lots of garlic and olive oil on everything. Thank you for being so awesome summer!
|
|
Comments