studio reorganization

i hope everyone's holiday weekend was fantastic! the long weekend flew by for us. we went on a long (16 mile) hike for a couple of days...but that'll be in tomorrow's post.

after weeks of procrastination, i finally got started on my studio reorganization! my wonderful hubby helped move all of the furniture in my studio and set up the awesome flat file he built for me! it isn't quite finished yet (we didn't paint it) but i was impatient and wanted to start using it.

i've started putting things in their new homes, and cleaning stuff out. we just received our recycling bin, so i'm separating the recyclables as i go...and wow there is a lot of stuff that can be recycled! makes me feel a lot better about getting rid of those tiny scraps of paper, knowing that they will be put to use.

i would show you a before pic of the studio, but quite frankly it was such a disaster, it's embarrassing. so i'll hold off until the renovations are complete :)

before & after - bedroom

i apologize for not getting the pics up over the weekend. the days just flew by! bfff is back *hooray!* and our puppy can't let him out of his sight. it's the cutest thing. it is SO good to have our little family back together. i was scrambling to get the room finished before bfff flew in - so things weren't quite as tidy as i had hoped & not all the pictures were hung. oh well.

i remembered to take the before pictures after some things were already moved around and i had taped the walls. oops. at least i remembered this time. the room is a long rectangle - big, but awkward. as you'll see, there are 2 closets, 2 doors & 1 window, making furniture placement rather difficult.

here's the before pics:

on the right wall you can see closet doors

taken from the closet doors in previous pic

and the after pics:

bfff has been wanting an office area for quite some time, so i made an attempt to set one up, along with all of his "me" wall stuff. the bed & office areas are currently separated by vito's gigantic kennel, but hopefully we won't need that soon & i'll be able to put a shelf there instead.

the white lights were inspired from a picture i saw on design sponge (here). they add a nice little soft glow & looked better than i hoped.

in addition to the paint, i got a chocolate duvet cover (matches the puppy), new aqua sheets, & a little pillow (that vito has already decided is his).

vito posing & smiling for me

bfff's reaction was classic! after we got home from the airport, i rushed upstairs to get vito, plugged in the icicle lights, and closed the doors. bfff eventually went into the bedroom and exclaimed "HOLY ****! this looks GREAT!" hahaha!! definitely the reaction i was going for. i got a little nervous the day he flew with thoughts of "what if he doesn't like it? i don't have time to paint over it!!" i'm so glad he likes it & has a space to work now.

my studio space & office (aka storage room for random stuff) is a mess right now and are next on my list to revamp!

projects

i was working on a couple of projects around the house last night. one big project - filing. i HATE filing. i love the result of having things organized, but the actual process of filing is just awful. so i put it off. and put it off. and then 10 months later, it's the end of the year and i have to file because i'm looking for something important. so i did that, and its a relief to be done with it.

while i was downstairs filing, the puppy would come down and visit, check on me, or bring a toy to play with. i'd check on him occasionally too. i finally get finished stuffing things in drawers and head upstairs...lo & behold, vito opened up another present...that wasn't his! (it's for our neighbor's baby girl) and he looked SO disappointed that it wasn't a toy - he had this look on his face like a little kid getting underwear for christmas instead of a super cool robot. it was pretty hilarious.

the other project is a secret for now....i did a lot yesterday and will hopefully get most of it done in a couple more days. my friend jamie (aka partner in crime) might help too. i'll have pictures this weekend. i'm so excited!

office hankering

with the two big shows coming up, i've been living and breathing art - books, cards, book board, paper, glue (not the kind with the fumes), needles, binding...

and i've been getting these urges to CLEAN and ORGANIZE the house. strong urges. like the ones you go with because you don't know when you'll ever be that motivated to clean something ever again. but i've managed to put them off.

bff and i have been talking about having an organized, usable office - as opposed to the dumping ground for paperwork and randomness for a lot of my stuff. a while back, i found these super cool pictures (it was either on hgtv's site or design sponge - if they are your pictures, let me know & i will gladly give you credit!) i was looking for some inspiration for an office that isn't drab and boring.

it's blue. 'nuff said.

i like the bright colors - although yellow might be a bit much for me. however, the use of wall space as storage (& as a desk) was pretty cool, especially since the room for our office is small.

this one is probably my favorite. i like the little splashes of color, plus the extremely organized wall space. makes me want to go out and buy a ton of office stuff.

bff & i will have to consider a few things - will we use this room as an office for both of us? and how will we make that functional? will we keep the giant (and extremely heavy, cumbersome) desk that his old roommate left behind? or start fresh? do we paint the walls? (i vote yes)

perhaps this will be my project after the shows are over. or maybe i will just catch up on tv & knitting. eh.