Organization & Reveal

I was not sure if I wanted to show you the studio in progress or just the reveal but after thinking about it I decided to show you a little bit of my process.  I am very visual so I usually start with pictures from a large variety of sources then I think about it for a little while, then do a ton of measurements and finally I start to move things around to see if what is in my head is really going to work or if I have totally lost my mind.  Good thing for me what I saw in my head was going to work well because some of the furniture and organizing units were awkward to move by myself and also kind of heavy.  First up was packing up all the “stuff” on my sewing/craft counter; there was more there then I thought taking longer then I hoped. From there I moved over to the window wall to remove things from the top of the cube storage units.  The only thing I could not move by myself was the flat screen TV and all the electronics; I had to wait for my husband so we could move everything in unison.  In the meantime while waiting for him I wrestled down the 8 feet of counter top nearly giving myself a hernia, that was a dumb idea, I had no idea how heavy and awkward that was going to be, Yikes!!!  OK, time for the photos of the rest of my progress, don’t laugh too hard, this was hard work and would have been ridiculous to watch if I had video taped it.

 

Oh by the way…. Please excuse the poor quality of my photos, some were taken at night and others with the bright sun streaming in from three big windows, also I seem to be getting shaky hand syndrome and I need a new camera so these are not the best.  Here they are anyway…..you get the idea.

The great migration of the three cabinets and some plastic storage units from under the counter being shimmied/rocked, still full of supplies, across the room to the window wall…Ugh!

First set of cubes empty and moved to the old counter wall waiting for the TV and electronics to be moved back on top of it. The cabinets are set in place waiting for a very heavy counter top to be put in place.

Here we go…electronics in place, cubes in place, cabinets and counter top in place ready to be loaded up. I set some decorative pieces on top of the counters to get a feel for the space.  Almost looks like I am done until you turn your head and look down the room and see this….

Yikes!!! What a mess and the second half of the counter top is missing and there is stuff everywhere!  From here on out it was a huge project to drag the tall storage cubes out of the closet and put them into place so I could add the second 6 foot counter on top of them.  Tons and tons of organization and purging went on in the closet and with all the supplies and décor piled up on the cutting table and on the floors and in the other rooms…Wow!!! It took four intensive days to get it all sorted out and put into place.  Talk about being sore and tired but it was well worth it.

The hubby and I worked in separate rooms building the two new storage pieces for my sewing counter.  I bought several more but found I did not need them and I did not want to clutter up my space with too much stuff, only what I really needed, back to Michael’s they go.

Here they are; my two new storage units; aren’t they grand!!! I am totally in love with them both, perfect for my sewing notions, book and patterns. Everything is nice and neat and easy to see and use! 

And last but not least….. Ta da…. everything in place!!! Take a look.

These are the nighttime photos I shot when I finished, starting from left to right. Did I mention I now have fourteen feet of creative space to sew and craft in!?!

Wow, look at all that daylight coming in those three big windows!!!  The room looks so much larger and less cluttered, I am one happy camper and I got exactly the room I set out to create.  What more could a creative gal ask for!?!

Well… there you have it, the new configuration and organization of my creative studio.  I hope you enjoyed taking a peak into my new work space; I can not wait to get in there and do a little detail clean up and sew up some curtains to cover up the storage cubes and all the storage under my work counters.  When I get those done I will share the before and after photos of the whole studio side by side so you can see the transformation all in one place.  Time to finally take down all my Christmas décor and get it to storage then take a little rest before tackling the next project; we have so many I have no idea what is next, I guess you will have to check in to see what we are up to.

See you soon.

Laurette

Studio Inspiration

Before I show you the studio reveal I though I would share with you some of the inspiration photos which set the whole project in motion and what I saw when I looked at them.  Everyone gets inspired by something different, for some it is color, for others it may be composition or graphics or how a room makes them feel upon entering it, for me it is all of those things that help me decide what direction I will go in during any given project like this.  Here is a bit of what inspires me and why.

When I first saw this photo I loved the bold pops of color and the work surface facing the window which bathed the room in bright white light.

This particular room had wall color similar to my studio and had the double long work surface facing a large bank of windows just like my space.  This was what I wanted for my own creative room and really inspired me to just go for it.

Total eye candy with the turquoise and pops of red with large windows in front of long work counters.  This sewing room caused me to consider putting my counters into an L configuration instead of one long 14 foot counter and maybe adding bright pops of hot pink to my black, white and ice blue color scheme.

I loved the bright white and clean lines of this sewing room, the simplicity spoke to me.  My studio was so cluttered with small keepsakes and full counters I wanted something different.

A very clean streamlined room hosting three windows and one long work counter with two work stations, just what I was looking for, right on target even though I knew I would never get my space that clutter free, but I sure was going to try to clean it up a lot.  As you can see all of these rooms are different but with common threads throughout; multiple windows with work stations placed in front of them with long counter tops and dual work stations.

Now you have a pretty good idea of what types of photos inspired me to organize and reconfigure my studio; these were only a few of the hundreds of images I viewed of creative rooms and storage/organization ideas before I got down to work.  If you are looking for inspiration of your own you can view my Pinterest boards by clicking on the large red PINTEREST word on the right side bar of my blog where it says follow me.  You do not have to join Pinterest to view my boards, just click and view to your hearts content; there are over 80 boards to drool over and keep you inspired for years to come. Enjoy!

Thanks for letting me share a bit inspiration with you today, you know what comes next so keep an eye out for the progress of the studio transformation, it is coming right up.

See you soon.

Laurette

A Time To Organize

It is once again that time of year when we look around our homes and think to ourselves… it is time to reorganize all those pesky areas and rooms that never got done or spaces that just didn’t function well for us all year long. After all it is a new year which can mean new beginnings and why not start with the old flawed and problem areas plaguing us; create a new, clean and organized home we can enjoy everyday without all the frustrations of not being able to find the things we need and want.

I have such a space, actually a whole room and a huge closet in my design studio.  For those of you who have been a reader since the very beginning you might remember I did a full studio clean up and organization in January of 2012.  It was a big improvement to what I started with after moving into our new home and just shoving all my creative supplies and fabrics into the room to make it all fit.  After living and working in our home for over three years I finally know what is working and what is not.  Little by little each room and space is being reworked to create better flow and storage.

Pretty to look at but facing the wall!

Final Office Layout 

The re-org of 2012 worked well for about a year then suddenly I found myself not working in my studio but not understanding why.  After looking through several of my Pinterest boards it became obvious why I was working everywhere but in my studio, it had become overrun with projects and keepsakes creating a claustrophobic environment…. Yikes!!! When had that happened?!?  The other conclusion I came to happened while setting up a full office to write and work in, I do not like facing a wall while I work, sew or create a project….yuck!  Guess what my sewing and craft counters face… you got it right if you guessed the walls!  I never realized how much I hated that until I had to move my office around three times finally putting my desk smack in front of the window in order to want to be productive.  Now I really love my new office and it is a pleasure to work in there for hours at a time.

I have three big beautiful windows on the second floor facing out to the backyard and they are being partially blocked by my storage units. What a waste of light and a great potential space for my sewing and craft counters, fourteen feet of light filled creative space blocked by storage cubes.  I usually think out of the box but for some reason I just never thought to put my counters there, what a ding dong I am!

The other nemesis in the room is my large closet which does not function due to giant closet doors that you can only open a third of at a time blocking the other two thirds with the other two doors.  Oh… and did I mention the closet is very shallow and dark with two of the doors always closed; it is hard to see what is in there and actually get it out around all those doors.  Needless to say the organization in there is not what it should be and needs a complete revamp once the studio is moved around and I see what additional storage I might need. 

We are talking a very big move around and reorganization of a lot of furniture, storage units and supplies but…. I am going to do it and I am going to be blogging about it all the way.  I hope you will join me as I move along through the process of thinking out this HUGE project and putting it into action.  I can’t wait to get started!!!

See you very soon.

Laurette

Toy Room Makeover Reveal

I finally found a few minutes to post the before and after photos of the toy room makeover we did for our grandchildren’s playroom.  The room has been used several ways until we decided the best use of it was going to be a playroom. We sanded and painted the walls, built benches and bookcases, made curtains and cushions for the benches and decorated it.  There are still a few little projects left to finish but I did not want to wait any longer to share this project, so here are the before and after shots of the room.

                                 

Before & After:

Before

Initially we had a bed in this corner which our oldest granddaughter slept in when they came to town to visit. After they moved back home we put a play size table and chairs there, now we have the storage benches, a wall mural and a high shelf for books and toys they are to young to play with yet.

Before

Before

                                                             After

These shots show the opposite corner, the old dresser with a TV on top and the bookcase with toys crammed into it, always a mess. Now the toys are organized by age group and type, a clean look and easy to use and clean up. On the top two shelves in the corner is the art center which can be brought down when the oldest wants to make a few new creative projects. The child size table and chairs will be placed on the carpet in the center of the room once I finish repainting and varnishing them, it got cold and wet so I had to set that project aside for a while until my outside studio warms up a bit allowing the paint to dry.

Thanks for letting me share the toy room makeover, we are very happy with it and so is my oldest granddaughter, she already loves playing in there.

The New Year: "2013"

With this new year I am re-evaluating my blog and where it will go from here, I think there will be some major changes on the horizon but they are not finalized as of yet so you will have to keep reading to see what’s going to happen next. See you soon.

Laurette

You might also like:

Toy Room Makeover Projects 

Toy Room Makeover – 1, 2 & 3 Enjoy!!

Spring Shed

Hello everyone, I am back, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to continue writing a blog with all the crazy events going on in my life. There are still lots of stressful and non-stressful things and events happening over the next couple of months but I found I really missed my creative life.  I didn’t feel like myself without being in my studios creating and sharing all my projects and adventures with you.  I have so many summer painting projects planned for the house and outdoor garden area, not to mention all the great colorful sewing projects waiting on my sewing counters.  There is going to be so much to share with you, I will just have to figure out how to find the time to create and write around all the rest of the craziness of my life.  I thought I would start off with the outdoor shed project we did at the beginning of spring, the one I kept promising to share with you, there are a ton of photos, enjoy.

This was the area we chose to place the shed, it was a pretty space but one which could not be seen from the backyard or out the windows, kind of a blind spot.  I hated to demolish it but it was the only spot large enough to hold the shed and not create an eyesore when looking out any of the windows.

The first thing we did was to remove the storage box, then dig holes on the hill so we could transplant the tree and plants up there instead of dumping them into the green-waste container; the hill is beginning to fill in nicely with all the extra plants, no more baron land. Then it was time to level out the area, but first my husband had to remove a bunch of very hefty roots with a pick ax, they were a good two inches in diameter from the tree next door.  They were heading under the concrete towards the foundation of our home, yikes, that was not a good thing, problem solved.

All leveled with top soil and ready to go.

Floor and outside shed frame are going up, a snap and lock kind of thing with a few nuts and bolts to hold it all together.  A super quick process when you go by the numbers.

Here the walls are going up starting with the back wall, then each side, leaving the front open for the doors. The blue tape had the numbers on it for easier piecing, kind of like making a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Time for the roof and doors to be installed by my husband and son-in-law.  I was able to help until we got to the roof, way to heavy and I was too short to lift it up so we recruited some help for this part, thank goodness my son-in-law had a few minutes to come over.

My very happy husband with his new storage shed up and ready to use, did I mention he assembled it in an hour and a half, wow!  I think that is a new record or something, I was a very proud wife.  Now we have all the storage we need for our outdoor furniture, cushions, umbrellas, pillows and extra folding patio chairs, finally.  Our new home was a little short on storage, I was very happy we were able to find the space and solution and get it done so quickly.  Another problem solved, just a few hundred more to go.

Thanks for letting me share our spring shed project with you as I return to my creative life again.  I hope you enjoyed all the photos and it inspired you to tackle a problem solving project of your own.  I am not sure what is up next so I guess you will have to keep and eye out to see what else I may be sewing, planting, painting or decorating.  See you soon.

Laurette