Studio Re-Do

I have been calling my ~space~ an office way too much in this blog. It's much more than that...it's my sanctuary. It's slowly becoming the space I want to be in rather than just the space I have to be in to do that 4-letter word thing...work. I need a better name for it, but, for now, it will be my ~Studio~.

The other day, I shared the photo of my new and improved work space under the window....

 

I realized it was kind of ugly underneath, not to mention all that wasted space. I decided to hang some curtains across the front and add some small shelves underneath.

The curtains also go over the shelves on the right, but I lifted them to show the shelves underneath. I want some prettier curtains, but these will do until I find just the right pair.

Another recent improvement to the ~Studio~  was to add some metal sheeting (I LOVE metal and will take any chance I can get to play with it, work with it, incorporate it into my surroundings). I have been a bit reluctant to jump in and buy a big sheet of metal because I was worried about cutting it down to size for the projects I had in mind. I was driving by Home Depot a couple days ago and popped in to price giant sheets of metal. The price was right, so I grabbed one huge sheet and figured I would just jump in (i.e. ask my neighbor for help) and cut it. Luckily, my neighbor was outside as I arrived home and then pulled the giant metal sheet from the car.  He came right over with a pair of mega metal scissors that cut this stuff like BUTAH! My first project was finished in about 10 minutes.

Here is my desk before with all that blank white space behind the computer:

I wanted metal back there so that I could make cute magnets and put photos and stuff in all that space.

Here is a photo of the metal in place:

And here are my adorable new vintage button magnets!

I have had some of these buttons for years. I never found just the right project for them. I thought it was time for them to be enjoyed, so I heated up the glue gun and attached a tiny magnet to the back of each. Viola! Instant awesome magnets for my new metal desk background!

I still had quite a bit of metal left and my next desire was a place to take photos of my dolls. I had been using the top of a tall black bookcase and a couple metal things to hold pretty papers for backgrounds. The metal things (I think they used to be some kind of cabinet doors) were just propped up and kinda ugly and always falling over. I decided to cut a piece of metal to fit the top part of the bookcase and then adhered it with some strong double stick tape. Perfect! Now, I can easily switch the background papers and not have everything topple over several times during the photo shoot...

New Workspace & Re-ment

When I re-did my office, I needed a place for my sewing machine and serger. I found an awesome vintage kitchen table for next to nothing at Re-Store, took it apart and used half for my machines. I was really pleased with my little half-table set up, but something was not working out....

 

...I haven't felt like sewing. I love to sew, but I haven't felt like sewing much at all for while now. I woke up this morning and knew why I wasn't getting much done. The office re-do made a place for everything...for everything but me! I had no place to work! I do have my computer desk, but only had one tiny little flat surface on top of a file cabinet that I had to stand at to get anything crafty or creative done. It was very cramped and frustrating trying to work there. I didn't even attempt to cut out fabric. I think I must have been dreaming about this last night, because when I woke up I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to have to get rid of the cute vintage half table. So, down to the office I went to pull all the stuff out ~again~. This time, thank goodness, it was only the stuff in the photo above and not EVERYTHING. Next, I talked Mr. NeverBored into a trip to Home Depot. Mistake. I knew exactly what I wanted and I wanted to get it and get of there and get on with this project. He knew what he wanted and then he decided on more stuff he wanted and then he wanted to look at this and that. I somehow managed to keep my cool and not kill him and we eventually returned home to get started.

My idea was to put one long shelf board across that whole wall in the photo above. That would give me room for my stuff AND a bunch more workspace.

This is what was accomplished today...

It's not as pretty as my morning vision, but it will get there. I need to either paint that support board OR, what I would really like to do, is get a couple fancy carved wooden legs. The brackets just aren't enough on their own...those machines are heavy!  I have some other ideas, too, but at least things are moving in the right direction.

 

Today, I also opened and organized my little Re-Ment collection. I adore miniatures, so Re-Ment is right up my alley. I resisted the lure of this awesome little collectible for as long as I could and then broke down and got a few sets. It has been sitting, unopened, for months. Why have it, then? I found an empty divided display frame and put the teensy pieces in....

I'm not sure they'll stay in this display case, but at least they are out where I can see them and enjoy and use them in dolly photos...mostly for my Pipos Baha Kitties, Aengus & Esmeralda, since it's the right scale for them.

Miss Lollypop & a Cubby Re-Do

I made a trip to Re-Store (the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store) yesterday and found this adorable vintage Avon Miss Lollypop Cologne Mist for only $1.00! I had to have her and she is now residing in my office.

 

I did a quick search to see what I could find out about her. I believe she was produced in the late '60s. I found an advertisement from 1967...

I'm pleased with my office redecoration project so far, but there is still lots to do! I decided it was about time to tackle this messy corner...

That cubby is just a big old junk magnet. I keep shoving stuff in there and it really makes the corner look awful. I was inspired to do something with it after seeing photos of Cathe Holden's awesome bins.

I started the project, a few weeks ago, by searching for bins that would fit in the cubby. I didn't have any luck finding bins the right size and I was anxious to get this project started (and finished!), so I decided to try and make my own. I trotted out to the garage and found a bunch of matching cardboard boxes. With a few cuts and folds and some spray paint, I ended up with perfect bins and they only cost me the price of a couple cans of spray paint!

 

After spraying them completely black, I decorated them with scrapbook paper and then went on a hunt for just the right labels for the fronts. I've been searching for just the right labels for a couple days now, but nothing was tickling my fancy. I'm trying to do this project super cheap and use supplies already on hand, but the labels were stumping me. I made a trip to the scrapbook section at Hobby Lobby to see if I could get some inspiration. I did! I found some lovely die cut cardstock labels that were beautiful....BUT....the wrong colors. I went ahead and got them anyway, picked out my favorite and slapped it on the scanner. Next, I converted it to gray scale and then added some pale pink to match my walls. I chose one of my favorite fonts, typed up the descriptions, printed on parchment paper and VIOLA!...I had labels that I was very pleased with :) Next, I cut out each one and glued to the appropriate bins. Something was missing. I decided to add tiny black brads and then I was done. 

Here is the cubby corner now...

I think it still needs some decorating and I might do some more bins for those bigger cubbies in the center, but it really is a whole lot better than it was! It's amazing how much easier it is to stay organized when everything has it's own little home ;)

Awesome find!

In an effort to make more room in my nice new office space, I got rid of a couple pieces of large furniture. I was trying to keep things simple, but can always use more shelves. I found this awesome vintage wood (not particle board!) bookcase at Goodwill for only $10! The outside is painted black lacquer (perfect, with that shabby chic look to it) and the inside shelves are painted light green with gold trim accents. If my office wasn't pink, I would probably just leave it as is. I think I'll paint the inside shelves with the leftover paint to match my walls. When? Who knows, but this is now on the To Do List.

My New Pink Office

So far, this project has eaten up about a week of my time, but I'm happy with the results. I removed almost everything from the room, painted it pink, and then spent several days trying to figure out how to get all the stuff back in...in and organized. I'm not finished (probably never will be), but it looks a lot better and a lot of the clutter is gone. I have many more plans for this room, but here is a first look at my new room!

The first photo was taken looking in through the door and then the rest are going around the room until we arrive back at the door...

Here is where I spend most of my time...at my desk. Found all the pieces (it's 4 separate pieces) very cheap at Habitat and Goodwill Thrift Stores. Still a bit of a mess, but way better than it was before...

 

This corner will be the next big project. I want to make decorated bins to put in each of those cubbies...to hide the junk. I will also make some kind of nice display on top.

 

Ooops, I forgot to clean the windows before snapping this photo :0 My new sewing table is one half of a retro kitchen table found at Habitat for only $5! The whole table was awesome, but it wouldn't fit.

Dollphinium Manor, my giant dollhouse, takes up one whole wall. It is a challenge to work around this, but I'm not getting rid of it. It makes me happy :)

I even have room for a chair (and a visitor) now! This is not the chair I want here, but it will have to do for now. I want something comfy that matches the room, but this chair was available and fit in the spot (and needs somewhere to hang until the yard sale). The lamp will get a shade and the walls will get some decoration and so on and so forth....

Click here to see the entry with the BEFORE PHOTOS.

Now, it's time to get back to work. I sure hope my creative block has gone...

Office Redecoration Project in Full Swing!

The office painting, redecorating, organizing project is underway! I got all my stuff out of the office and some of the furniture. I finally got to start painting today...yay! I picked a lovely shade of light pink called "Pink Reef". It is VOC free (I think that is what it's free of and I don't know what big long chemical that stands for and the paint can isn't near me now) and very low odor. We painted the first coat today and can hardly smell paint...it's awesome!

Here is one of my adorable helpers :)

Another view of the cleaned out room:

Can you believe this is the same room as shown in my last post?!?

Before we started painting, we were hungry and didn't have much in the house (did I mention that I hate to go grocery shopping?). I did have the ingredients for a quick batch of Key Lime Poppyseed Scones....mmmm......

Organize, Arrange, Reorganize, Rearrange...Repeat...

My office/craft room/doll room/sewing room is a MESS! I have let it go over the past few months (with the past month being the worst) and now I'm having severe creativity block. I have trouble starting new projects, finishing old projects, getting stuff done, etc. So, first up on the new blog is going to be the start of my office reorganization & redecorating project. I look at all the lovely craft blogs out there and see all the fabulous work spaces other women have made for themselves and I get inspired! I have so many ideas and no $$ for this project, so it will be a challenge, but I MUST do something now or risk staying in this slump indefinitely...something I really can't afford to do.

This is what I have:

This is what I want...clicking this will take you to FLICKR to view an awesome workroom....

Wish me luck and stayed tuned to watch the progress!