New Studio



I have always been a firm believer that if you get in a rut, it's always good to make a change. Change something that you're doing, change your location, change is a good thing. I have spent the last week rearranging the rooms in my house. It's been work intensive. But before I go any further here, I have to just say....
My husband. Is. A. SAINT.
Not once does he even bat an eye when I suggested that we move the studio back upstairs. He could definitely see that I had run out of space. The room was a disaster. There was no place to store anything anymore. Beads were piled on the table tops. Boxes of shipping materials took up a ton of space. Plus all of the exhibition furniture that I use for shows. It was too much.
He helped me move all of the furniture, and then also painted one of the rooms for me too. I cannot thank him enough and I am already feeling a huge creative surge due to the newness of everything!

Here's what had to happen. My bungalow has 3 bedrooms. The office was located in the office on the first floor. I felt like the master bedroom would make a good studio space. It's at the front of the house right above the porch. The walls contain loud 3am critters that keep us up at night. The room is cold since it hangs over the porch. We have 2 spare rooms. The first spare room housed my studio before I had moved down to the office. It was a long narrow room and is actually bigger than the master bedroom.  When we moved into this house, we moved into that room so that we could renovate the master bedroom. It just seemed  like the logical thing, to move in there once we fixed the walls up.

The back spare room is much smaller. Will eventually be the baby's room some day. But it can accommodate a large bed easily. So.... we moved the Full size spare bed out to the garage. Moved the queen size spare bed to the small spare room. Moved our bedroom to the larger spare room. and the studio is now upstairs in the front room. The old studio space is now just the office where I will handle all the shipping and computer work.  Here are some pics of the room now. I am still planning on hanging some inspiring artwork so the walls are blank right now. I picked a nice pale lavender to go on the walls.


When we were in Connecticut for Christmas we went to Ikea. I bought these industrial pendant lights for the space.  One super shitty thing about this room. There are only 2 plugs. and no ceiling lights! These pendant lights have ugly black cords but they plug into the wall and I didn't have to wire them in.
After scouring the internet (aka- Pinterest) I was overwhelmed with all of the studio and home inspiration, but got the idea to use a work table in the center of the room. This table was actually downstairs in our family room in from of that big bookcase Joe built. We never sit at it. I think I have sat there one time. There is no lighting and its impossible to sit there in the dark so, I stole the table and now it's working great as my work table. Had to promise that I will not hammer on it. ;)

Here are the bead cabinets in the first corner. On top are jars of ribbon.

 On this wall is a dresser where I stacked these metal cabinets that I got at Ikea, and a wood chest of drawers. It's nice to bring things short units up higher so I don't have to bed over to get to the goods. On top I stacked a drawer where I put all of my linen busts and bracelet bars, and displays. The drawers work great for bead storage. each drawer fits 2 plastic bin systems.



The bookcase holds my owl collection, more bead storage, tins, and other stuff.

I had to give up the magnetic board and the tool pegboard. The walls in this new space are plaster and the thought of mucking them all up with screws was too much for Joe to bear. ;) So they had to be nixed.  I am unsure what I will do with this large empty wall, maybe just some artwork.
The dresser in this photo holds Joe's clothes. We also switched closets, mine is in our room and his is here. He gets up earlier than I do and gets dressed while I'm still in bed.

I think I will have to be careful with the table top collecting a lot of stuff. But I do tend to grab whatever is in reach when beading so it's good to have a variety of different things right within arms reach at any moment.  I just love the lighting- it's so bright and I can see what I'm doing!

Coupla things I will still need to get is a garbage can, and an ipod docking station with some speakers.  Oh and one thing I want to add, I like that I don't have the distraction of the computer anymore. It really affects work when I'm always checking email and Facebook!

well I hope you liked this little Tuesday Tour! I was so excited to show you the transformation.
I hope the space inspires you and your studios as much as it has me!


Comments

  1. Todo quedo perfecto!! Tu estudio es una inspiracion!!

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  2. Looks great, and organized. I am working on organization- still!

    For your metal tins, try a large piece of plywood or a door that you can attach a metal sheet to and lean against the wall.

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  3. Well now you've put a fire under me,I had better get to work get organized. I'll be making some changes this year and will have to organize accordingly. I've noticed you don't have a bookcase how do you get along without one?

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  4. I do have a bookcase, but I left it down i the office. It's holding all my shipping stuff.

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  5. This looks fantastic - so clean and organized! I'm inspired now and I'm sure you're excited to create. Nice job. And I'm dying to go to Ikea.

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  6. Your studio looks so cool!

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  7. Totally excited for you girl! Love, love, love the drawer units from Ikea. Since I'll never be able t find the antique ones like you have, I can at least get some of those to get me organized. My hubs is retro fitting an armoire for me to use as my beading station. Definitely excited to have a bit more organization in my beading portion of life. If you sew, you could make a pretty tube of fabric to slide onto the cords for the lights to cover up the ugly. Have fun in the new space!

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  8. Now that you're warmed up, wanna come and redo my space for me??? Looks fantastic! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  9. Woo hoo! I love your new studio and think this move was an excellent idea!! If the black cords to the lights keep bothering you, you could always paint the cords so they are less obvious. LOVE the work table in the middle and the lights overhead!!!

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  10. Lorelei I love your new studio! I would not have thought to use lavendar for the wall color, but it is fabulous! Amd I'm over the moon for all your wonderful cabinets and storage!

    Enjoy your new studio!

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  11. How I would love to hop over and come and join your for an afternoon of beading in your great studio !

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  12. Looks great! I like those metal cabinets and want a table like that so bad.... Your studio is beautiful and organized.

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  13. Congratulations! Wishing you creative blessings in your new space ;-)

    Cheers,

    Tonya
    www.artfulsuccess.com
    www.wholelottawhimsy.com

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  14. Wow Lorelei, I'm tired just reading all that work, but the payoff really shows. I'm sure this new space will serve you well.

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  15. Love your new space! I recently moved and lost my studio so it's really inspirational to see someone else's work space inside to house. We need an Ikea!!

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  16. Looks great, and I am green with envy of all your space! Congrats, and I can't wait to see the new things you create :)

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  17. Very exciting for you. Your husband is a a very cool guy. He sees the benefit of helping you. Your business is on fire and it sounds like the changes will work. I agree with the idea of no computer on your desk to distract you. I might try that. I have an ipod docking station in a box in the closet. No room for everything. I am lucky to have the size room I have but it is half of what I really need. I have dreams of a larger space and maybe some day. For now I am trying to keep it very organized. Not easy but I clean or design. Not a tough choice.

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  18. Love the new space and all the organization! It inspires me to get busy and revamp my things. Enjoy the new surroundings.

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  19. How fantastic to have that much space to spread out your creativity! Looks like it should work out perfectly :)

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  20. Ah sweet! I badly need to organize my own space - this is very inspiring!

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  21. You definitely have organizational skills, Lorelei! That would've taken me a month! But you have motivated me anyway :) I expect the next post to show piles of newly created jewelry from the new space! Remember to count your blessings while some of us are still surrounded by mountains of "stuff" that has no home!

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  22. *Sigh* your room looks wonderful. Soooo jealous! Wish I had a room instead of an open farm shed .....

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  23. Brenda1/03/2012

    I had the same thoughts as Shirley!
    Couple a cord covers, maybe your talented mom could make you some, the same color as the ceiling to disguise them. Otherwise, it looks nice.I have a glass top on my work table to protect the it. Every so often, not often enough, however, I use a razor to scrape the residue left behind from resin,glue, etc., from the glass. Works wonderfully!

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  24. What a lovely space you have. I especially love all the wood storage pieces. It is nice to have the business end in another room. I'm fortunate that I do have a studio (aka the other bedroom) but it is small. My table ends up with so much paperwork on it that I end up beading on two small craft tables. Hmmm. I need to work on organization a bit. Regarding the plaster walls, is there a way to suspend something from the ceiling or attach something to tension poles?

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  25. Oh my, you are so nice and neat! My studio is like a cross between Abu Ghraib and Pep Boys.

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  26. WHOOOO likes OWLS? Love your owlie collection and the gorgeous new digs. ENVY the spousely help-My #1 2012 resolution- FIND ME A MAN!!

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