This summer has been HOT. By HOT I mean unbearably muggy and still. Taking into consideration the humidity (the humidex) we have often reached somewhere in the mid-40s, celcius more than a few times. Translated, that would be 110F+ for my American friends. My thick Canadian blood is not prepared to deal with the heat. That combined with my being pre-menopausal and overweight, it added to my discomfort. I realize it must really be hot when my skinny-minny friends were complaining, too :)
Last week, my plan to walk every day was put on hold. More because of the massive blister on my foot than the weather, but it added to my excuse.
What was I to do?
The coolest place in my house is the basement which left me three choices: the laundry room (ugh, enough laundry already!), the playroom (not really my place) and my studio. I walked into the studio and was assaulted by the MESS, the utter mountains of paint and paper and scraps and photos and, and, and. Not one surface was left untouched. What was I to do? I couldn't make any more mess. So, I cleaned it up instead.
I realized mid-way through that I didn't' take a before photo, but you get the idea. Think: DISASTER area, or what your teenagers room looks like on a regular basis. But worse.
I've been asked to take some nice photos of my creative space in the next month or so and the timing couldn't be better. After a lot of hard work, I am now at what I would consider to be the starting point:
This is my usual view since a lot of my time is spent on the computer. I love reading blogs and mind-expanding sites. I can get lost reading blog after blog after blog! From this viewpoint I can hear the television since I don't often watch it, I'm watching my Mac instead; I can also see my "vision board" with all kinds of photos, elements and visual fodder for upcoming projects. I always find it hard to believe that my "desk" is my very first dining table from my first apartment!
I create standing up and love this kitchen counter unit I got at IKEA a couple of years ago. This side of things tends to be for "wet" projects. The albums sitting there are a throw back to my Creative Memories days and I'm waiting to give them to my friend Lorraine for her daughter. The best part of the view is the massive poster size photo of my dad and my sisters taken in Central Park during one of our many family trips to NYC - I am 99.9% sure it was taken Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (mid-October) and my bet, looking at the shoes, is it was 1976. I love that photo and am so happy my dad didn't toss it out when moving his office, but gave it to me.
A lot of carpet because the lights just don't translate well in photos! Do you see all the stuff I have? It's INSANE. And I use it. In this tidy-up I managed to purge a ton. Clearly I kept a ton, too. This side of my worktable is just a table. I make all of my layouts here, on this side. Don't ask me why. It just is :)
Stuff from another view. Crazy!
I am so insanely fortunate to have such space to dedicate to my passion for album making and other creative ventures. I really have to be more efficient and judicious with my choices and project plans.
[I'm thinking of selling off some of the stuff I don't need. I have a TON. Seriously, a remarkable amount of anciently retired Creative Memories stuff to purge. I was in retail for years and I ran my CM business the only why I knew how. In retrospect --- BAD idea, but you do what you know, you know? If anyone would be interested in an on-line "sale" let me know in the comments and I'll get it organized.]
So, like I said at the outset, I'm now at my starting point - design-wise and project-wise.
I've identified where I need more light, pillows, tables and a need for general visual de-cluttering. A nice rug would be nice, too. I've also found a bunch of things I love that I haven't used because they were either too beautiful to use, or as is often the case, too hard to find so deemed (mistakenly) too precious waste. Crazy.
I now have plans to use them. Not just in my head ... I wrote them down. So now they have a 50% chance of actually getting done :)
First things first, I need to make this room, my sanctuary studio, not only inspiring but productive and user-friendly.
What are the ideas you've implemented in your space that make you more productive? Do you have a can't-live-without element or two? Please share!