Ahhh, it feels complete. This is our spare bedroom upstairs. When we first moved in, it originally was my bead room. I had a small drafting desk and pretty much a bunch of other crap in there. Eventually, we ended up with an extra bed which we put in the spare bedroom downstairs and moved the futon up to this room - again with a bunch of other crap in there! So, I moved my beads to an antique roll top desk in the spare bedroom downstairs which yes, it did hide the mess when we had company but was not very user friendly. Somewhere along the way I got into scrapbooking too and there was even more stuff to organize and store. I would start working on projects sitting indian style on the floor (yes, painful after a couple of hours) in our sunroom off the living room OR on our dining room table. As you can imagine, I always felt like a disorganized mess which often made it hard to get inspired/motivated to work.
About a month ago I made the decision to actually create a permanent, organized space. My original thought was to get a cool wood desk that would like nice in the sunroom, since it would always be seen through the french doors. I got a lot of push back from Jon and more and more issues/questions of my own were raised during the process. Such as: it gets really cold in there in the winter - and that's where we always put our Christmas tree, house plants and outside plants during the winter - and even with the blinds drawn will I still have to worry about sun damage to certain things - etc. So our solution was to sell the futon (not comfortable for guests to sleep on anyway) to make room for my space. We setup our folding table - not the prettiest thing in the world but it is roomy and I don't have to worry about damaging a nice wood surface. I have storage tables and files on each side of it. I've had my funky printed chair and ottoman since forever and it's one of those pieces that never seems to go with anything but I love it and will never get rid of it. It's very comfy to sit on for a long time and you can even snuggle a chihuahua behind your back for support and warmth! The walls were already blue and I knew a major renovation - not even painting - was not an option with our busy schedules right now so I just went with a blue and brown color scheme. I found the cool necklace prints on each side of the window at Hobby Lobby and some cute brown valances that have beads dangling on the edge!
Once sitting at the table, if you look to the right I have 2 trays hanging on the wall to store necklaces in. Jon helped me adapt regular wood serving trays by screwing several hooks into the edge and then attaching hangers on the back. Also, my awesome geode torch lamp that I love - but like the chair, difficult to decorate with a Male with a pink and purple theme. It's refreshing and surprising that Jon wants so much input into our decor - sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a battle. That's what I meant before when I said this spare bedroom had a lot of "other crap" in it - meaning all those bits and pieces that don't have a place in the rest of the house. But all in all, I think this look came together and works - I love it. If you look to the left from the table I have more shelves that hold neck displays, peacock frames I use for advertising, a wire peacock that has been used to hold business card and now earrings, and a handmade wood display my Dad made that was too short for necklaces but perfect for bracelets. If you turn around from the table to the other wall, I have a painted hoosier cabinet there that is great storage and on top of it several mini-bust displays. I have also shown my view out the window to our backyard. Very calming and far away from that leaky dining room mess that is stressing me out.
The only downside to this is Jon does not have a "man space". He has quite a collection of car memorabilia - posters, models, books, etc. - and has longed for a pole barn. Over the years we have kicked around the idea of building one or moving to a house that has one but it always seems to get put on hold - economy, real estate, job worries. So I felt bad as I stuffed the back of his already full closet with the few totes and boxes that had remained in this room. I did it on the night when he was in class. It's too bad we don't have a finished basement to display it all. I even tried to sell him on the sunroom studio idea by telling him that I would help him decorate this room with his stuff. He didn't seem interested. And let me know if you agree that the little loft space above our current garage would make a great rec area (with some work) - another option he is not interested in. Hey, it was even an idea for my studio if we ever had the chance to insulate/drywall/heat and cool it. Anyway, I know he'll get his own space someday.
About a month ago I made the decision to actually create a permanent, organized space. My original thought was to get a cool wood desk that would like nice in the sunroom, since it would always be seen through the french doors. I got a lot of push back from Jon and more and more issues/questions of my own were raised during the process. Such as: it gets really cold in there in the winter - and that's where we always put our Christmas tree, house plants and outside plants during the winter - and even with the blinds drawn will I still have to worry about sun damage to certain things - etc. So our solution was to sell the futon (not comfortable for guests to sleep on anyway) to make room for my space. We setup our folding table - not the prettiest thing in the world but it is roomy and I don't have to worry about damaging a nice wood surface. I have storage tables and files on each side of it. I've had my funky printed chair and ottoman since forever and it's one of those pieces that never seems to go with anything but I love it and will never get rid of it. It's very comfy to sit on for a long time and you can even snuggle a chihuahua behind your back for support and warmth! The walls were already blue and I knew a major renovation - not even painting - was not an option with our busy schedules right now so I just went with a blue and brown color scheme. I found the cool necklace prints on each side of the window at Hobby Lobby and some cute brown valances that have beads dangling on the edge!
Once sitting at the table, if you look to the right I have 2 trays hanging on the wall to store necklaces in. Jon helped me adapt regular wood serving trays by screwing several hooks into the edge and then attaching hangers on the back. Also, my awesome geode torch lamp that I love - but like the chair, difficult to decorate with a Male with a pink and purple theme. It's refreshing and surprising that Jon wants so much input into our decor - sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a battle. That's what I meant before when I said this spare bedroom had a lot of "other crap" in it - meaning all those bits and pieces that don't have a place in the rest of the house. But all in all, I think this look came together and works - I love it. If you look to the left from the table I have more shelves that hold neck displays, peacock frames I use for advertising, a wire peacock that has been used to hold business card and now earrings, and a handmade wood display my Dad made that was too short for necklaces but perfect for bracelets. If you turn around from the table to the other wall, I have a painted hoosier cabinet there that is great storage and on top of it several mini-bust displays. I have also shown my view out the window to our backyard. Very calming and far away from that leaky dining room mess that is stressing me out.
The only downside to this is Jon does not have a "man space". He has quite a collection of car memorabilia - posters, models, books, etc. - and has longed for a pole barn. Over the years we have kicked around the idea of building one or moving to a house that has one but it always seems to get put on hold - economy, real estate, job worries. So I felt bad as I stuffed the back of his already full closet with the few totes and boxes that had remained in this room. I did it on the night when he was in class. It's too bad we don't have a finished basement to display it all. I even tried to sell him on the sunroom studio idea by telling him that I would help him decorate this room with his stuff. He didn't seem interested. And let me know if you agree that the little loft space above our current garage would make a great rec area (with some work) - another option he is not interested in. Hey, it was even an idea for my studio if we ever had the chance to insulate/drywall/heat and cool it. Anyway, I know he'll get his own space someday.
Oh yeah, and where are we going to put babies someday? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it....... For now though, on to creativity!
3 comments:
Nice Job! I'm loving your idea for necklace hangers using wood trays! Brilliant!! I have the same type of tables in my craft room, they work well. I too, am struggling with space due to a day bed in my bead room. If I could get that out of there, I could put another table up and have room for the light box that I want to build. :)
Thanks for the sneak peak of your space! I'm so inspired!
Hi there! I recently discovered your blog through lorelei. Great space! I love the blue and brown. That wire peacock stand is cool. What a find that was for you, huh! Great ideas and decorating through out the whole room. Thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing more of your jewelry so I'm adding you to my list!
Thanks Ladies - I sure seem to be getting more done now that I am organized!
Post a Comment