STUDIO INSPIRATION

Now that things are settling in a little with Soren, Jon and I have been taking the time here and there to make a little bit of progress on our home. We have a lot of painting planned and some exciting big projects for this year! Currently, I've been working little by little on decorating my studio space. I painted it before having Soren and am not crazy about the color so I'll be re-painting it and getting everything together to create a functional space!

Here are a few inspiration photos of what I'm thinking for the studio!

1// Originally, I painted the studio a super light mint color. After taking the time to look at it for a while and "feel it out", I decided it wasn't the right color for the space and for the lighting. Instead I'll be pulling out our cans of black chalkboard paint and painting the top half black and leaving the bottom white. I think it will give it a really interesting look and I love the idea of being able to draw on the walls. :) I'm thinking about having Jenny write out Maiedae in her fancy handwriting. :) I have a wooden desk, so I like how this photo shows what the two could look like together.

2// I have plans for lots of gold accessories. Target was having a sale on a lot of their home pieces so I snagged some really beautiful gold desk accents!

3// Since we have hardwood floor throughout, I wanted to find a really great plush rug to put in the space. I would love a rug that would be great for Soren to play on and cozy up to. It's hard finding a beautiful neutral rug that doesn't shed, stays looking great, and is kid-friendly...your suggestions are welcome! :)

4// I love a well organized space with lots of storage and a place for everything! Outside of a desk, I'm working on figuring out what type of storage I need and what would look best in the space.

I can't wait to show you the progress post soon!

Photo Credit: Smitten Studio, The Everygirl, Eva Black Design

PROJECT HOME: A CHANGE IN PLANS

As you can see from the main floor layout above, we have essentially two sitting areas in the house. "The Den" which has a lot of beautiful natural lighting and a fireplace and the "Living Room" that has a window facing the front of the house. Next to the kitchen is the current dining room. SO I have been thinking a lot about the layout of our main floor and trying to think of creative ways to make the space work and be functional for our lifestyle. There is a couple things we knew we wanted:

* A large, cozy sitting area to host friends and family. This room could possibly have a media area but we aren't set on having a TV on the main floor.
* A studio space for me to work, shoot videos, take photographs and have a comfortable desk area to work at. This needed to be on the main floor so that when we have Soren I can essentially live on the main floor to take care of him, work, do chores and be present on the main area of the home.
* Lastly, we really wanted a great dining space to host dinners. When it's just Jon and I we love eating at the bar in the kitchen or taking it down to the movie room to catch up on our favorite shows. Once our family grows I know we will want to make family dinners an important part of our lives and we love hosting friends for dinners, so a great dining room would really be utilized.

The idea of having both a "Den" and "Living Room" just isn't a practical use of space for us. We wouldn't really use two sitting areas at this time and I would personally love to just put a lot of efforts and design into one sitting space instead of two. :) SO with that said, here is an update with our new main floor layout.

The Den will become our main hosting/sitting area. The living room will become our "Grand Dining Hall" and our current dining room will become my studio! I'm so excited about this change because it fits our family so well and can easily be changed in the future if we decide we need to utilize the space differently. We are REALLY excited about the "Grand Dining Hall" as we like to call it. We're planning to put a table in this space that seats 14 people. We'll probably do this by purchasing 2-3 of the same table and putting them in a row. This will make it easier to utilize the tables in different ways. This is also the room I'd really like to paint a fun color and make a really awesome beverage area! I'm excited to see this floor really come to life.

I'll be sharing inspiration boards and photos for these spaces on my blog soon!

NESTING UPDATE: STUDIO CLOSET

In February, Jon and I moved into a large apartment within our same complex. With the intentions of moving into a new home at the end of the summer, we decided it would be worth the work to have a bigger space for half the year, especially since we would be hosting a friend until the end of September. In our original apartment, I used the spare room as my "studio". I had huge intentions for it...until the cats moved in. The spare room became their fortress and my "studio" became a hairball. Plus, cats aren't good with little things, so I had to pack everything up and not leave anything out so they wouldn't destroy all that I owned.

In our new apartment, we decided to let the cats have free reign of the main area and no access to any of our rooms. So, Jon and I got the master, Glenn got one bedroom and Jon got a game room (which was much need and way awesome) and I volunteered to take the game room closet. Thankfully our closets are HUGE, so it easily made a great space for a small work room. For the past several weeks, it's been more of a storage room and nothing was organized since the move. Until Friday! On Friday, I spent the evening re-organized and kinda sorta decorating my quaint studio closet. I'm proud to say that it is now officially a usable space!

 

I purchased a tall bookcase from IKEA to store my camera collection, magazines, books, sewing machine, and smaller crafty supplies on and I used larger storage boxes to put up on the closet shelving. To hide the ugly white racks I used twine and clothes pins to hang up my favorite business cards, pictures and memorabilia.

It's perfect for a temporary space! I'm not sure about my studio plans when we move in August...I've been thinking about transforming the breakfast room or another closet....hmmm. We'll see!

Made any fun updates to your home??

Inspiration for Your Nest: Organization

This week's nest inspiration is all about organization! --- Life is better when you know where things are.

Wooden Crate Storage

Pan Stand

Photo Board

Industrial Metal Grate

Chalkboard To-Do

Jar Storage

Straw Dispensers

Peg Board

Shelf Crates

Happy Nesting!

Inspiration for Your Nest: Studio Space

I can never get enough good studio space//organization inspiration! My studio is a constant work in progress. Especially since I've been focusing on my bedroom and putting final touches on the living room.

I spy IKEA organization!

Desk via Decor 8

These little fella's can keep you company.

Vintage filing cabinet turned side table 

Keep your little things

Suitcases and crates = attractive organization

Card catalogue for craft supplies and little things 

Cute tape & Ikea Organization

A happy Monday & happy nesting!

DIY: Pendant Lamp Detailing

I have been working in the studio for the past couple of days and it is coming along slowly but surely. I am excited to create a space that is inspirational and functional so I can get those creative juices flowing for the New Year! I put together a quick and easy DIY to update a simple lamp I got on clearance at ROSS.

Supplies:

* Fabric Remnants

* Twine

* Hot Glue Gun

I love this pendant bunting. It looks cute and is versatile to put on lamp shades, walls, use as garland or decorate other surfaces!

Be back later to share some photographs from Christmastime!