The Studio Office Progress Continues...

Little by little the studio office is taking shape. 

(I'm a slow mover - it's been years in the making!)

I know I've shared photos of this writing desk before, 

a favorite "Sidewalk Sale" find from many years ago.

I paired it with this antique St. Cecilia framed print, which was also a great find.

My good blogging friend, Claudia @ Mockingbird Hill Cottage, 

put me in touch with an antique store in her neck of the woods so I 

could purchase this vintage parakeet lamp. It was love at first sight!

The chair was a floor sample from Target a few years ago

and the unicorn bookends were found at Savers.

Little by little the room has come together.

The black floor lamp by the desk was found at a yard sale.

The gold crown on the closet door was from TJ Maxx.

The white desk lamp (there are two of them) were from Target.

The bookcases in the corner were part of a huge Craigslist score

and the black and tan rug was from Overstock.com.

            

"You know who" saw me taking photos and, being the ham she is,

decided to strike her best 'Top Cat Model' pose.

 Baby then decided to channel her inner unicorn because, as she reminds

us each and every day, she is quite a magical and mystical creature!

I hope you are all enjoying the 'in like a lion, out like a lamb' journey into Spring!

Donna

The Studio/Office Makeover continues...

 This is the biggest change to happen... 

... since this room became my studio/office.

Our plan had always been to eventually move the bookcases that we've had in the hallway of our small split entry for the past several years (where they blocked an air intake vent) into the office.

Well, "eventually" came sooner than we'd expected. This is now the view from my desk. It's beautiful, and I love it...

... but how I wish this sweet girl was still my view. Every time Tiger would go up and down the 'stairs' to get into her bed, she'd pause and look out the window.

It's two days shy of a month since we lost our Tiger girl. She was my office-mate and my muse. She loved watching me at my desk from her bed, the same one she'd slept on for 22 years.

It was her spot from the time she joined our family as a tiny little kitten until the day she left us.

It took several weeks before I was ready to disassemble the bed and move the bookcases in, but I finally felt it was time to do so.

Some of you might remember that we used to have a baby gate on the office door. (You can even see where the bookcases used to be, down the hallway.)  The gate kept Mr. J from having access to the office. When Tiger just didn't have the strength to go up and down the stairs to the basement where the litter box was kept, we put one in here for her. Well, apparently what is deposited in litter boxes is a big treat to all dogs (yuck!), including Mr. J, so we definitely needed to keep him out!

So the gate has now been removed...

... and Mr. J is having a grand old time visiting me in the studio/office whenever he wants.

This is the view looking toward the window.

I hope to get rid of the clutter on the floor and in its place put either a small reading chair or the mannequin from the bedroom.

Right now I have my paints stored under my desk. I'd like to find a better storage solution for them as well, but for now this will do. 

Some of the books on the shelves are mine, but most are (or will be) for sale in our Etsy shop. 

Some shelves have family photos.

And, of course, sweet Tiger's comb and urn are also on the bookcase shelves.

And then, some things never change. Baby is Baby. She looked deep in thought when I snapped her photo today.

She had been staring at the window and eventually went over and stretched out on the window sill. Today was GORGEOUS here in New England - low humidity and a lovely breeze. All the windows were open and Baby really enjoyed it. We were all sick of having the AC running constantly, and there is nothing more enchanting than billowing curtains!

And always the clown, she loves to make me laugh!

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend! The next time I post it will most likely be September!! Hard to believe!

Donna

The Studio Office Reveal. Part 2.

The studio office setup continues!

As you can see, Baby has made herself right at home in my computer/transcribing corner.

Please be careful of the bird lamp, Baby!

Last week I showed you the fabulous vintage green writing desk, parakeet lamp, and chalkware Mary statue that sits on one wall of the studio/office.

I'm afraid the computer/transcribing corner lacks the same vintage charm.

It consists of a small faux wood desktop set on metal legs and an old beige file cabinet. I've had it longer than I can remember. (The jury is still out on whether I'll try to paint the file cabinet white. The ideal time to do that would have been before it was moved into the room, so my guess is it will forever more be boring beige.)

The wicker 3-drawer storage unit was purchased at Target and the bird lamp at The Christmas Tree Shop, both maybe about 5 years ago?

The computer/transcribing desk sits next to the bedroom's one window (which is quite large) so it's a very bright room, although it's hard to tell on this overcast day!

One of the nicest things about this new room is that it came with an awesome roommate - Tiger!

Tiger sleeps on Amanda's old bed, which is currently across the room from my computer desk. Since Amanda often comes home from the city for visits, she still sleeps in this bed with Tiger.

They've been doing that for over 20 years, since 1993 when we got Tiger as a kitten.

(I love this picture!)

The small bedroom that I just moved out of (Court's old room) needs to be thoroughly de-cluttered and have the wallpaper stripped. After that it will get a fresh coat of paint and have the 33-year old wall to wall carpet torn up and new hardwood floors put down (hooray!).

Once that is done, the twin bed will be moved into that room...

... and bookcases will line the wall of my new office where the bed now stands. Or at least that's the plan.

(I love this picture of Tiger. I caught her just as she was about to yawn!)

Tiger will be 21 years old this August (or as our vet likes to say, of legal age!)

As Tiger has aged, it's gotten harder for her to get around, so a makeshift set of stairs (round storage boxes and an old vanity stool) allows her to get up and down from the bed that she has always slept on. Her food and water bowls have also been moved onto the bed. And since it was also becoming more difficult for her to get to the litter box down in the basement, we set one up in this room for her.

Tiger loves to hang out in her "Tiger Den" that sits atop the bed (a cardboard box with a blanket lining and an overhang of blankets on the roof). I'm hoping she'll want to stay roommates with me and have her "Den" set up on the floor, which would actually be so much easier for her. But if she rejects that idea and insists on sleeping on top of the bed, as she's done her whole life, I'll hold off on bringing the bookcases in and just keep things as they are with the bed in my office.

In my last post, you may have noticed the baby gate set up in the doorway of my new office studio. As I mentioned, we set up a litter box for Tiger in this room since it's so difficult for her to go up and down the stairs to the basement.

The gate was put up to keep this handsome boy out. For those of you who do not own both dogs and cats... For some very strange reason, dogs consider the little droppings in a litter box something of a gourmet treat. Yes, (gag), you read that right. So this gate is the equivalent of a "Restaurant Closed" sign for Mr. J.

(You might remember that we originally bought this gate last year when Mr. J had his surgery and we wanted to make sure he did not take a tumble down our split level stairs!)

Who knew we'd be needing it again so soon?

Of course Baby isn't going to let a "Baby" gate stop her from getting in. Nope. 

The Baby gate is clearly not Baby proof!

She just leaps over in a single bound.

All the pieces you see in the background (two of Amanda's old bookcases and a small apothecary chest) are sitting here temporarily until I move yet another bookcase from my old office in, but I first have to give it a fresh coat of paint.

So, yes, it's a bit of a cluttered mess in this back corner right now, but all in good time! Hopefully I'll have more to share soon!

I'm joining Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home this week.

Have a great week, everyone!

Donna

Step by step, inch by inch...

S-l-o-w-l-y we transform the larger spare bedroom into my new studio/office.

We're not quite ready to make the room mine yet, but we're inching along! Just a few months ago the corner of this room in the above photo looked like....

... THIS!

Yes, that's Baby up on the shelf peering at me. This is Amanda's old room. After graduating from college she did move home for one year, but then moved back to the city and has put down roots there. And although she moved out, many of her belongings did not! So before starting the room makeover, we started boxing up things she wanted to keep.

The first step in the remodel was to remove all the shelving. (Sorry, Baby!)

Next the outdated 1980's wallpaper and border had to come down.

 As you can see, this room has not been 'remodeled' since Amanda was a toddler!

I have to admit, this was the hardest part for me. I am way too sentimental for my own good. And as much as I was/am SO looking forward to this room being fresh and 'modernized,' it really bothered me to see the wallpaper and border come down. Amanda always loved it, too, and never wanted it changed or removed, even as she got older.

After the wallpaper removal, it was time for the old, worn wall-to-wall carpet to come out. Now that I had NO problem getting rid of!

After the plywood floors had been cleaned, the walls, woodwork, and closet doors were painted white. From this angle you can see that it's not a huge room by any means, but at 11 x 11, it's still bigger than Court's old room that I'm currently using as my studio office. It's just under 8 x 10.

All of the back-breaking work to this point was done by hubby as I've been too busy with transcribing and subbing to be of any help. I don't say thank you often enough - so a big huge THANK YOU to hubby for all he does!!! 

And then, in late October, the big day arrived!

And like magic...

... a shiny new hardwood floor...

... was installed by one/two guys who were in and out in record time...

... and we were left with all this GORGEOUSNESS!

I just wanted to stare at the floor and not put anything in the room at all!

But for the time being Amanda's old bed was put back in here...

... so that Tiger, now 20-years old, can sleep where she has always slept since she was 8 weeks old.

And now we're even talking about replacing the three bedroom windows!

There's one (drafty) window in each bedroom. Boy, do they leak cold air. So I'm not sure exactly when it will happen, but it's in the "definitely being talked about" stage!

All this getting the house in "order" made me think of one of my new prints that I just received copies of a few weeks ago. It's my take on an old house blessing.

The Beauty of the house is Order

The Blessing of the house is Contentment

The Glory of the house is Hospitality

The Crown of the house is Godliness.

I was thinking it might be nice to have a giveaway, so if you'd like a chance to win this 16x20 print (or any other 16x20 or smaller sized print from my Etsy art shop), just leave a comment by midnight on Monday, Nov. 25th, and I'll announce a winner on Tuesday the 26th.

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday this week.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Donna