Showing posts with label home office. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home office. Show all posts

Thursday, August 27, 2015

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

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Write a good one...

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."
- 2014 -

Clearly I'm already starting off the New Year a day late (and most likely a dollar short), as this should have been posted yesterday.

A year of new beginnings, new opportunities. 
A blank slate, just waiting for each of us to make our impression on it.

Baby and I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year.

I use this journal to keep track of hours spent on my at-home transcribing jobs.

As you can see, Baby would prefer that I pay attention to her rather than the deadlines I have at hand. Just remember, Baby, if I don't type, you don't eat.

Ahhh, she took that to heart and finally drifted off to sleep on the desk while I typed.
My little office/studio mate.

The photos you see in my next post might be of our Nor'easter. It's been snowing all day, and we are expecting to wake up to perhaps 12-14" of snow by tomorrow morning. Schools have already cancelled all classes for Friday. 
And Baby and I are dreaming of spring.


Happy New Year, everyone!

Donna

Friday, November 15, 2013

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.


Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Donna


Friday, April 13, 2012

Vintage Religious Needlework

Our Father Who Art in Heaven...

One day while thrifting for our ETSY shop, my daughter and I came across the most amazing vintage stitchery of The Lord's Prayer.

The prayer, doves, flower basket and border are stitched on a pink satin/silk material that's oh-so-slightly faded and stained around the edges.

The old gold frame is quite chippy, adding to the charm of this piece.

I was so taken with this piece that my daughter bought it for me on the spot and told me it was for my birthday!!

It definitely shows signs of its age which again, in my eyes, adds to the beauty of this piece.

The piece is not signed or dated, so there's no way to know for certain when it was stitched or by whom. I don't know if it was a young girl or an older woman who lovingly stitched this prayer, but it was certainly a labor of love as this is quite a large piece, about 16" x 20."

And since I work from home either transcribing, painting, or managing my ETSY shops, I'm able to enjoy it every single day as it hangs in my office/studio.

I'm linking up to How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Have a lovely weekend!

Donna