You guys might be sick and tired of hearing about the studio – Believe me, I kind of am too. It’s that ONE SPACE that continues to foil me time and time again. I painted it my boldest color to-date (“Teal Zeal”) and, after months of pretending that I loved it, I finally admitted it to myself and to you that it just wasn’t working. Therefore, I painted a wall black! I know, I know…Everyone thought I was crazy. But in the end, it did the trick in sucking at least some of the attention away from those crazy teal walls.

I thought that I was all done after I painted that wall black, but the satisfaction soon shriveled away and I continued to feel like things weren’t quite “right.” Truth be told yet again, I feel like this room is far from being done (I’m thinking new curtains, a new bed frame, etc.) – But one recent change I made had to do with the furniture arrangement.

I’m all about aesthetics and, despite now having finally convinced John to move the elliptical to the basement so that I could move in a guest bed, the layout I ended with just wasn’t the best it could be. You see, this was the view that welcomed you:

(and no I am not referring to my sweet kitty – She’s a lovely welcome to the space. Alas, she’s not our consistent studio greeter)

While I adore the custom oak cabinet that my dad built (originally for a television but later converted to a shelving unit for my printmaking paper), it’s not a very soft and welcoming piece to greet you when you walk towards the door. So one evening, I made a few quick changes to remedy the effect.

This is now the new first-look-view of the room as you enter through the doorway:

I went ahead and put the bed front and center, pushing the large, heavy cabinet to the inside corner of the space. Everything seems a bit more balanced now. In the same vein, I switched my slender vintage desk with the bulky drafting table so that we, again, get better balance in the space.

By having all of the bulky, heavy furniture along the back wall, it allows you to focus more on the decorative aspects of the room – Namely, the bed and desk.

Speaking of the desk…One other thing I added new to the space was an inspiration board. My computer monitor forced the display shelves to sit pretty high on the wall above the desk, leaving a large blank space. Luckily, a small bulletin board that I picked up at Goodwill several years ago for $5 fit perfectly in the space. I styled it up with swatches from my fabric basket, an article published about me in the local paper and cuttings from furniture and spaces that inspire me.

Having all of that color, pattern and texture greet me when I sit down at my computer in the morning is a great pick-me-up. And it’s wonderful to have found a way to keep samples of all the fabric I have in my possession out in the open. When my next upholstery project turns up, all I need to do is check out my inventory via my inspiration board for decision-making.

I also spent a little extra time working on my display shelves to get them looking put together and intentional. I think that I am slowly-but-surely becoming more comfortable with shelf styling – Who knew it could be so hard to group some books and decorative figurines together in a pleasing way. How DO you do it, Emily??

All I can really say about this room is that “it’s getting there”…

What do you guys think? Please tell me that I’m not the only one with a problem space! Any words of encouragement?

P.S. I just had to share this…My cousin, Cathy, was inspired to create her own felt floral wreath after seeing the one I created last week. Instead of going with a hay wreath form and wrapping it with fabric like I did, she chose a grapevine wreath and added her felt flower blooms on top using needle, thread and some hot glue. She also went the extra mile on the flowers, sewing them together and adding wooden beads for the “stamen.” Although she admitted that the sewing was a bit labor intensive, I think the finished product is well worth the effort – I am so jealous of how hers turned out! I guess she got all of the patience in the family…Isn’t it lovely??