Making It Home, Part I: The Studio

  

Although most of the house didn't require any extra work before we moved in, my studio was the one room that I really wanted to change. The room was lavender, and though it was a lovely color for its former use - the bedroom of the previous owners' young child -  for my purposes, it wasn't quite right. It made the room feel very dark, particularly in the late afternoon, which is when I get a lot of my best work done.

So when I started thinking about a new paint color, I really wanted to consider the character of the room as a whole unit, particularly because it's connected to a beautifully restored 40s bathroom with yellow and sage green fixtures. Although the house was built in 1925, the studio and back bathroom were later additions, which would explain why the bathroom is old, but clearly not original to the house.

I hemmed and hawed over color for a while - do I match the bathroom with a sage green? Do I leave it lavender? Do I go for a soft turquoise? Sure, maybe, I guess. But nothing felt quite right.

The Carlyle - 1250 Ocean Drive (Kichnell & Elliott, 1941.)
Image from Tropical Deco: The Architecture & Design of Old Miami Beach

Then one morning, I woke up and realized that the choice was right there in front of me: pink! Because why the hell not? It works well with the Tropical Deco-vibe of the color palette, and it has the added bonus of being my favorite color.

So off to the paint store we went, and got four different shades of pink, from pale to bright. I had always heard that bright color can overwhelm a room really easily, so it's better to err on the side of a lighter color. But as the swatches dried and I looked at all my options, I realized that a bright pink was what I wanted, damn the experts.

 

But then - as is a risk with any decision that rejects every shred of common sense and conventional experience - in the middle of the process, I was suddenly struck with doubt. It took two coats of paint, and it was hard to cover the lavender, and we had to do some major touch-up work, which added hours of work and wretched anticipation onto the whole project. So there was some late-night painting, and a small amount of crying, and a hefty dose of self-doubt.

And at those moments, I had to remind myself how sure I had felt at the beginning. How carefully I had made the decision. How much preparation and time we had both spent on the project already. And I held onto the hope that at the very least, it would be okay - maybe not perfect, not great, but okay. So we did the work, I held my breath, and I waited for the paint to dry.

And in the end?

I shouldn't have worried. I absolutely love it.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

<3

Cory

Creating Space, Part 4: A Bright Little Nook

  

In the past few weeks, as Lumberjack and I have talked about some of our intentions for our relationship and life in the next year, I've been coming up with some ideas to make our home a more welcoming place to be.

It's important to me that form and function exist together in equal amounts. A beautiful space that feels stiff, or has no storage space, just doesn't work with our lifestyle - but at the same time, I am super aesthetically needy, and a space that is functional but ugly makes me feel uninspired and sad.

Especially with the short, dark days of winter taken hold, I really gravitate towards bright, colorful decor. As much as I appreciate a clean, neutral palette, I find it too limiting and impractical for our daily life - I love color, and I can't imagine living in a house without it! So instead of going for a straight-up minimalist look, I've been thinking a lot about working with a more eclectic, bright aesthetic that still relies on white space and functional, high-quality and/or handmade items.

With that in mind, I've been combing thrift and consignment shops - Ballard Consignment is a favorite! - for colorful vintage and contemporary art, accessories, and furniture. It's important to me that this process is slow and thoughtful, and relies on reusing and reimagining old things as much as possible. I have a lot of issues with the high-volume, low-quality manufacturing and consumption patterns that have become so prevalent in this country, and because of that, I'd like to put our money towards local and sustainable goods as much as we can.

(At the same time, we need to be mindful of our budget, and sometimes that means compromising on some aspect of that philosophy on certain items, especially big-ticket furniture like tables and couches. Which can be frustrating, sure, but it's also the reality.)

So a few weekends ago, I found this little corner shelf, which is the perfect size and shape to take advantage of the landing of our second-floor staircase. It now houses not just cute things - Lego figures, a little collection of silk flowers - but also high-usage items like mailboxes, card & photo storage, pens & pencils, and coins.

That, combined with these amazing framed vintage Vogue covers - which will eventually be hung on the wall! - have turned what was a dark, empty corner in our house into a bright, functional space. It makes me smile every time I look at it - and that's exactly what I wanted.

Other thoughts on creating space:

Part I: Minimalism, Stuff, and Reclaiming Space
Part 2: Studio!
Part 3: Bookshelves for the Aesthetically Needy

Happy Monday!
<3
Cory

Creating Space, Part 3: Bookshelves for the Aesthetically Needy

This week, Lumberjack is on his two-week vacation before he starts a new job, so we've been doing a major overhaul of our living space and decor. We've been renting our current place for a little over a year, and since we weren't sure how long we were staying, we've been reluctant to put much effort into decorating. In the last few weeks, though, we've decided not to move in the foreseeable future - and that has kicked off an epic reevaluation of our whole house!

Through college, I moved at least once a year, if not two or three times; since then, we've moved within the Seattle metropolitan area about once a year. Our current place is the longest I've stayed at an address since I moved out of my parents' house, but up until a few weeks ago, I just assumed we were going to be moving again soon. So, now that we've decided to stay, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities - the most exciting of which is the opportunity to make our space and my intense level of aesthetic neediness coincide.

Aesthetic neediness, simply put, is the constant desire to surround oneself - both physically and conceptually - with thoughtful, functional, aesthetically interesting or appealing objects and ideas. Sparklepants came up with the term, and it perfectly sums up the weird, perfectionist scrutiny that is so often employed against the belongings of a design- or art-minded person.

Aesthetic neediness begets Pinterest boards, and breathlessly exuberant design blogs, and minimalist lifestyles. It's critical, and purposeful, and not a small amount snobby - which, honestly, is the part that made me resist it for a long, long time.

I have a lot of thoughts about stuff in general, and I also recognize that aesthetic neediness is often closely associated with positions of privilege and power. And although I deeply appreciate the things that I consciously choose for the value and beauty they bring to my life, I try to keep in mind that my concept and execution of aesthetic neediness is a personal decision that neither reflects nor dictates others' experiences of their own space and belongings.

Oof. Anyhow, the whole point of that is, after many years of dissatisfaction with my bookshelf, I finally transferred all of my knitting, fashion, and inspiration books to their own shelf. And then I organized each shelf by color, like the obnoxious hipster I am. For years, I organized my books by title or content, and I've finally realized that for these books, they are not meant to be searchable so much as they are meant to be beautiful and inspiring - and it's okay if they reflect that!

So now, all of my books are on the same bookcase; the bookcase is pretty and bright; I still have a sense of where each of them are; and they are arranged in a pretty rainbow that makes my aesthetically needy little self very, very happy.

Happy Monday.

<3

Cory