Thursday, November 3, 2016

Big Move

It's one of those big life moments when you decide to sell your home of 30 years and downsize. We actually made the decision over a year ago and it has taken this long to call the transition complete. For me, that included moving my home studio after going thru everything and evaluating if it was going to make the move.

I embraced the change and made it an opportunity to restyle my working space.  This new style I have lovingly dubbed  "William Morris meets Ikea". I combined simple clean tabletops and bookcases with touches of detailed Arts and Crafts design.
While driving down 50th Street in Minneapolis, I saw this stained glass window in the Antique shop's store display and knew it was perfect. The shop owner asked if I was 'seriously' considering buying it because it was going to be difficult to retrieve it from the front window wedged between other antique pieces. I assured her I was. It had the simplicity, the design and colors that I loved. I debated where and how I wanted to display it in my new studio space and decided I wanted to see it as the first thing I was when I entered the room. It is flanked by two hand crafted candle sticks I bought at an Arts and Crafts Show in Chicago and my own framed art.

In contrast, I chose a big drum shade at Ikea to hang over an Ikea table with gray wooden curved legs. The shade has a gorgeous shiny copper interior with slits in it that adds some drama to the space. The framed art was done by a special friend of mine that I brought from my previous space.

I also kept my card filing system with pull out bins. It's functional and looks good. I splurged and bought a William Morris 5x8' wool rug for the floor. I've always wanted one and found the perfect combination of colors and design online. 

There's one last item to hang. I ordered an extra large poster print of my Frank Lloyd Wright Graycliff house illustration to frame and hang on the last empty wall space.

It has been a long year of purging and planning to get here. But I really enjoy how it has all come together to be a space that feels like me.