My new studio.....finally

When we moved in to our new home last year, our forever home, we knew we had a little work to do. It's a great house, but I quite fancied a little space of my own to put all my stuff in. There was a big garage, which I soon took over - but it was chilly, damp and a bit dingy. So, we looked into converting it. A couple of days in,to the work and this is the corner of the garage that was to be mine... yep, the one with the digger and wheelbarrow in.

Fast forward a few weeks, and we have and windows!! Hurrah!

And as of a few weeks ago, we're all moved in....

I have pictures on the wall.....

 I have a desk, (thanks Anne!)

 or two....

or ahem three.

 

I can put my stuff out, and leave it there.

I'm still organising and finding places for things,  as you can see, but it's getting there, and I LOVE it.

So there you go...my workroom tour finally!

The state that we are in

This time of year is notoriously slow on Folksy and Etsy compared to the rest of the year, and so it's been quite good timing to be doing our building work now, when things aren't manic. Can you imagine if it was just before Christmas....aaaaggh doesn't bear thinking about.

I was thinking I'd be spending my spare time in February sorting out my stock, getting my new standalone jewellery shop up and running and getting my marketing sorted. Hmmmm. No. I'm not sure what I've been doing with all my time, but it doesn't seem to be any of those things!

(my new work-room)

The building work is finally nearing completion. It's really just last fix stuff now. We still have no kitchen to speak of, we can't get the sink or hob in as we're waiting for the worktop to be sorted but we do have a working oven at last...hurrah... and a washing machine. It's sad just how excited I was about putting a load of washing on yesterday. And it is actually starting to seem quite decadent to have a separate room devoted to the storage and preparation of food. I've kind of got used to washing up in a bucket in the bath. And having the fridge and freezer, and bin in the hall way is pretty handy, if not particularly nice to look at.

Anyway I'll bore you with more before and after pictures when it's finished in a couple of weeks, and give you a tour of my long awaited work space, in which I shall be neat, efficient and everso organised. Honest.

Birthday finds....

Some lovely bits and bobs from around the interweb that i would LOVE for my birthday.....

Vintage test tube holder from Concept Furnishings on Etsy. Not planning on doing many experiments, but perfect for keeping my saw blades in order!

3 antique french apothecary bottles - yummy - from French Melody on Etsy. No idea what I'd use these for - they just look pretty.

And just think how organised my new room could be with this..

(from elemental)

or this Doctors Cabinet from The Holding Company..(sorry can't grab the image for some reason!).

or ....(swoons)...these from the Portobello Road market

So I love storage...who knew!

Chaos....utter chaos.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh, our building work started at the beginning of January, and we're nearly there, nearly done. The walls are up, the glass is in, the floor has been levelled and the radiators are plumbed. We even have plaster on the walls! (I know!) One thing we no longer have however, is a kitchen...

...no sink, no cooker, no...anything.

Tiling of the floor begins tomorrow, and the new kitchen is going in later in the week. I don't know how long it will take, but for now, like for the past couple of months we are living with utility room cupboards, a couple of sinks, a fridge, a dishwasher and an oven in boxes in our living room. The contents of the kitchen cupboards are strewn liberally around the house. It's great fun playing "find the cereal bowls" every morning. Aaaaaaaaaaaah how we laugh.

We have a microwave and a supply of reheatable meals. And lots of lovely friends inviting us round for dinner. It's all fine and cope-able, but feels so completey chaotic, and messy and cluttered and euuuurggggh.It feels like I can't think straight, which is silly.

I am itching to get my new space sorted. And itching to get back to work making jewellery. The jewellery has definitely taken a backseat over the last few weeks as I spend my time trying to get out of the house, shuffling kitchen contents, or purchasing paint. But I know it will all be worth it, and by April I will have no excuses left for why my handmade jewellery isn't made, listed and flying out of the door!

New Studio - Update

Our builders have been really cracking on with the build. It'll be 3 weeks tomorrow. (Is that all??)
And my new studio has changed from this....

To this...

and yesterday the front wall started going up...!

I must point out that I'm only having a teeny corner of what was the garage, not the whole thing (now wouldn't that be nice?) but I do know I'm a very lucky girl to be getting a little room I can leave all my stuff out in. Not ideal to have oxygen and propane tanks in reach of the kids!

Storage boxes

Loving my bead storage boxes. I bought them from ebay a couple of months ago when I was in my post move, frenzied organisation stage.

They cost about £2.50 incl postage, and are brilliant. Soooo much cheaper than the ones you get in bead shops!

Apart from anything else, just looking at my findings and beads neatly set out usually creates a little spark of inspiration.

Anyone else got any storage tips? I'm planning out my new workspace for when we get our building work done (probably not until next year, but I can plan it!!), so I'm thinking some handy wall tubs would be good. I saw some lovely storage things a while back but I'm still searching for the perfect one!