The Studio

Our house in the suburbs has more than enough space for all of us. In fact, we generally have two rooms that aren't utilized on a regular basis. My son's room, since he sleeps in our room in his own bed, (yay for family bedrooms!) And our guest room - which is used maybe once or twice a month.

We've often talked about downsizing to a smaller home with more land, but with the current housing market, we've decided to delay looking and make our home a place that we're content with, happy, and love now.

So we dumped the guestroom. We thought briefly about turning my son's room into the studio, but on the off chance that he decides he wants to start sleeping in it, we decided we better leave it as is. (Sorry friends and family - we'll have a blow up mattress and a nice couch for you.) We turned the now empty room into a studio for my Etsy store, Green Baboon Designs.

I just love this space! I'll probably be tweaking bits of it as I go along in order to find the most optimal and efficient workspace, but right now it is everything that I had hoped for.

The first thing we had to tackle was that mess of wool that trailed all over our house in various wicker baskets and plastic containers. I knew exactly what I wanted. The Ikea Expedit shelving.


How great is that? It's so nice to be able to see exactly what I have, what I need, and to pull it out when I want it rather than search through bin after bin. On top of the shelves I have a few wicker baskets with what we call "fairy bits" around here. Cotswold curls for doll hair, angelina fibers for shimmer, silk strands for detail. The clear bins hold some of my acorn caps that my son and I collect in the fall from the local parks. The small pillow was an embroidered sampler my grandmother made - incredibly dear to me.


The workstation is a dining table my neighbor was going to get rid of when they upgraded. Its large flat surface works perfectly for me. I chose to extend a hanging light (also from Ikea) over the desk to further illuminate my needle felting area. The shade also has embroidered flowers on it - so sweet. It's imperative you have excellent lighting when felting. Those slender needles are s.h.a.r.p. I can look up and see the beautiful floral bunting I purchased on Etsy from LoudMouse.

On the other side of the room is my shipping station. It's always a little cluttered. Printer, packaging, ribbons, tools, etc. The green shelf was gifted to me from one of my aunts, and it blends in perfectly with the rest of the room.

The pièce de résistance? This print I picked up from dpsullivan. My. Green. Baboon. Freakin' sweet. I still need to have it framed - it wasn't until this weekend that I had an actual place to put it. I can't help but smile every single time I look at it. It fits my personality, my shop, and my workspace perfectly.

I'm planning on spending many a happy hour in here creating. I'd love to see your workspace if you have one.

Cheers,
Simple Mama!