Showing posts with label french by design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label french by design. Show all posts

Monday, October 24, 2011

floorplanning a workspace.

First off, thanks again to A-Line Magazine for letting me offer up some advice on refinishing. It was a really fun assignment and an easy way to prevent project procrastination.

Speaking of project procrastination, I'm still up in arms about what to do with my craft room/nook/workspace. I've actually decided to call it a workspace so it can accommodate whatever new project I put on my plate next. Commitment crisis, averted.

Now that I have the name down, I started picking apart the floorplan in hopes of uncovering some super easy solution or idea for pulling the whole space together.

Here is how it's setup now.


The triple doorway off to the left leads to a bathroom (top), bedroom (side) and pantry (bottom). I placed my desk on the tiny wall next to my bathroom door which spills into the kitchen entryway and blocks the side of the fridge. The hutch and Lois the sewing machine are right next to each other, leaving room for the opening and closing of the top. Ruby's area is in the small corner and seems more forced than planned.

Largest area of dislike? When you look at the space from the living room (open space on the right wall), it looks more like a garage sale than a room. There's no area of focus and everything is stained wood. It's just so blah.
After working through some options, I gave myself two to pick from.


Option 1 is all about making the space a room. I moved the hutch to the side of the pantry, helping out the view from the living room. I switched the desk and Lois, thinking of adding an "inspiration wall" to block the fridge and creating an easier flow in terms of functionality. I'm still not happy about the dog bowl and toy basket placement - I think moving them next to Lois would be a better option.
In this case, I would paint the hutch, drawing attention away from the kitchen. I would then refinish the sewing machine and leave the top of the desk the same dark wood color for balance.


I like this color combination as inspiration for refinishing the hutch. The blue will tie into my living room and the yellow will help blend the kitchen tile. It might be just a tad too "antique" for me though. Probably go a deeper blue and a little lighter on the distressed look.



 


The second option plays off the narrowness of the space, making it more like an alleyway than an actual room. This will draw less attention but still keep the plan of refinishing the hutch blue. The bench along with some other seating options can be pushed neatly underneath for storage while adding some pops of color to that side of the space. I kind of like the hutch completely blocking the fridge, acting like it's just a part of the wall. The hutch would then create a Ruby area (like she needs another one) that would house her food bowls and always-empty toy basket.

In this case, I'd probably add a hallway-sized rug to bring the two sides together.

The plan is to head back to my place after volleyball tonight (USA! USA!) to try out both arrangements and report back.

The good news: I have a direction for the hutch.

The bad news: I still haven't a clue how it's going to turn out.

Here are some more ideas I've collected (Pinterest! Pinterest!) to bring the whole space together.









Monday, October 17, 2011

stumped in my workspace.

I thought I'd have it all figured out by now. So cocky. So full of optimism. Sigh.

It all started Friday night when I tasked myself with putting together a moodboard for my craft nook/area/workspace. For those not aware of what a moodboard is, it's something that people use on occassion to pull together the look and feel of the space to gain a sense of direction. Yes, I'm one of those nerds that tries not to go out on Fridays to 1. save money 2. get a head start on my blog posts and 3. avoid being too hungover to run the millions of errands I pack my Saturdays with. I'm not always successful but have been lately since Jim works and I screen all Friday phone calls.

So there I was all snug in bed (AKA my second couch), Ruby happy as a clam with a new bone and an episode of Maury Povich playing in the background. It was one of the more successful shows I've seen - I think 3 out of the 5 guests were able to confirm who their baby's daddy were on the first try.

After the first "you ARE NOT the father", I opened up my laptop and headed straight to polyvore to whip out a moodboard. And.... nothing. I have a few specific ideas in my head of what I want to do but am having a hard time pulling it all together under a common theme. Let's take a look at what I'm dealing with. And yes, that is my not clean bedroom in the back and Ruby's toys she decided to place right after I picked them up. So inconsiderate that one.





First of all, I don't think I've been realistic about how large the space really is - the size of a hallway. This leaves me with limited floor plan options and very little room to do something cool. Like these.





Second, the space has a crazy amount of wood in it right now - real and fake. I'm not opposed to painting wood (see my nightstand project here) but don't want everything to look all painty-painty. That bugs me. Which is why all of my inspiration pics have such a great blend of materials and colors.





Third, I NEED all of the stuff I currently have in the space. Lois (mentioned here), a desk/work station, a hutch for housing all of my crafty stuff and Ruby's food and water bowls. I also have a couple of rattan cubes that need to go under the work station holding tons 'o fabric along with maybe a chair with a back that I found on the side of the road a while back. Sewing can take its toll on your back.

So what is a gal to do? Do I refinish the hutch using a gradient treatment like the photos shown below? Do I find a new top for the desk to get a little more variety in terms of finishes? Should Lois get a makeover? Can I break up the wood floor with a long rug? Decisions, decisions. All of which I can't. freaking. make.

Speaking of not making decisions, here are some more storage ideas I've collected on pinterest and can't make up my mind on.







One of my biggest design flaws is not being able to start - let alone complete - something until it all comes together in my head. I've tried to push through based on the one idea I've had for a space but it's always turned into a giant messy ball of ugliness in the end. So for now, it's just a giant messy ball of possibilities and a variety of ideas that I can't figure out how to tie together. Ugh.