I wish I could work tidily. I really do.
My work space is the rear portion of our living room.
The living room used to be two rooms, back when we bought the house. But the rear room hardly ever got used, apart from as a very occasional spare bedroom, when we had a houseful of guests.
It soon became a dumping ground for “stuff”.
An indoor garden shed. A ground-floor cellar. A room-sized kitchen junk drawer. Full of stuff that was out of sight, and therefore out of mind.
So when we finally had the money to do up the house, we decided to knock through. A nice big living room, with windows at both ends. Not a dump.
Perfect.
The rear half of the room inherited the old kitchen table which was too small for the kitchen. I set up the sewing machine there.
And so, over time, it gradually morphed into my sewing space.
All of which is fine, and graciously, nobody complains about my monopolising it and strewing it liberally (and by that I mean very liberally) with fabric, bits of trim, threads, pairs of scissors, bags of stuffing, half-finished projects and a sewing machine.
But mainly it is strewn with piles and piles, and cabinets, and baskets, and boxes of fabric.
I try to keep it tidy. To respect the fact that this space sits at the heart of our home, not just my space, but shared space.
But I am, by nature, not a natural tidy-upper. None of us are in our house.
So it is often a bit chaotic.
I did have a plan to move it all upstairs, all the sewing and the fabric and the associated other stuff.
To the spare bedroom, where we sometimes put up overnight guests, and dry our washing when the weather’s too wet and cold for the washing line.
But it hasn’t come to be. To relocate requires a level of effort that seems… daunting.
To be honest, I like being downstairs, next to the kitchen, where there is tea and a decent internet signal, and light coming from two sides of the room.
I need light. I find that I get depressed without enough of it.
I also find that in order to be creative, I need to be surrounded by stuff.
Oh, in my mind I aspire to a clean, white, organised, tidy, empty, creative space.
And when I’m searching for my scissors yet again or I’m still unable to locate that particular bit of fabric, I crave a proper studio, with a place for everything and everything put away properly in its place.
But really, when I’m honest about it, I know that usually the things I make spring from the stuff that surrounds me.
The scraps of fabric spilling out of that big paper bag on the floor.
The bits of coloured ribbon snipped from frocks and chocolate boxes and left on the table.
The lid of my big button tin, into which small, leftover or unfinished things get dropped.
Without being able to touch that piece of trim abandoned on the table, without being able to see that perfect chance colour-combination of fabrics, or those scrappy bits just the right size for some small, new creation…
Well… that new creation would never get created.
It’s why so often I find that my makes get made from the most recently-bought piece of fabric in my stash.
Because it was there. In front of my eyes. At the forefront of my mind.
So the chaos remains. And for the most part, I am glad that it does.
If it wasn’t there, if it was all tidy and put out of sight, I would love it for a day or so.
But then I think my creativity – and perhaps even I, myself – would go out of my mind. ♥
Your creative chaos is lovely to look at, but it would be very hard for me to work in. I can quite see how the flow and splash of colour is very stimulating, and bits and pieces of lovely stuff can inspire fresh new ideas, but for me being able to lay my hands on tools, scissors, haberdashery and odds and ends before I go off the creative boil is very important! I’m sure you’ve already considered the calming influence of large white plastic storage boxes…?
Ugh, I am shuddering to think of them Kate! Plastic storage boxes = ugly, ugly, ugly!! I do agree with you about the need to be able to lay hands easily on your tools though. That’s why I just leave most of mine out on the table all the time! (Actually, I do have a place for most of them, for those rare occasions when I do actually tidy it all away).
I was thinking the boxes could go upstairs to the spare room with the things you didn’t need or use so much…
Ahh! I see! But I need to be able to see it all!
Then you are doomed to creative chaos! Still, it seems to work pretty well for you, there’s some lovely stuff appearing on your blog!
What I really need is to be able to take over the entire living room and fill every single wall with shelves full of vintage fabric! I’m about a third of the way to fulfilling that ambition at the moment…!
Mmm, I do see your problem… I must say, the neatly stacked shelves full of a rainbow of fabrics are very decorative and not at all messy to look at – virtually an art installation! But I know from experience that unless you can train yourself to return a tool or fabric to the place you found it, and promptly, your working environment will rapidly deteriorate into a pretty (in both senses of the word) Mess! It’s taken most of my life to get there, but I do enjoy the results…
Those shelves are actually full of books, not fabric!
The fabrics are in piles, two big baskets (invisible underneath the piles in the photos), a trunk, plus two cabinets. (I do also have some stashed away upstairs – the stuff I just fondle, rather than use)
Well, there you you. I assumed fabric, because it looks exactly like how I used to arrange mine before I got the colour-co-ordinated-fabric-basket bug.
What a wonderful creative space……I think I don’t create enough because my creative space is a shared family space too, I’m always a bit worried about making it messy for everyone else, think I ought to just go with the flow a bit more! 🙂 xxx
Creativity is definitely a messy business! And for me, tidying everything away at the end of each day, whilst great in terms of home harmony, can mean losing your train of thought about your work in progress.
(Well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!)
I love it and Oh my gosh our old house was exactly the same layout, two fireplaces and even though we had made one room out of two it never felt like one room. we even had bookshelves in that samespace as you.
I love your space. I love your chaos and creativity,I love your photography afterall we all know what makes us tick!!
bestest daisy xxx
Thanks Daisy! Our house is a pretty standard-issue Victorian semi. But it’s a layout that works for us. And although the knocked-through living room is still a room of two halves, it is a million times better than it would be as two rooms. I love the feeling of the bigger space.
My sister commented that the difference between Australian and British homes is “all those little rooms”, and I can see what she means. We all tend to live in small spaces in the UK for practical reasons, but it still feels great to have the luxury of space, even if our one room serves two uses.
Love your space! I have been working for many years from my teeny studio in the garden, but more often than not I spill into the dining room. I like to be close to the family too. Your space is so colourful. Love it x
How do you manage with your garden studio in winter Naomi? Does it have heating and insulation? I find it really hard to work when it’s cold.
That’s plenty tidy enough! And it looks gorgeous and a lovely colourful place to create. How tidy are some people’s houses that they use the word chaos?! Definitely not that, but looks a very creative and used space. Exactly what it should be. I love it.
I think your space looks and sounds perfect! I adore all that colour! Light is so important, and I firmly believe rooms should be used and enjoyed. We don’t have any guest rooms (or kids!) – instead my husband and I have a room each. He works from home and is on endless video calls all day, so it is essential. Creative chaos is what it’s all about 🙂