A friend was so inspired by our studio that she made one of her own! This, in turn, inspired me to do a little overhaul of our shelves. About a quarter of the space had been overrun with an excess of games and puzzles. Griff and I went through all of them, chose which to donate and which to keep, and then found new homes for the keepers. In the meantime, Reese and Dan played several of them. I love how shuffling things reminds us of what we have and encourages us to make use of them!
Above is the end result of today's rehab. Ahhh, so much better. A couple of people have asked about our art studio in the past; if you want to know what's on those shelves or see more views of the studio, click through to the flickr page for the labeled image, and then scroll through a couple more shots of this space. The room is far from finished - it needs new shades to replace the dry-rotted orange ones, the shelves need paint, and one wall is bare, waiting for me to decide what kind of art display system to install. It's still our favorite spot, though.
I completely agree with Patience that sacred spaces are essential. This room was beloved by the previous owners of our home; they used it as an office and reading nook. I had originally intended to do the same (minus the wall-to-wall carpet and heavy paisley), but then realized how perfect the shelves would be for holding the buckets of art supplies that had been heaped in a kitchen cabinet in our old home, and how lovely the room would be with the kids' little table and a love seat. It was an instant hit and during our first few months here, we ate breakfast every morning at the little table and the kids made drawing after drawing while I read books on the love seat. The seat has since moved to the living room and our kitchen set has moved in, but the room is still the busiest in our home. It's full of light and creativity. The sun streams in through "stained glass" coloring book pages taped up by Griff and fused glass tiles made by me. A narcissus slowly grows up inside the window and birds visit our feeders outside of it. Just past the birds we can see the whole wonderful back yard, and in the summer people inside the house can call to those outside through breezy open windows. This space is the heart of our home, it represents all the things we love most about ourselves and the place where we live.
