Let There Be Light

Sorry, I got distracted from the task at hand to tell you all about my Switzerland trip. I have spent a lot of time since I've been home cleaning and purging my house. Summer vacation is usually when I do this, but having been inspired by how clean and clutter free Switzerland living is I needed a change. I reread the Apartment Therapy book by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan "The Eight-Step Home Cure". Max made a great point when he stated "we are into hypernesting and that instead of asking ourselves what would really make our home work better, we usually jump to the conclusion that there must be something to buy to solve our home's challenges (flatter tv, closet storage unit, etc.)" The issue then is we continue to take more into our houses, but rarely does anything leave. I am a single person in a small condo. There is no reason it should be bursting at the seams with the amount of "stuff" I have. So I have been figuring out what I truly need and not hanging onto the things I "might" need.

Most of the house didn't take very long. The beast that I left for last was of course my studio. My friends mother passed away about a year ago and I recently adopted a ton of her art supplies. Fantastic, right?! Except for the fact that I was trying to down size. I would say it has taken approximately a week, many different renditions, and a lot of break throughs to get to this point.

The biggest break through I had this weekend was finally letting the light in. After all the years I have lived in my house, I have had box valances over the windows in my studio. They came with the condo when I bought it. I simply reupholstered them with new updated fabric and that was that. I kept them up as well as put up blackout drapes in an effort to keep the room cool. My studio bakes all day and is at least 5 degrees hotter than the rest of my place. This isn't pleasant to work in when I set the house at 82 degrees to save on AC over the summer. So there I am sweating in my cave of a studio. Yuck! No more I tell you! I decided to take the boxes down and what a difference it makes. The room glows! What about the heat? To regulate the temperature I have a fan in the doorway blowing cool air into the room and all is well.

With all this new found light pouring in it looks like a brand new studio! Where there is light, there is life! I immediately ran to the hardware store for shelves to cover with plants. I have been going through withdrawals from the greenery and vegetation I grew up with. Life can seem so desolate in this desert landscape I am trapped in. Breathing new life into my house and my studio has been so rejuvenating! It is the studio I have always wanted and been craving! So, without further ado, here is the new and improved studio!









I haven't taken down the L-brackets from the valances, because I was trying to figure out if I could use them to install hanging plants. I finally figured out what I want to redo the floor of my condo with. I have struggled to make up my mind until now. I just need to save up the money to do so. Aye, there's the rub!