Last week I was so inspired by all the beautiful photos of Bri Emery’s new workspace that I decided to clean up my own. I’ll be honest. It looks like this for maybe four and a half minutes and after that…all bets are off. But that’s okay. I think it’s good to periodically move things around and reevaluate what stays on my desk and what goes. A change of scenery, not matter how small, is always a welcome thing.
Have you guys looked through the latest issue of HGTV Magazine? (A surprisingly great publication, by the way.)
There’s an article in it about Sabrina Soto’s clean-house tips and I can’t even tell you how inspiring it was to me. However, I can tell you that because of it, I am sitting in a very clean room right now. Typing on a very clean keyboard. Glancing over at my very clean shelves.
It was that good.
But then again, when is Sabrina Soto not inspiring? In case you missed it, here’s a tour of her home from an issue of Rue last year. Just look at that office…! What. That girl is something else.
xoxo
Last week I rearranged all my furniture and now it feels like a brand new space.
Now I am eager to sit at my desk each day and get work done. Amazing what a change of scenery can do!
xoxo
Yesterday I told myself I would allot one hour for organizing before I had to get started on my work. Well…that one hour turned into several hours and I didn’t finish my actual work until 3am. Ahhh, the beauty of working from home…
Almost everything office/craft-related has a designated home now and I feel so much more inspired to get to work. It’s amazing what a little organization can do for the soul.
xoxo
LEFT // I’ve been spending a good chunk of my free time in Target, especially in the home decor and kitchen sections where I dream about furnishing my next place. I’ve already caved and bought an espresso maker and a new lamp. I figure, if I buy it, the house will come  (;
RIGHT // More invitation prep for Jamie + Kareem. Jamie and I spent a few hours lining envelopes with book paper, stamping tags with her custom stamp and working on placecards. Living vicariously through someone else’s wedding prep? SO. MUCH. FUN.
LEFT + RIGHT // Last Friday was spent at – where else? – California Adventure + Disneyland. The new California Adventure revamp is definitely worth checking out. There’s new rides, a Ghirardelli ice cream / coffee shop, and trolley cars, just to name a few of the many new additions. I thoroughly enjoyed it and judging by our “every other Friday” schedule we have unconsciously followed, I’ll be back in two weeks.
LEFT // Wally! Wally is my brother’s dog who has been spending lots of quality time with my family these past two weeks. We love him to pieces and can’t get enough of his sweet little face (even if it does contain his super sharp puppy teeth – ouch!).
RIGHT //Â Lots of placing orders, packaging orders, and taking orders to the post office. Loving every minute of this little side biz I’ve got going on.
LEFT // Spring cleaning mode is in full effect now that it’s summer. I’ve already organized my closet, now I just need to work on everything else! I’ve enlisted the help of a ruthless third party (aka Mom) to help me pare down all the crap I own, because if anyone gets a major adrenaline rush out of taking big bags to the Goodwill, it’s her.
RIGHT // Summer is here and I’m trying to make the most of it. It hasn’t been too hot here yet, but I did spend about 7 seconds outside in the Valley yesterday and nearly melted. Lord help me get through the real summer heatwaves. P.S. I took this photo by suspending my iPhone over the pool/ instant electronic death pit…! I think my Instagram obsession might have reached a new level of extreme.
But alas, I keep on ‘grammin.
xoxo
As soon as I woke up this morning, I opened the window, let the sunshine and fresh air in, and then got to Spring-cleaning my desk so I could have an organized space to work (ahem, photograph for the blog). This Workspace Wednesday series is proving to be quite the extrinsic motivator! Ha!
Another thing that made me want to make things look nice and tidy were these beauties. As it turns out, my dad not only has the greenest thumb on the planet, but apparently, he’s also got a knack for flower arranging too! What a guy! I can’t help but drop everything I’m doing and stage impromptu photo shoots whenever I spot a new bouquet around the house. I mean, seriously! So gorgeous.
Spring’s treating us well around here. Let’s hope Summer holds off for a loooong time.
xoxo
Yikes.
This is how my desk looked when I woke up this morning. Lots of unfinished projects just waiting to be cleaned up.
It’s interesting because I think of myself as an organized person, but somehow my actions always seem to tell a different story. I’d say I’m currently in one the most unorganized states I’ve ever been in, with half my stuff in storage and the other half jammed into my closet/under my bed. Gross. Visual clutter = mental clutter. Need to fix that, stat.
The second half of 2012 will be all about organizing every facet of my life! Even if it kills me!
(are you listening, universe?)
xoxo
Lately I feel like I have nothing “blog-worthy” to share with you guys, but I am working on it! Today I will show you a few things that have been making me happy lately, via Instagram photos.
1. Happy mail from Jamaica’s shop. The packaging was even better in person! Now I can’t wait to use these in my Project Life.
2. On Sunday, I decided to repaint the canvas hanging in my master bathroom. It was made from layers of book paper, mod podge, white + neon pink paint, and an episode of “Secrets from a Stylist.” Sometimes it just feels good to paint. A new change of scenery in the bathroom is simply icing on the cake.
3. Valentine’s Day Cookie Exchange Party at work. We take treats very seriously around here.
4. Project Life. I’m thinking of combining the last two weeks into a single spread just to consolidate everything. Haven’t decided yet.
5. A very clean apartment = a very happy Ann-Marie.
6. Cookies + a letterpress card from a super awesome girl.
Last week at work, we moved into a new building and in the process, got to reorganize, rearrange, and refresh our workspace. It was quite a process, but Lindsey and I are totally loving our new space. Well, those happy, inspired feelings carried over into the weekend and all I could think about was changing up my apartment! First up: the spare room/craft room/guest room…whatever purpose it serves on any given day…(:
I decided to tip my IKEA shelving unit on it’s side to allow for more floor space and a new way to decorate. I LOVE the way it looks and can’t believe I hadn’t attempted it earlier!
New desk set-up under the mounted shelves. I took down the gallery wall in the hallway outside of this room, so I had plenty of framed photos and prints to prop against the wall.
I also wanted to make my desk as clutter-free as possible. If things didn’t get put away in the closet, they went into the giveaway pile (which continues to grow on a daily basis!). Less is more these days.
All my rolled papers are now stashed between the desk and the shelving unit. I love the bright pops of pink + orange!
My storage unit that houses all my papers and my printer and a giant stack of layouts (maybe one these days they’ll make it into proper albums…).
And now the part I think I’m most excited about: John’s desk! For the past year, his desk has been shoved in the corner by the window where it didn’t get a lot of use (totally my fault, I admit it). Well, not anymore! I moved his desk to the other side of the room (where my giant desk used to reside), designated the brown shelving unit as his, and put the rest of his things in the suitcase on the left side of the desk, so he could have lots of space to work. Success! Since our tastes in decor are vastly different (to say the least), it has been an exercise in compromise trying to merge the two styles together. Slowly but surely I think we are getting there (:
The view from the doorway.
The view of the hallway from the spare room. Whereas this space used to have lots of framed photos and prints on the walls, it now features a school chair (found in the dumpster of our old apartment complex in San Diego), a basket of my knitting + crocheting materials (happy colors!), and a suitcase full of my Etsy shop supplies. I left the cityscape prints frame (from IKEA a few years ago) on the wall, as well as an orange sheet of paper from Urbanic and a wreath from Michaels. The change is so refreshing!
The view from the dining room.
Something I haven’t shown in awhile: the guest bathroom. The circle painting is actually a tabletop that I got at the DI (and the person who rang it up couldn’t understand why I would want a tabletop with no table legs…duh! It’s for a painting in my bathroom, obviously! ha!). The frames on the wall feature Instagram photos glued atop kraft cardstock with lots of random sewing machine stitches.
Here’s the current fireplace set-up in the living room, although it’s about to change with the holidays upon us!
And here’s one of our end tables in the living room. It’s actually a fold-up table that I got at the DI for three dollars. The wire tray is also from the DI and it’s housing my new favorite book! I can’t wait to meet Grace Bonney tomorrow at her SLC book signing and crafting event!
Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!
This past weekend was all about deep cleaning my spare bedroom and getting rid of as much of my craft supply as possible. I am happy to report…mission accomplished! Here it is in it’s finest form:
Okay, so it’s not exactly HGTV-worthy, but it’s totally functional in keeping the majority of my supplies hidden away in the closet.
In order to maximize the most of the closet, I hung two shoe organizers to store all my embellishments, either by stacking in a pile or storing in a box.
One whole shelf (…and maybe a box below…eek!) hold all my Thickers + other letter stickers. What can I say, I love my alphas!
IKEA shelves, all neat + tidy.
Hallway into the spare room.
View of the desk from the hallway…
…and from the other side.
Where I keep my Autumn Eleven book + little scraps to go with it.
3400 yards of bakers twine and several thousand tickets…excessive much? Why yes! Ha! But I do love the color they bring to my desk!
And here are the bags + bags of my supplies that are going! Now they just need to leave the building and I will really feel accomplished!
P.S. All these photos were taken with my DSLR, which I haven’t used in…forever! I’ve been all about the iPhone + Instagram combo for so long, I forgot how much I love using a real camera and doing the whole upload/edit/blog shebang. It’s good to be back!
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