My Studio

The beginning of 2008 for me started a bit on the difficult side. My father passed away two days after Christmas, so the holidays were a bit on the sad side. I dedicate this blog to Roy L. Cannon and his life and memory! So, to keep me busy, I decided to redesign A New Design and that included decorating my paper art studio! How fun and exciting! I'm thankful enough to have a room dedicated to my passion, so how lucky to be able to decorate it as well. One day, I went to IKEA to get some shelves and other organizational supplies to jazz up my space. Another day, I went to Lowe's to select my paint colors and get supplies. Here are some pictures of the before...and after...what a difference some painting makes!


BEFORE
Obviously, this is studio that I used before in 2007. It was great having my own studio, but it lacked my personal style and touch, which I was itching to incorporate. It was a great room at the time, but did not have the inspirational design factor that it so desperately needed. From the cream whiles that screamed 'paint me' to the lack of storage for my growing supplies. This paper art studio was screaming for an HGTV makeover...or maybe just an Ashley design makeover. I had plenty of paint samples and design concepts that I contemplated for a few weeks, until I decided on a couple of colors.





AFTER
From this picture, you can get sense of how I enter into my studio. First, you may see the striking design painted on the wall. There is a story behind this design! Initially, as I spoke about above, I had a design concept for the room. That design concept included painting horizontal stripes on the wall in the opposite paint color. However, my husband offered to help me paint, so of course, I accepted! I am guessing he was inspired too and had a great idea to paint a design using one of my favorite stamps as inspiration. I was a bit skeptical despite his outstanding artistic abilities. I closed my eyes and said "Go for it!" As I watched him paint it, it grew on me fast! Now, I am so glad I did not paint those harsh stripes and have this free-flowing design...at that one of my favorite designs! He painted the design from the front wall to the rear wall to make it look like a continuous design. On this wall, I used what I call a coffee with lots of cream hue. The design is painted with Martha Stewart's Ground Paprika hue. From this view, I have installed two shelves (IKEA) for storage. I use the craft table (IKEA) for extra workspace and also store paper and other supplies in the two carts below. And what better way to decorate the studio than with a cute Yorkshire Terrier...Ozzy approves!


In this picture, you can see that I actually do have a window! It faces other houses, but in the far distance, I actually have a view of the mountains on a clear day! This wall is painted in the Paprika hue, which is striking and fun! I have a storage cabinet installed (IKEA) by using Hercules Hooks, which I couldn't live without! How they hold that heavy cabinet I'm not sure, but hey...it works! To save my glass computer L-shape desk, I kept it and continue to use it for my paper art work! I also have a matching glass cart, which holds my Cricut Expressions die cut machine and other paper. My blue chair does not match, but is comfortable!




In this view, you can see the coffee with lots of cream paint! Yet, another shelf was installed here. At this time, I'd like to thank my sister for helping install the shelves. That was a story by itself. In the end, we finished and they're up holding supplies! I subscribe to a few paper craft magazines, so the magazine holders help keep those in place. I also installed a couple of mini shelves to hold some Prima flowers in glass jars, which I purchased at The Stamping and Scrapbook Room and my Ranger Stickles collection. I also kept an old bookshelf from my college years, which holds all four printers...yes, four printers! I hope to sell a few and get one that I use everything for one day!




In this picture, you get the final view of the room. There is a small closet that is used for junk at this time! One day I hope to clean it out and install shelves for additional storage. I also have another shelving unit (IKEA) which holds scrapbook albums, paper, and other supplies.

Thanks to my husband and sister for assisting me in the renovation process! We stumbled across some bumps along the way, but they just provide more stories to our collection!

If you are interested in the paint selections, I purchased from Lowe's:

• Valspar's Cincinnatian Hotel Carl Tan (3002-9C)
• Martha Stewart's Paprika (MS076)