It’s official. The studio refresh is Jinx approved! I’ve gotten far enough along to be sitting at my desk working and immediately, she wanted to be cozying up on my lap and joining in. Perhaps from here she can also see the online refresh, which I hope that you’re enjoying! I’m just loving the greater sense of spaciousness, room for bigger photos and the whole concept of inviting you into the studio! I so appreciate the encouragement and patience through the chaotic process of change both here and in my space. It really helps, especially because the lessons just keep rolling in!

Deciding What Stays…

The first thing we did for the Studio Refresh was take everything out of the room. This was overwhelming, especially since pretty much everything found its way into the now overstuffed bedroom! Then slowly, item by item, I decided what would come back in. First, my old desk, which will now be my art desk. I’m so excited by the prospect of more spread-out space and drawers! But more space there meant giving up either a bookcase or my chair. I immediately chose to keep the bookcase. I mean, wow, do I have books!

But right away the room felt wrong. Without the chair, where would I film videos? Where would Jinx keep my company? Where would I sit when Justin’s fixing something on the computer? How would I gaze out the window into the backyard? Even more than that, when I walk in the studio door, the chair welcomes me in. Without it, I feel like its a room of  work stations. So to my complete surprise (and a bit of consternation), the chair is in, the bookcase is out. What’s going to happen to my books? Haven’t a clue.

Adding the New…

The next thing to come into the room was my brand new desk!! What a beauty – and so beautiful against my Studio Blue walls! I have to send a special shout-out to Natasha at Dulux who helped me create this custom colour after my discouraging first choice! As well as the paint, the desk started with a misfire when we accidentally got one side piece that had two file drawers. It meant another two weeks of working in the kitchen, but I waited it out and got exactly what I wanted. Not settling seems to be one of the big lessons of this refresh! The desk is solid, roomy and has a beautifully expansive top, lots of room to spread out and plan and do! I love it.

Process & Priorities…

As I methodically move back into the refreshed studio space, I find myself noticing my process and priorities. What came into the studio first? The furniture. Next? Technology. Next? Beauty. So revealing!

Part of the impetus for the Studio Refresh, both in my space and online, is to create strong, supportive foundations for vibrant, thriving growth. The first step was building the bones. This could be done by changing the architecture but in my studio, I’m taking a theatrical approach, creating “the set” with furniture pieces.  (On the site, I am doing some architectural renovations with a whole new classroom area being added soon!)

The other motivation for the refresh was to create more ease and efficiency in doing what I actually do. Not what I think I might do. Not what I might do sometime. But what I actually do and what I’m aching to do right now. A lot of what I do is online and on the computer, so the tech was the next to move in.

And of course, the third motivation was to fall in love with the studio, to feel irresistibly attracted to the space, to feel touched by magic and inspiration whenever I am in it. And that, of course, meant beauty. After my laptop, my vision cards were the first thing to go on my desk.

Discernment…

This studio refresh is giving me ample opportunity to work on my skills of discernment. As I started to fill my much-anticipated, much-loved new desk, what did I want to put in it? I thought about what I actually used and what I loved and I bought appropriate containers to house those items in the top left-hand drawer of my desk, where I always, always house my stationary supplies. I loved it immediately. Then I turned to look at what had been left behind in the old stationary drawer. What a collection of odds and sods! Some things I could part with easily. But many things lived in a kind of attachment limbo, a category of items I’m finding the most difficult to wade through. What do I do with that little magic trick box I got in a Christmas cracker one year? That yellow letter opener with a big frog on it from the desk set I received as a gift when I was 10?

For now, I’ve decided to create a memory box for these treasures. Over the years, I’m sure I’ll whittle down the contents and be left with gems.

A Place to Do What I Do…

I’m being so rigorous with what stays in the studio because I had reached such a painful place of frustration with not having the space to work on or store supplies for the things I actually do, like writing morning pages or collage journalling, and the things I am committed to doing more, like writing letters and painting. I knew immediately I was on the right track when in the middle of work I really wanted to create something to capture a moment of the day and I was able to go straight to my creative desk and do just that – easily, in moments, with all my supplies at the ready. Yes! This is what all the work is for. I’ll remind myself of that moment when I come up against more tough decisions and opportunities to let go.

What feels like home?

As I focus on what can be cleared and make tough decisions about what can come back, I feel so at peace with the things that are here. I love the feeling of being able to sit down to work in my studio. I can see the sky from here and the tree out back. The clock I bought for myself to celebrate completing my coaching certification keeps me company. I have my container of markers and scissors and the beautiful silver letter opener that Justin bought me, even though he thinks letter openers are weird.

But when I really truly felt at home was when I put my dreamboard on the wall. So I could sit here, working, imagining, exploring, keeping my eyes and heart on my dreams.

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