We built it as an addition off our bedroom, approximately 15' long by 11' wide. Formerly, our bedroom opened onto a deck, overlooking our back yard and the moutains in the distance. We chopped off that portion of the deck, kept the double-doorway (but not the doors) to help keep the new space separate. Directly underneath is the addition to Steven's office, which originally followed the footprint of our bedroom.
I'm one of those people whose mood is affected in a major way by physical environment, so I wanted the space to be pleasing to my eye (which almost immediately makes it feel comfortable) and to be bright and airy. Having grown up in Florida, the one thing I need above all things is lots of light, so tall windows, which I keep open as much as possible, run the length of one wall. Another wall has a glassed double door that opens onto our deck -- since my worktable is up against, it functions primarily as a window. The ceiling is gabled and high, and we installed a large ceiling fan, since we get the afternoon sun straight on. I wanted a calming space, so the walls are painted a very pale violet, as is the ceiling (the color of the walls in our bedroom is a touch deeper). The floors are inexpensive wood painted off-white. The curtains are simple sheer cotton/linen and affixed to curtain rods with those easy clip thingies, so no sewing was involved. (I'm convinced that those clip thingies were invented just for me. Why didn't I invent those?)
I feel a sense of well-being just walking into this room, which is exactly what I'd hoped for as I was planning the space. So, I have no excuse not to create; it's all up to me (yikes!).
When we first added on the room, I designed this cabinet with drawers and shelves as a built-in. The shallow drawers hold papers up to a certain size, the other drawers are for supplies and such, and the shelves contain books and other supplies. To the right, on the small teal table, is a set of drawers I bought at Ikea, which I'm in the process of painting. They're great for all kinds of odds and ends.
This desk holds all my electronic equipment: printers, copier, and docking station for my laptop. There's a scanner on a small cart with wheels underneath the desk. The shelf to the right used to be in our bedroom and I keep a small stereo and CDs here. Half the time I listen to music while I'm working; the rest of the time I'm tuned in to books-on-tape/CD).
On the table to the right is my "get-up-and-go" supply tote (I love this thing!). It's always stocked and ready for a class or for a visit to a friend's studio. Behind it is the sewing machine that I have yet to use. I bought it a few years ago so that my mother could use it when she visits us for a month in the summer (I've gotten some great sofa pillows and a beautiful shower curtain out of the deal). Recently I decided that I wanted to start doing stitching on paper, so I dusted it off and put it in my studio as a reminder. I have some rubber stamps that I used to keep in a drawer. About a year ago, I took a class at Random Arts (Jane Powell and her husband Paul's fabulous store) and loved her system of putting stamps out on the equivalent of tiny shelves (pieces of wood about two inches deep) screwed into the wall. It's a good way to see what you have, and provides a bit of visual interest.
I built a giant, free-standing bulletin board (about 7 feet high) to which I tack images that inspire me or simply make me happy. The surface is made of cushy ceiling tiles. I stretched rows of seven different vintage fabrics around the front and stapled them to the back of the tiles, then a friend built a frame around the whole thing. There's a small desk here that I placed on bricks to bring it up to the height of my worktable. It holds supplies that I use often and some work-in-progress. You can hardly see it at top left, but I hung a small candle chandelier that I found at a salvage shop. I sanded off the rust and painted it the same color of the floor and the cabinet, and added some tall violet candles (it's a shame, of couse, but for safety's sake it's never lit).
This is the main view from my studio. The trees are at their lushest in the summer, so I see the mountains only through the windows of the trees. Fall is my favorite season; the leaves begin to fall, giving me a better long-distance view, and I get to enjoy the amazing canvas of fall colors on the mountains.
