Just a couple of pictures of my bed nook. My bed is in one of my two big living spaces, across from my desk. It is my happy place. Today I made a little banner to put above my bed. Follow your bliss.
Here is a little wander around my new abode. I'm still on the look out for a little dining table and chairs and a nice rug and some other bits and bobs, but otherwise I have really enjoyed decorating and making myself feel at home. It is a cosy, sweet place and I feel very lucky that is it affordable, homely and well located (10 minutes bike ride into the city, 5 mins to work).
I got my couch a week or two ago on Gumtree, cheap as chips (and they delivered it!) and I'm a bit in love with it. Thankfully it is as comfortable as it is pretty.
I got my bed (on sale!) and mattress online a few weeks ago too from Deals Direct. The mattress came rolled up in a box and despite reading dozens of positive reviews about its comfiness, I was still quite skeptical when it arrived and I pulled it out of its box, rolled it out, cut open the layers of plastic and watched as it came to life. It made a loud hissing noise and sure enough, it eventually became a very comfy and fairly firm, pillow-top mattress.
My office area is still a bit of a mess at the moment, but I thought I'd include a photo of it anyway. I haven't brought over all of my mess from my old studio yet, but I'm getting there. I bought the cube shelving out of sheer storage necessity - I need to keep all of my supplies, stationery, tools and overabundance of papery items tucked away. Fabric cubes to put inside the shelves are stupidly expensive, so I think I'm going to find a way to fashion some myself. Also, there is a door behind that floral sheet into my lovely upstairs neighbours stairwell! I think I'll share some more photos of my office when it is properly set up.
My kitchen is little and neat and has a dishwasher I haven't even touched yet and I am still a bit dumbfounded by the controls on the oven, so I've been eating a lot of salads!
The little succulent above was a house warming gift from my friend Isis. I think I've inherited quite a lot of her succulents!
It has been nice to separate my books from C's (much larger collection) and see what I actually own and haven't even read.
The apartment was listed as having only one bedroom, however there are two large living spaces, so I use one as my office/bedroom and the little bedroom (not pictured) will serve as Theo's room when he comes to stay, though it is currently empty. I have a cute single bed for him similar to mine, but I don't have a mattress for him yet. The bedroom also has a walk in wardrobe, which I have already filled to the brim!
I've had a handful of friends over to visit since I moved in and one friend said he thought it looked a bit like I was sleeping in my lounge room, haha. I don't mind - I'm treating it a bit like a studio apartment.
I just thought I'd share some pictures of my current desk/making space. My camera was being a bit bothersome today, so apologies for the yellowness of everything. Ideally I'd love to have a fun, roomy studio area with lots of space to spread out, but C and I share the space (he sits behind me at his desk) so I can't be too messy. I have a view into my little backyard and can watch the tv in the lounge room lazily from my desk chair. My cats also like to use the sunny vantage point of my window sill to sit and laze.
My essential creative space ingredients are lots of desk space, compartments, colour and that everything is easily accessible.
I also thought I'd mention super quick that I did some (very) late night blog tweaking last night and changed the commenting system on my blog again, so all the previous comments on the last month's worth of posts don't show up anymore (but I can still see them in my account) - just in case you thought I deleted your lovely comment!
This week I chose the idea - List all the places you've ever lived. I have lived in quite a lot of places. I don't expect you to read all about them, but you can if you wanna. It's interesting what memories stand out most from different places you've lived. What memories attached to places you've lived stand out for you?
+ When I was born my parents lived in a house they refer to as "Watt Street". I was too little to remember, but I remember my dad telling me over and over: "What street? Watt Street!"
+ I lived in a caravan near Coffs Harbour (where the Big Banana is located) when I was a baby, with my mum and dad and ten year old brother.
+ I grew up in a ramshackled old house in the middle of the bush with my mum, step dad and little sister. It was constantly being renovated and at different times, it had trees inside that held up the roof, a bathroom floor made of river stones, an indoor rock garden, orange shag-pile carpet, a wood fire stove, bats living in the walls and a precariously hand-built rock-wall. It had an acre of gardens surrounding it and a huge life-size tree house. My mum still owns it and I love it. It's one of a kind.
+ My little sister and I spent a weekend every second week staying with my dad in his three-room (kitchen, bathroom and sleeping/eating/loungeroom) housing commission flat. We slept on foam mattresses on the floor, drew a lot of pictures and sticky taped them to the walls, watched the Simpsons, invited the neighbourhood children over, walked to the beach, played softball in the tiny yard and ate fish fingers for dinner and Bubble-O-Bills for dessert.
+ I lived in a house on a big block of land with my mum, her new partner, his three children and my sister. Um, cramped?! I remember being a very grumpy teenager in this house.
+ I moved in with a friend and her family when I was 16. She had lots of horses and we had to get up really early to go to school. I remember that time fondly, though the friendship is long since over.
+ I lived with my high school boyfriend and his parents in a little house on the river. They had a piano which I loved to play when nobody was around and my boyfriend's dad HATED garlic and could tell if I had cooked with it even if I washed everything thoroughly and aired out the kitchen. Garlic was not allowed!
+ I lived by myself in a tiny old nurses quarters off of an old hospital. It was a weird little place and had too many chairs with nobody sitting in them.
+ I lived by myself for 6 months in a 4 bedroom house in the town where I went to high school. It was a little lonely at first, but I loved that house. It backed onto the town park and the library and was nearby to everything. I loved having people visit. When I left, I accidentally left a kilo block of cheese in the fridge and couldn't go back and get it.
+ I lived in a tiny flat on one of the main cafe streets in my city with a girl I didn't know very well. I probably stayed there a max of two weeks (even though I paid rent for 6 months).
+ I lived in a lovely little house in a bad area of my city (the red light district) when C and I first got together. Many good times were had in this house.
+ I lived lived in a tiny, 1850's cottage when I first moved to Tasmania with C. It was freeeeeezing.
+ and now I live in the loveliest little house in Launceston with my lovely boy and our four cats. My house is right in the city, in the cafe district, in a sweet side street full of houses with flags.