Before I went back to school I didn't really care about having my own space to work in our house. In Florida, the office room was Herman's to do with whatever he wanted. In Providence, we didn't have an extra room, so we split our living room in half and each set up a work space. I needed it, obviously, since I was creating everything by hand, printing daily, etc.
So when we moved into our new place, it was super important for me to maintain a space to work (freelance projects, personal projects, etc). The original idea was to split the office in half, but we soon decided instead to break it up according to needs. And I, apparently, have more space needs than Herman (and you'll notice that I've artfully photographed my space without you seeing his space. His space is sort of messy). There's the desk for my computer, then the bookshelf that holds all of my design books/magazines/supplies, then another desk for my printers and space for an inspiration board and Steve Nash poster. Naturally. I've also got drawer unit in the closet for all of my paper goods (love, love, love it and sort of want another one to stack on top of this one). I didn't photograph that though because our closet is a mess and half of it is Dexter's litter room.
The space works nicely, and for as much stuff as we have stuffed in there feels pretty open. I had to paint this room twice. The first time I painted I used Behr's "Manhattan Mist" which was supposed to be a nice neutral gray, but ended up looking lavender in the room. We did not want a lavender room, so I went out and bought Behr's "Silver Tradition" which worked much better (and is also what I painted the downstairs bathroom).
My inspiration board is where I like to layer up all the things I like to look at, or things that, well...inspire me. This is also the desk that holds my laser printer (the jumbo gray one), and my new large format Canon inkjet printer. I've been working on a couple of freelance projects, so it's nice to have a space that is comfortable and inspiring to work in. I also am going to start looking for a job soon, which means putting together portfolios and leaving pieces, so my inkjet will really be put to use. 
So awhile ago, I blogged about the owls that started the owl obsession after seeing them in a little store in Providence, then being delighted to find them for sale at Anthropologie. Well, funny story. A couple of weeks ago, Herman and I were in a local Asian supermarket, getting a few groceries, when I wandered down the dishes aisle. I noticed another young woman with a baby strapped to her who was also wandering down the same aisle. At the same moment, we both spotted the very same owls that Anthropologie sells, in different colors, and in big mug form, and exclaimed "I've seen those at Anthropologie!" I drug Herman over and spent a good five minutes trying to decide between the white owl, the brown owl, or the gray owl. I got the brown owl, and Herman said I can get the white one later (woot!). Considering that these little mugs are only $7, and a lot more expensive elsewhere, I'd say it's a good deal. 
Most of the books on this bookshelf are all design related, but I do have a few that I wanted to keep here as well. And in the interest of full disclosure (because there's no secrets between us!) I've posted a close up for you to see. Much of my geekiness (dorkiness? nerdiness?) will be found right here in my personal work space. Yes, that's an original Return of the Jedi lunch box. I had one when I was a kid and absolutely loved it. I'm not sure what happened to it, but I found this one (in almost mint condition) on ebay about a year ago. The Star Wars pop up book was a Christmas gift from Herman (and even Sumiko, who has no interest in Star Wars will tell you it's easily one of the coolest things). 
So that's our office/studio space. Minus Herman's work space, that is. Over the weekend I'll post photos of the guest room for you. And as I did yesterday, I've put up more photos on Flickr.
So it's hard to believe that we've been in our house for over 2 months. I've worked hard and am so happy with how everything has turned out. It feels so comfortable, relaxing, and peaceful. Just what we wanted our home to be. We are settled in and prepared to stay for awhile!
Remember these photos? The before of the pristine floors and white walls? I loved that first day when everything was new and fresh and waiting for us to put our stamp on the place. And we did...
Welcome to our home!
This is the view from the far corner of our living room (by the big window). The area is quite small, but with all of the open spaces it feels very comfortable.
The couch is from Macy's (from a collection that shall remain nameless here, given that I vowed never to go over to the dark side, but couldn't help it when we fell in love with the couch. If you really want to know...click here). We were really lucky that our house closed at the end of January, for a number of reasons: 1. Our families gave us much needed gift cards to places that we really love - Crate and Barrel, Ikea, etc. and 2. We got to catch all of the great after Christmas sales. Our couch was 30% off, and we got a great deal on the shag rug and our appliances.
When we were living in Florida, we had a huge dining area, and Herman and I saved up to buy this beautiful table and these chairs. We loved it and were sad to leave it in storage when we moved to Providence. We figured we'd move it back to CA, but as soon as we moved into our place we realized our space would not fit our beloved table! So we bequeathed it to our good friends Larry and Amanda, who needed a dining set. That still left us without so I eventually found this great little table from West Elm, which fits perfectly in our space and opens to seat at least six. Plus, as an added bonus, one of Herman's aunt and uncle's bought it for us as a house warming gift. So nice! We loved the look of these chairs with the table, but didn't want to pay that much, so we opted for the Ikea version. 
Awhile ago, Herman and I decided that we really wanted to fill our home with mostly original art that supported independent artists (think etsy, blue flip art, tiny showcase, etc.). With so many affordable options available, I've been collecting pieces for the past year and a half. We created this art wall to showcase a lot of it.
This is the view of the landing that goes down to the front door and up the stairs.
The kitchen. Still loving the subway tiles. And yes, our fridge is huge. Sumiko likes to say that all of our appliances are on steroids. She might be right...
Herman and I've been married for almost seven (7!) years, and I would get so tired of hearing him ask me, "Where are my keys?" or "Have you seen my wallet?". So, before we moved in I thought and thought about options that would keep me from hearing those questions again. What I finally landed on was getting this shelf and placing it on the wall directly in front of the garage door. You come in and voilà! You automatically have a place to put your keys and wallet. I also put a small dish on there for coins, and pretty-ed it up a bit with a small letterpress calendar, a print by one of my all time favorite artists, a letterpress postcard proclaiming that picky eaters need coffee, and (my favorite) a little postcard from this great kids store in Montmarte, Paris (roll my chicken!). It's become one of my favorite little spots in our house, and really, it works like a dream. Herman hasn't lost his wallet, keys, or phone once since we moved in!
Cot! Cot!
For a town house with less than 1200 square feet, the space is really well planned. 3 bedrooms and three full baths. Lucky us!
I took a ton more photos, but didn't want to overload the blog with them, so I put them up on my flickr page. Enjoy (if you want, that is...)!
Tomorrow I'll show you our office and my studio space. Thanks for looking!
