Sneak Peeks

My latest pattern - something I've been working on for a little while - something new in a new craft :: cross stitch! Once it's got all the finishing touches I'll reveal all insha'allah.

These walls of ours...

A year or so ago I nailed these crates to our sitting room wall for somewhere to display nick-nacks. I really love them, they have a rustic charm and they have turned a large, boring flat space into something more engaging.

But still, there was something missing... Of course, a plethora of prints! And so with the help of arty friends, some of my own images and etsy finds I created our 'seasonal wall' - Images that keep us in tune with the outside when we are in the very heart of our home.







I think it works somehow. A hotch-potch of nick-nacks and granny things with a little modern tweek.


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Come on in...

The Room. The New Room. I've been banging on and on about it for months and I'm sure you'll be wondering what all the fuss is about.

It isn't a big space or a trendy space. In fact, I didn't really want to show you it until it was 'done'. But really, what does 'done' mean? Are we ever really 'done' with any room in any house; isn't everything a continuous project?

So, please be aware that this room is far, far from perfect or 'done'. Many things have yet to find a 'home'. There will probably be a lot more reorganisation until things flow properly here, but essentially, this is how we rock this space right now.



The back door opens into the place we hang our coats and put all our shoes and outside stuff. This chest of drawers keeps everyone's hats and mittens and scarves and what-have-you. I have placed a large curtain (which will probably change several times til I'm happy, but right now this is warm) to close off the rest of the room from the door and shoes etc. and when you walk past the curtain and look left you find the lion's share of the room::

This is our new-to-us table, large enough to fit all of us and our work with ease and space leftover. Bliss. I have waited for this space for a long time and we are enjoying spreading out and being creative here.







Over here is the bookcase full of teaching resources and manipulatives, whilst the dresser is where all our art equipment is now stored (this may change if I find something more useful), most of it within easy reach of the midgets for when the artistic urge strikes.






In one corner instead of shelving I have utilised these thrifted, vintage suitcases for storage. This is where the fabric and textiles craft things are kept - everything from felt, fleece, yarn, looms, knitting needles/forks/dollies, and embroidery. Beside them is a thrifted sewing machine for the boys' use.



One large wall was painted with chalkboard paint. It's a usefull resource and the boys like to draw here.



In front of the chalk wall is another smaller table. Useful for when one of them wants to work alone, or to keep some work out, to dry paintings and to shove the rice tub under.





Currently this piece of string serves as our art line. Not pretty, may change it, but it does the job. Also need to find a space for the boys' own inspiration wires and inspiration boards.



When is junk not junk? When it's in the invention box, of course. In here are interesting cartons, nuts and bolts, pieces of wood - all ready to be transformed into their latest art work or inventions.



This coffee table currenly serves as a place where manipulatives are, erm, manipulated? Think this is going to be leaving our house soon...



Musical instrument corner. Boys not that interested in music, but they like to have a bit of blast on the keyboard once in a while...







Fabric scraps - multitude of uses from imaginitive play to sewing and sticking...





Play corner - dressing up and kitchen and what-have-you, facing the books...









Here they can sit and play and read.









So as you can see. A messy space. A space in need of new homes for many things, a couple of rugs (working on that), some organisation, but basically a space for the boys to explore their creativity and spread their wings a little. There is a lot of work to be done here, and a lot of work *being* done here, but messy or not we really love this new space of ours and the opportunity it gives us to be a creative and homeschooling family. Masha'allah.

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One Day My Prints Will Come...

Honestly, my jokes don't get a lot better than that, so just humour me, OK?

A few new prints and posters and what-have-you that have found their way into our home these last few weeks...













And whilst this one isn't new to us, it is the first time we have found a space for it.



Love it.

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Décor

Over the past few years I've grown some very firm ideas about décor, which have grown organically without any contrivance. Like with most things deemed 'artistic' or even deemed matters of 'taste', it takes a while to find your groove, doesn't it?

You start off liking everything, or nothing, like a bird in an aviary without a song of your own, and eventually after being submerged in ideas or influences you begin to notice the notes that do it for you, the tone that you like, the rhythm that makes your heart beat a bit faster and, without trying and without really knowing how, you have a song of your own.

My song resides firmly in mid-century modern, which is probably a bit of a cliché, but unashamedly so, since it is an authentic love. When I see items from that era they have to power to take my breathe away and to make my heart beat a little faster. I love the lines, the angles, the colours - it's all so beautiful.

Part of my particular song is also deeply embedded in thrift culture. This is convenient for me due to the fact that, as someone who hasn't got two brass pennies to rub together, I would not be able to furnish my house if I didn't thrift! But more than that, it is something I actively choose.

I remember one crafty lady (in a good way!) commenting somewhere years ago that when it came to retro items she couldn't see the point in buying new things styled to look old when you could get the real thing instead. And that makes perfect sense to me - part of the reason I thrift is to get the real thing. And that's not a perfect art, because the nature of thrift is sporadic - the art of thrifting is a lesson in patience, an acceptance of luck or fate.

In my whole house, apart from wallpaper and paint (and admittedly a generous collection of indie handmade prints), I can think of only two things that have not been thrifted, and one of those was a gift. All the nick-nacks, ornaments, furniture, and what-have-you have all resulted from a moment of bliss at a charity shop - moments where the treasure hunting has resulted in a punch-the-fist-in-the-air type score.

It is in this way that home décor can be raised from pastiche to genuine eclectic style. I don't know if our home would ever be regarding as 'stylish' or 'tasteful' by anyone else, but the fact that we now have corners in our home that sing my song is making 'home' somewhere I'd rather be than anywhere else.

And if I ever get The Sofa of My Dreams to be part of that song? Oh that would be good too.

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