Welcome To The Cottage Studio

Hi guys.  It's me again.  Sorry I've been gone such a long time.  Tis the season to be overwhelmed, and that I have been.  I've missed y'all so much though, and I've had post ideas floating around in my mind for so long, I didn't know where to start!  So I decided to start with some cottage progress. 

Welcome to my studio

Remember my studio? Formerly the room in which everybody piled all the crap the things they didn't know what else to do with.  It's the room on the left, right after you come in the front door?  There is a beautiful set of french doors leading into the room and another set which lead out onto the courtyard. If you'd like to see how that came together and how beautiful it looks take a hop over here, Cottage By The Sea Courtyard. 

My studio is filled with natural light, making it an artists dream.  I keep my paints, easels, craft supplies, original scripts from when I used to teach and direct children's theater, and just about everything else I own, except my clothes in there.  My clothes live in our closet with my husbands clothes.  We just find it more romantic that way.

My daughter Kate has been residing in the great state of Texas where she graduated from University last spring and then stayed because, she thought her fame and fortune were to be found there her boyfriend lives there.  She came all the way home just to help me organize my studio because she, got sick and tired of me whining about it,  loves me so much. 

This is the drawing my daughter whipped up for me, right in the middle of Ikea the day we went shopping for storage.  In case you weren't here last year when I started writing this blog, I introduced my daughter Kate in my post, Simply Kate.  Beware, it's a long post in which I waxed eloquent went on and on and on, as only a smitten mother can do but,  just looking at the pictures of that darling girl is worth it, in my humble opinion.  

I had so much trouble picturing the space I was trying to create for my studio having a mental break down in the middle of a major department store.  Ikea is an overwhelming place for me.  I don't like shopping, over-stimulation, making decisions, or people.  There are all those things and a jar of Lingenberries in there. I also have a bit of trouble with measuring and math concepts, read, I am a completely underachieving, moronic, defective, dimwitted, dope at math.  So if you will allow me, I'm going to add another thing to my post 22 Things I Know About Kate.  Which, when actually added up turned out to be 23 Things I Know About Kate.  Math.  Ach!  Told ya.  And now, I'm adding one more, so now you will know 24 things about my sweet Kate.

24.   Kate is extremely patient and organized.

On our trip to Ikea to find a solution to my storage problems for the studio,  during after before, I had my breakdown and tried to run screaming out of there, Kate drew the above drawing for me so we could narrow down, what I was looking for, needed, and what would actually fit, in the space. She stuck by me through the designing, loading objects that weigh more than the both of us on to carts, purchasing, then unloading and building said storage.  I am eternally grateful Kate, and I forgive you for your entire teenage years.

These are the directions which came with the storage units.  Whaaaat?  Pictures?  Not a word on them.  Whomever drew the pictures has the artistic ability of a kindergartener too.  Seriously, who is that guy assembling the furniture?  The Pillsbury Dough Boy?

Oh my!  We definitely didn't want that to happen.  I wouldn't even wish that on the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

You think Ikea is a place where you buy reasonably priced storage which is quick and easy to assemble. Okay, well, that's what I was led to believe.  I usually think things will be easier than they turn out to be however, which is why I tackle make my daughter and husband tackle big projects like this one. 

They are a great team.  I love watching them work together, they are both very handy with power tools.

These two make a great team because, they are both logical and patient and good at figuring things out.  Even if their only directions are illustrated with no words.

About 7 hours in, and I'm not including the 5 hours at Ikea, even the most patient of us got a bit frustrated with the process.  Remember, we were into 12 hours of studio remodeling at this point.  So...

Out came the Gnarly Head.

I made my crew a plate of pasta and gave them a bit of sustenance.  Great golly, now I had drunk people assembling my studio.

As for moi and the pups, when I wasn't cheerleading or taking pictures, this is what we were doing.  Don't judge, they didn't even need me to read the instructions since they were only illustrations!  Besides that, who do you think had to clean up that mess when they were done?  Exhausting just thinking about it!

These guys assembled cupboards, drawers, and shelves.  It was, the never ending project of assembly.  We all finally went to bed after midnight and it still took 5 hours the next day.  Lead me gently Home, Father! The entire project took 17, SEVENTEEN, hours.  

This isn't my license plate and I'm not even allowed to root for the Escondido Cougars because my son-in-law coaches for the opposing team, but this sums up my appreciation for Kate.  I recently found it right on the back of a car!  I heart Katie.  Why yes, I do!  And my husband isn't too bad himself.  The man knows how to wield a power tool.

And just because I've been gone from blogland for so long,  I wanted to give you a little peek at baby Abby.  She has grown so much.  Girlfriend is 2 months old now.  I wanted to treat you to a peek of her here with her momma and daddy.

PEEK!

Come back soon because in my next post, I'm going to show you how my studio looks now.  It's been about a month since the storage was assembled and has been completely transformed.  I've now used all my super powers to organize and put the finishing touches on it.  (No math or measuring required.)  Just in time for Christmas decorating and gift making, it is looking more like a studio and less like a dumping ground.  I'm expecting great things to happen in there!

Blessings,

Tia

P.S.  Kate is leaving Texas and moving back to California next week.  She has been taking pre requisites for nursing school since she didn't find her groove with a degree in Business and Industrial Psychology.  Industrial Psychology???

Next up for Kate, besides a few good surf sesh's back on her old stomping grounds is... Nursing School.  I know she's going to be a great nurse because of how she signed her last email to me.

Love you more than all the possible sequences of all the groups of nucleotides in replicating deoxyribonucleic acid double helix (don't worry, it's infinite), 

 Kate

(Right back at ya kid.)