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A teapot

latoweb

I found this photo on Tumblr and traced it back to here. I just love it. I can’t stop looking at it. It encompasses everything I’ve been trying to achieve lately.

Peace.

Serenity.

Quiet.

Calm.

Minimalism.

Introspection.

Clarity.

The tones, the colors, the setting. The mix of industrial and natural textures. The framing, how the wall is blocking part of the table and the viewer doesn’t know who or what is around the corner.

The teapot. I love that damn teapot. I’ve been indulging in a lot of tea lately and it’s seriously been helping me balance my life. And I’m not much of a New Age-y person (not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’m just much more of a skeptic) but the ritual of making, drinking and savoring tea has profoundly impacted my day-to-day life.

Places like these keep popping up in my imagination and then I find actual photos of real places and I know it’s possible to make this kind of space for myself.

I’ve never really understood the whole Tumblr and Pinterest phenomenons until recently. I didn’t really get how saving these images and GIFs from around the web were important. But both resources have been monumental in helping me see the potential for quality of life–improving it in simple ways, like putting a pretty teapot on a pretty table. It’s inspiring in a straight-forward, no-nonsense way, like, you’ll either find this beautiful or you won’t. I love going back to my profiles to find themes and connections between the images I find moving. Sometimes I don’t remember finding certain things and it’s like a nice note to myself. This image is one of those–I’d completely forgotten about it until this week. I love the internet and I love the many ways it inspires me often.

The Battleroom | Phase II: Mini-hackerspace

I was going to make some stupid Limp Bizkit “Nookie” reference but I refrained. Anyway, I’m making progress on The Battleroom. I’ve had a few set backs, and have completely reimagined parts of it, but overall I’m pretty happy with how it’s coming along.

One of the areas I was stuck on when we moved in is this little nook in the corner of the room. It’s not quite big enough to put a desk or anything substantial, but it’s not small enough to just ignore it. Originally I had planned to build my bookshelves there, but I opted to put them in my closet instead (more on that later). Luckily, I have a smart boyfriend who suggested making it into a crafting/hacking area, which is what we did.

I had originally bought the yellow paint for the inside of the closet, but this worked out better as an accent wall. The color I chose is Valspar’s dandelion chain.

I chose a pegboard since I plan to use this area for building things, and I didn’t want to shove the tools in my filing cabinet. Plus I think they look cool.

The surface is made out of fence posts I bought at Home Depot, and also used on the bookshelves I built. I like that they look unfinished, and I also don’t mind if they get scratches or paint on them (because they most likely will).

I’ve had the filing cabinet for a while, as well as the chair, which we got as a pair at a thrift store a few years ago. They were supposed to be our kitchen table chairs but we got a new dining table and chairs last year, so now they serve miscellaneous purposes. When we got them, we painted them and reupholstered the cushion. It fits pretty perfectly in this spot.

I want to use the wall on the left for project ideas, but for now I put some Portal stickers and some pages I liked from National Geographic. :)

I’m pretty happy with how this area turned out. It’s nice to have another surface in my office besides my computer desk.

Sucker for succulents

I’m subscribed to more than 100 gardening blogs, and succulents seem to be all the rage this year. As a Nevada dweller, it seemed only natural to introduce some to my household. Despite being an environmental writer, I’m actually pretty awful at growing things and keeping them alive. Apparently, a green pen does not equal a green thumb. Who knew? Nevada’s landscape and weather are also unpredictable, so that doesn’t help much.

So I ran out yesterday and grabbed myself a handful of succulents (although I wouldn’t actually hold them in your hands because they can be prickly little buggers.) I kinda went nuts over them since they are so freakin’ cute. I about died over the little pink cactus.

A while ago I got a few old ammo containers from the army surplus store that I was intending to use to hold office supplies in my new office. But I knew one would be the perfect size for my mini succulent garden. (I didn’t spray paint it, the red was on them when we got it.)

Here are the “babies,” as we’ve been calling them.

I filled the ammo container with some old soil I had sitting around from when I planted garlic, but usually you’re supposed to use cacti soil. I think they will be okay though.

Here’s the finished result!

Now I can’t decide if I want to put this in my office at work or keep it at home… I might have to make a few more… plus, the whole project cost less than $30. Not a bad way to lighten up your work space for cheap. :)

Planning my battleroom | Inspired by: Watchmen

DesignSponge, a website I visit on occasion, has a feature called “Living In: _____” where they choose a movie and share screenshots from it, as well as outfits inspired by that film. I’m not too much into fashion–more on that another time–but as a writer (and designer for my magazine, Wildflower) I am constantly looking to my favorite films, books, shows, music and games for inspiration.

Since I’m in the process of designing my battleroom, I thought it would be fun to highlight the sources of inspiration for my room (and share some of my favorite things, as well).

Watchmen is one of my all time favorite books and also one of my all time favorite movies. I love it so much that I am considering getting a tattoo of Archie the Owlship on my arm.

I love the story, the characters and the vibrancy of the artwork and cinematography. It’s bold and very reminiscent of propaganda, which is kind of the look I’m going for.


Planning my battleroom, part I | Inspiration

So today Andrew and I signed our paperwork for the townhouse we’ll be moving into in May! We’re really excited because we’ll have a garage, a washer and dryer in unit, and two separate offices (three bedrooms total). For two years we’ve been living in a super cute loft, which means that we have a lot of open space, but no individual areas for us to make into our own man and (wo)man caves.

For the most part, Andrew and I have very similar taste in interior design, so I’ve never felt that I couldn’t add or change things in my home if I wanted to. But there are sometimes things I want that he just won’t go for–and vice versa. So, needless to say, I’m very excited to have some space to myself that I can customize.

My office–which I’ve dubbed my battleroom to make it sound more badass–will be functioning as several spaces. First, it will need to be a good, productive environment for me to focus on my academic work. As of now I have a year left of grad school which will most likely turn into four more years if I choose to enter the PhD program. So I need the office to have a good set up for spreading out a lot of textbooks, research materials, etc.

It will also be where I work on my magazine, Wildflower. Because Wildflower is my business, I thought it was time for me to get an office, but I didn’t want to pay rent at another place–plus I work full time at my day job so I usually work on Wildflower in the evenings or on the weekends. Since we release an issue every few months, plus additional projects throughout the year, I want to have some open areas where I can post pages and layout ideas. I’d like to have a few chalkboard, white board and corkboard displays. And I’ll need to have plenty of shelving and storage for books.

Lastly–and for me, most importantly–it will be a space where I can relax, play video games, listen to music, read, write, browse the web all night long, sip on tea, be creative, etc. Andrew and I have a great relationship, and I believe that couples function best together when they have time apart. And I’m definitely a person who likes to be alone a lot.

But, being me, which means being incredibly indecisive, I’m having a very hard time planning out the layout and decor for my office. The keywords I want my office to evoke are:

  • modern
  • industrial
  • bold
  • cyberpunk
  • functional
  • tactical
I am pulling design inspiration (colors, atmosphere, mood, etc.) from:
Video games–
  • Portal and Portal 2
  • Mirror’s Edge
  • Half-Life 2
Film–
  • The Fifth Element
  • Watchmen
  • Sucker Punch
  • Amelie
Music–
  • Lights (electronica, pop, clean, modern)
  • Eisley (whimsical with a splash of grunge)
  • Emancipator (electronica, atmospheric, soothing, dreamlike but also energetic)
Books–
  • Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
  • Ecstasia/Primavera by Francesca Lia Block
  • The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
I also want to incorporate things like my travel photos and knick knacks, as well as propaganda posters and other cool things.

And as part of my New Year’s resolution, I plan to make quite a few things myself, and I want very simple and minimal furniture.

Here are some rooms I’ve found inspirational while I’ll been scouring the web.

What does your home office look like? Where do you find inspiration for your workspace?

This will be an ongoing series so check back soon to find out how my planning progresses!

P.S.

If you use Pinterest, follow my Battleroom board!