Some BIG art went into our little eat in kitchen, and it was EXACTLY what this space needed. Ever since we moved in, and renovated the kitchen, the eat in kitchen wall was left blank. (See above) It needed something, but I could never pin point what. Was it a bold colour on the wall (No. I dislike colour on the walls) Was it a gallery wall? Nope. Too busy. Also, because it’s a relatively small area I didn’t want visual clutter. It’s exactly the same reason why I didn’t add in a chandelier and, opted for pot lights. Visual clutter stresses me out. Something light. Something us. Something that was just reflective of fun, youthful and not too serious but at the same time didn’t stand out. Something that complimented the space, not competed. So I decided it needed to be something BIG and something with lots of white. And it needed to be this. I’ve been in LOVE with this print from Minted for years and it hit me that the space needed ONE big piece.
The art came framed. Ready for hanging. Live in Canada like I do? Yup. They ship here. It was packaged beautifully, easy to hang and no issues what so ever. Within a few weeks it was here (I think it was actually less to be honest with you) and the minute it was hung I knew it was THE perfect piece. My Mom actually wants to buy the exact same one for her bathroom. It’s the most beautiful print because it’s not too “literal” – like hey, look at these palms and there’s some detailing in the bottom which catches your eye.
Oh yes. You can see that my chairs are missing from the table. I may have had a rage against them because I hated them so much and I put them on the curb. They drove me nuts. So we’re kind of without chairs right here which may seem odd, but we eat meals at our dining room table, this little nook is where Oscar curls up and draws or, does crafts while I’m in the kitchen. So the lack of chairs isn’t really a big deal (so I’m telling myself). I had hoped to find chairs I liked but I’m debating a different table here as well, and the $$ just started adding up so heck. This is what it’s like right now! And I love it. Serioulsy the art makes and, finished off the room.
Before having Oscar, I intended the basement to have one purpose – to be my office / studio. However over the years, many things changed – I had a child, my business grew, my business changed, and slowly we realized we needed two defined areas of the basement. A family area, and, a well designed office for me.
Working with one major open space is pretty tricky, so over the last few years we’ve contemplated how to make it work. We lived with a transition of styles – I think it’s a fairly common problem in households. You decorate as you have the budget and needs and uses of rooms change. The end result, at least in this situation, is that a room starts to feel like a hodge-podge of styles. Fast forward to today, and even though our lives are still changing – I felt comfortable enough in how we as a family use the space, to invest some time and money in making the basement done. Here is the progression of our basement from one open area to two defined spaces – without adding any walls up. Ps., You can see all blog posts about the basement and changes here.
– THE BEFORE PHOTOS –
THE AFTER OF SPACE NO. 1
FAMILY AREA
We bought the largest couch we could fit downstairs – and it also happens to be a pullout couch! A QUEEN! Small spaces don’t mean you need small furniture. Having a pullout couch means that this space doubles as a guest room now – without having to sacrifice a bedroom (which we don’t have). [The couch is the WILLOW couch from Crate and Barrel)
The white couch gets rotating pops of colour as my mood strikes. I found this Trina Turk pillow at HomeSense. I did a flip when I found it. (I love Trina Turk) but then I did another flip when I realized what I paid for it (I didn’t look at the price tag, and was talking with my Mom during the checkout) but by the time I got it home and put it on the couch, I had bonded with it. So it has stayed. (Moral of the story – just because it’s at HomeSense doesn’t mean it’s $29.95)
Aubrey and I have been searching for the perfect couch for our basement for a few years now. I did a ton of research and fell madly in love with the Crate & Barrel Willow Couch with the pullout bed function. The pullout bed feature makes this small space usable as a spare bedroom, if someone wants to crash. Since my office is now separate using a room divider (more on that below) I don’t feel as though I need to clean / organize or put major things away if someone comes unexpectedly.
The cabinet that I scored out in cottage country got a coat of white paint and new hardware from The Home Depot to bring it to life. We store our toys in here and are accesible to Oscar at any time.
THE AFTER OF SPACE NO. 2
MY STUDIO / OFFICE UPDATES
My new desk (see this post) brightens up the office. I hung a gallery wall of my Penny Paper Co. prints and left the wall above my computer blank – as I found too much hanging in front of me while I worked tended to be distracting.
Instead I hung inspirational images by my computer using the glorious washi tape. It doesn’t leave residue on my walls and yet allows me to hold up pages that inspire. I prefer this look to a structured bulletin board, which I moved into the “family” area of the basement.
On this side of the office, I have my “work” desk where I work on products, paint, package orders, or sketch up new lines.
A vintage chair I found at Value Village is softened up with this geometric pillow I found at HomeSense. Beside the chair you can see that I have my much used graphic tablet tucked into a lucite box, for easy grabbing when I need to draw, but it doesn’t clutter my desk.
My favourite candle, vintage stamp dispenser via ETSY, and samples of the Fall 2015 Penny Paper Co. stationery line Prints are organized, ready at hand to ship. Samples of my Fall 2015 wrapping paper line is being tested. (Eeeeee!) From where I sit at my desk I can watch Oscar play in the “family” area of the basement. Toys naturally stay in that area, and Oscar will wander between the areas, to come visit me while I’m responding to e-mails. He’ll sometimes hop up ONTO my desk and sit with me while I work.
It’s important for me to address this storage / bookshelf that I’ve shown above. It’s actually NOT permanet. It’s a bookshelf from Ikea, put ontop of a base cabinet (again, Ikea) and we’ve built a false wall around it that is temporary. From the other side it looks like a wall (we’ve painted plyboard the same wall colour) and attached it all together to make it look like it is a wall. But infact, it’s not. Instead of building the “wall” to the ceiling, I’ve instead left some relief so that light comes in and doesn’t make either room feel small. It is exactly the same height as the cottage cabinet we purchased, so it looks like it was all planned as such. Little details do make the difference!
My paint brushes are held in a vintage crown jar.
That’s it! The basement isn’t styled, so you may see toys, or a random piece of paper floating about. Cords are everywhere, but I have tried to tidy up for the photos as much as possible. But when you’re running a busy household nothing stays like anything for long. Now we have two distinct areas of the basement – one for work, one for play, and yet I don’t feel closed off from either area. Oscar is free to walk into my office whenever he so chooses (no door!) and magically respects that the two areas are indeed two different spaces. He comes in sometimes to get printer paper to draw with, or to hop up on my desk while I’m working. It’s really a lovely space that I feel so fortunate have. I hope you maybe find some inspiration from this long winded post, for something for your home. Whether you have a bachelor apartment and now have a vision to how to divide a space without needing walls – or perhaps you were looking for a sleeper couch (GET THE WILLOW COUCH!) I leave you with the shopping list below. Enjoy!
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My favourite candle, vintage stamp dispenser via ETSY, and samples of the Fall 2015 Penny Paper Co. stationery line 
Prints are organized, ready at hand to ship. Samples of my Fall 2015 wrapping paper line is being tested. (Eeeeee!) 
From where I sit at my desk I can watch Oscar play in the “family” area of the basement. Toys naturally stay in that area, and Oscar will wander between the areas, to come visit me while I’m responding to e-mails. He’ll sometimes hop up ONTO my desk and sit with me while I work.
My paint brushes are held in a vintage crown jar.