Retreat Cottage

I love this little cottage. It's a tad girly for my tastes, but I love the idea. I love it as a retreat. A place to write and be creative and have peace. I have a dream that someday I might own an old farm, with outbuildings and tiny cottages scattered about, and people would come to stay and write their novel or work on their opus or just get away from it all and find themselves again.
Here's a place to sit and read, or to recline with a laptop.

There's also an old beat up trailer on the property, which I kind of like too. Maybe my retreat can have residences of all types, from the fancy girly cottage to the rough and tumble guys trailer. All types of people feel the need to create. Why limit it to only people with your tastes?

via pink shirts and carwrecks.

And Awesome Sleeping Porch That I Would Steal For My Office

How much do I want this screened sleeping porch with full sized bed swing? Oh, wow. A lot.

Really, I'm a lazy person who prefers to be reclining.

Wouldn't this be a fabulous place to hole up with a laptop to write that novel that I should be working on? Surrounded by notes, jazz playing in the background. Some chocolate not too far away for quick bursts of energy? The kids off somewhere else, far far away while I work. Sigh.

I found this on Piwackett. She actually knows this woman and gets to visit her and sit in that swing. And the other side of the sleeping porch is pretty awesome, too.

Hey look, a place to paint.

My New Art Studio!

It came! Yesterday, I got the WIP bucket that I won on maya*made for her first blogoversary. You can't imagine how lovely it it. Well, maybe you can.. Look at it!

First the wonderful bucket, wide and solid. I was growing out of my little beach tote, needing to dig deep into the thing to reach my paints. Now I will be able to see them, and I can put my paper pads in there too, along with my satchel of pens and my tin of pencils. Even my little jar of water and my palette.

Some people have whole lofts for their studios, garden buildings, basements, attics, farmhouses, even an airstream or two.

Me, I've got a little maya*made bucket to carry around the necessities-- to the kitchen table or the living room sofa in front of the tv, my corner desk in the playroom or out into the garden. Wherever I need to be. Could be anywhere, really. Good thing my studio is portable.

(In addition, there's a wonderful printed moleskine sketch pad that I will keep by my bed in case inspiration hits in the middle of the night, a burlap pincushion, which I really need [I have a portable sewing kit in another beach bag] the most marvelous smelling lavender sachet, I want to carry it with me everywhere)

Keep an eye on her shop and be quick and you might be able to snatch up a WIP bucket for yourself. They go fast... you can see why.

Beth Hannon Fuller

"Making art and ignoring the dishes since 1994" Now that's a blogger I can get with. Beth Hannon Fuller has 3 kids... little ones, and does a painting a day. I mean, I don't know if she does one EVERY day, maybe it's 5 out of 7 days a week, like me. But how cute is that studio/workspace of hers? And how cute are her pieces? Go check out her etsy shop. She has originals and prints for very reasonable prices.
Love this blueberry collage with the little stem over the map.
and I am really attracted lately to anything that resembles a lollipop. I'm doing trees shaped like these olives. Ivy calls them "popsiple" trees and makes me draw them all over the place.

found via paper n stitch blog. she's the featured seller.

Dear Universe, How's About You Grant Me A Fantasy?

Look at this holy smackalicious loft/studio (from Loft Life Mag) in my old home of Williamsburg Brooklyn. Now I loved lots of things about Williamsburg, but my apartment was a little four room floor through with tilting floors and no sink in the kitchen... although it did get lovely light.

Love this kitchen dining area with raw wood and glass cabinets and that funky table.
Uhm, and the CEILINGS. I mean that's just a ridiculonkulous kind of dream, but we could still take elements. For one, the open plan/open space. The adaptation of the original construction into a home... hey this could be in a barn, as well as a converted loft space. I also like the little cluster of potted trees under the sky light. The brick walls are nice, but I've living with brick walls, and if you don't have a lot of light/space, they can get confining. Or cozy, depending on your point of view. I like the industrial feel, too. Not just of the space itself, but of the furniture and art studio.

Oh. There are the chairs. Green wicker. I like green wicker, but I think that table would also be nice with benches.

I also like the color scheme of whites and grays and raw wood browns with little pops of dusty green. Not fancy, but soothing and chic.

One question. Where are the books. This loft needs books.

Found via sfgirlbybay

A Room/Closet/Corner of Her Own

I like this closet work space, found via pinkshirtsandcarwrecks. Very inspiring. You don't need a big space to have a room to call your own. (Actually, I like the whole place. It reminds me of my parent's hippie apartment in the 70's for some reason.) In fact, I don't have a room at all. I have a corner. But even if it's a corner, it's worth making it so that it feels like home, beautiful, peaceful, creative.

This is what I have now.
Aside from the fuzzy photo. I think I could do better. I need to work on the organizing a bit. I like the wall pencil holders, and I'm pretty sure I could make something up out of found materials for that one. Wouldn't it be cool to be a potter, just so you could make stuff you wanted out of clay? I also like the color. Bright is nice.

My desk is next to a window, so I can already see trees, but I think that the curtain with the trees printed on it is a good substitution for getting that natural feel. A large print or painting might also work, if one had a workspace in a closet. As does the mirror, bringing in reflected light. Good solutions. Actually, the green below/blue above color also serves to bring that bright outdoor feel into the small room. Frances really seems to know what she's doing.