The Inspiration Room

I have a room in my flat that I like to call The Inspiration Room.  It has housed craft supplies, magazines, empty paper towel rolls, etc. from the day I moved in.  At the beginning, I could craft on the floor. Before long, its use as storage [how uninspiring] pushed my workshop into the living room.
But in October, I resolved to change that.
I emptied the inspiration room, washed down the walls, cleaned the floor.

And then...it sat empty.
And I pondered what I could do to make it inspiring once again.

In December, I went to buy my Christmas tree [aka bamboo ladder] and wandered next door to the carpenter.  His shop seriously looked like Santa's workshop to me.  It was beautiful.

I took out a piece of twine that I had used to measure the width and height of my inspiration room, and I asked if he could make me a shelving unit and a wide sturdy tabletop board.  He could.  I picked it up a few days later, and enjoyed the special bonus of being introduced to the carpenter's 3 goats as well. Lucky me.

The makeshift desk moved immediately into the inspiration room, and it fit. Yippee!  I moved all the craft supplies etc. back in, and was oh-so-excited.  In the holiday rush, however, I hadn't had a chance to appropriately prepare the inspiration room for use.

So today, in honor of my New Years Resolution to be intentional in setting time aside for creativity, I listened to some music (Elton John and the Dixie Chicks, if you really wanted to know).  I put up some pictures.  I lit some candles.  This is what it looks like now:

And then I did a little bit of painting:

Behold!  The first finished "work of art" to come from the new and improved [and inspiring] inspiration room!  2013 is off to a brilliant beginning.

What has inspired you so far this year?

Getting Settled

Today I FINALLY finalized on a cute little apartment!!!!
I found one I mostly liked last weekend, near an area I was familiar with, for the right price.
But when I visited again, I started having my doubts. It was kind of cramped, not a lot of light or ventilation, and I would had had to buy a lot of extra things - aka a refrigerator and a stove, which is kind of pricy.
Today, in the afternoon of when I had to say yay or nay, though, my friend burst into the office and said, "Jen! I found you a house!"
She had been eavesdropping on a conversation while shopping, which led her to a broker (who actually knows her father) which led us to this house.

It is in an area I am not that familiar with, but it is a bit closer to work (and still in a residential neighborhood so I am away from the hustle and bustle and honking...and there is lots of foliage!), has 24-hour security and covered parking for when I get my bike, and already has a stove and refrigerator.
The furniture is kind of reminiscent of Bethel's "chastity couches" but I'm excited to see what kind of magic I can work to make it a nice and cozy warm and welcoming space.
More pics to come!