Change of Scenery - The Before Shots

My husband has moved out. Don't worry, it's a good thing! My dear, sweet husband has moved out of our shared office area to give me my own studio.

We've had such a busy day. It had a lovely start with a lie-in this morning, something we haven't had the time to do for a while and then Wayne cooked delicious spinach and olive omelets for breakfast. We were then ready to attack the apartment and make it a more livable space.

Space. That's the important word. Space. Living in a Japanese apartment means that we have a serious lack of it. As my business has grown, we've begun to outgrow our home and it has been looking more and more like a warehouse rather than the place of zen that I'd prefer. I have trouble creating in chaos.

The first picture shows what was supposed to be my paper working area. The small orange, kidney-shaped table seems to attract all sorts of bits and pieces that I'm sure then breed in the night. When ever I go to use it, it takes me half an hour to tidy up and by then, the inspiration has gone.

The picture at the bottom shows how the other side of the room looked this morning. That small table in the corner is my computer desk that also starred as my sewing table. Sewing was an activity that had to be planned and things packed up first. Much of my measuring and cutting had to be done on the ironing board.

My husband had a corner directly behind my chair with his computer and I have to say, his pile of mess.

Well, I'm happy to say, that has all changed now. My husband has moved his computer desk into what was our living area and what was our dining alcove is now the living area. It's certainly cosy but it works. Much of my stock has joined my husband in his office space, though that area still needs to be worked on.

Shopping to find a decent desk for me to work from was not such an easy task. We drove from shop to shop for hours in our town and the next to find one that wasn't coffee table height. Much of Japanese furniture is close to the floor and many apartments would not contain a single chair. My growing grumpiness was alleviated by the discovery of some Cadbury's chocolate in an import store in one of the shopping centres. We found a desk in the end and Wayne went straight to putting it together.

I'm still setting things up and hope to get to the shops again tomorrow for some more storage solutions. I'll then put some photos up of the finished product.

Well, I'd better get back to it!