Mar 8, 2012

My Loft

Since the name of my blog is The North End Loft, I thought you might like to see some pictures of my loft studio.

It's been an incredibly satisfying experience to design and put together this space, and I'm so fortunate to have extra room in my home that can be devoted just to me. It's the first place since my single dorm room in college (a looooong time ago) that's just for me. No husband's socks to pick up off the floor, no kid's jackets to hang up, just my own stuff in my own space. I didn't know just how lovely it would be to have it, until I did.

Something you might notice right away about my loft is that I'm a cheap frugal person who designed this space on a dime. My studio is made up of odds and ends, thrift store finds, a few new things, and repurposed well-used items from other areas in my home. A lot of the ideas I use came from Pinterest and other blogs. (Thank you so much for sharing, to anyone who recognizes one of their projects in my studio.)

My studio is a work in progress. I love tweaking it as much as I love writing and working on crafts. It's definitely not finished.

Up the stairs...



That's the family room down below, and that's the dog's bed and blanket on the floor. (Not my laundry!  : )






...and here we are. 


 My studio measures about 13 feet by 11 feet. The other side of the loft is our workout (gym) area which is usually used at night when I'm not in my studio. The window overlooks our backyard. This entire back end of our home was added-on to our cottage in 1990, and built by my husband and me.


 My craft table is made from 2 solid core 36 inch wide doors, stained and then sealed with polyurethane.  Having a 13 foot long tabletop means I can have multiple work areas at once.

  
The drawers/support on each end are from an old desk cut in half, repainted, and hardware replaced. (The top of that desk was refinished and used for my loft coffee table.) The middle of the craft table is supported by an old filing cabinet spray painted to match these drawers. 




The nice part about having our workout room on the other side of the loft is that my husband likes to watch sports while he works out. So he mounted this ginormous television on the wall above my craft table and it swivels so I can sit at the far end of the table and watch HGTV while I work. (Sara Richardson, we're ready for a new series, please.)



 
It's such a treat to not have to lug my paper cutter and sewing machine out when I need them. I just leave them out on one edge of the table (along with some unfinished projects.)



The 36 inch wide tabletop is deep enough for open work space and to keep supplies within reach along the edge. (Sorry about these dark/grainy photos. The sun just comes streaming through the windows and freaks my camera out! At the top of my to-do list is learning how to become a decent blog photographer.) 
 








  This little moss garden in a mason jar is the easiest thing ever to make and grow, even by me with my brown thumb. Just layer pebbles, then soil, and then moss (mine came from the back yard) in a mason jar. When you close the lid, it "rains" inside, so no watering needed, then open the lid to let the air in for a bit. And moss doesn't need mowing. That's my kind of garden.




I got this lamp for free when I bought two little tables at a used furniture shop one day. It was already shabby white, so no painting needed, and I found the shade on sale at Target. There's also an overhead light with a fan and four skylights in the ceiling.


  

This loveseat faces my craft table and is where I do my writing on my laptop. It's one of those green loveseats with huge pink roses on it from the nineties. ( I can't believe how often I see ones just like it.) I really wanted a shabby chic white slipcover, really really badly, but I got this brown one instead because... 


 

I have a black dog! 

Can you see his nice comfy dog bed there on the floor just beyond his nose? Notice he's not on it? That's because my huge black lab's favorite spot is squashed on the loveseat next to me while I write, and I decided his fur would look much better stuck to a brown slipcover than it would to a white one. Don't you agree?





I hope you've enjoyed your visit to The North End Loft! 



5 comments:

  1. Love your Loft - and the huge work table!! Nice idea. Looks like you get alot of natural light in there, too.

    Jan ♥

    ps...you should consider doing away with Word Verification, since you have comment moderation. The new Word Verification now wants you to enter 2 "words" - mine are petinedu sorees (at least that's what I think they are). Usually I don't leave comments on blogs that have that...and alot of other people I know do not either. Sometime ago, Blogger automatically put Word Verification on - so you have to go to Settings and turn it off. I hope you do, cuz I'll be back! :)

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  2. I forgot to say that I'm your newest follower! :)

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  3. Huge apologies to Jan and anyone else who has been inconvenienced by the word verification and/or comment moderation process.

    And thank you, Jan, for the complements and great advice!

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  4. What a wonderful space you have made!! LOVE your windows and I'm imagining an equally wonderful view. How nice to have the sitting area/dog lounge in there too. My craft room, I mean studio, is so tiny. Must get it ship shape so I can take some photos. Love all of yours! :)

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  5. Haha I have the same problem with my dog who is a black lab mix...and while i love white furniture it will not be in my house for a long time...i even gave up buying a cheap beautiful vintage quilt last week because i knew my lovely pup would not play well with it...lets just say i love my dog ALOT...Your space is wonderful and charming and inspiring...i dream of the day when my girls are gone and I get to create my space. Thanks for helping me plan for that day with your pics!!

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