Welcome to my little home studio! I have to say, I’ve been excited about writing this post. Having an inspiring, organized workspace that lives and breaths your brand makes all the difference in the world. This little room used to be dark red and carpeted with an L-shaped corner desk. Bleh (hubby’s old office). When the ELP brand began to come together, I knew I wanted a space that reflected my Southern style and inspired growth and focus. So take a look around. I’ve DIY’d the heck out of this room (well, and every other room) and will share my tips in this post and subsequent tour posts. The space above is the first space you see when you walk into the room. The cabinet is actually an old storage piece from an advertising agency in South Tampa. Bryan and my dad finished and added the top wooden piece for some character. The ten drawers are enormous and perfect for holding supplies and samples. The large surface area makes a great shipping station.
This next space where all the magic happens. My desk is a vintage piece found on Craigslist – made of barn wood. I’m slightly in love with it. The chair could be better, but when you’re 6.5 months pregnant, a big comfy swivel chair is a must. Next to the desk – plenty of room for B-man to join me in his swing while I work. Behind the desk is my printing station. I don’t print much in-house anymore, but these printers served me well in the beginning. Bryan built the table himself and beneath it I store stock, large shipping materials and, of course, my enormous recycling bin. Next to the printing station are all my business files – and a perfect spot for my ELP albums.
My favorite feature of the entire studio is this custom shelving inspired by Young House Love and built by my Dad. It’s perfect for displaying some of my favorite recent ELP pieces.
Next to the display is my inspiration board. This board used to be a bronze mirror. I removed the mirror, covered cork board in burlap and painted the mirror frame white. Here I hang my inspiration – photos, magazine clippings, encouraging notes from friends, yes – even my badge from last year’s National Stationery Show.
Next is the storage closet immediately across from my desk. We removed the closet doors to open the room a bit and added wire-form shelving from top to bottom. Here I store everything from shipping supplies to envelopes to photography equipment to letterpress pieces to office supplies to albums – all labeled and boxed (well, most of the time). Because this is so open, I wanted it to have a display feel as well as a storage feel so I staged my BA and MA diplomas and a few photos for some warmth.
And that leaves us here… at my desk. I keep it pretty cleared off (most of the time) because clutter distracts me like crazy. The best investment I ever made for my business was in this 24″ iMac. It is huge and fabulous. I purchased it refurbished from Apple (search “refurbished” on the Apple website). I also have my personalized handy-dandy ELP squarepad for jotting notes and my business cards here.
AND I leave you with one of my favorite purchases for this studio – my silver pineapple door stopper. I snatched it up as soon as I found it at HomeGoods. Thanks for taking the tour with me! I love this space so much… it’s taken me a good year to get it just right – between laying new hardwood floors, tracking down the perfect furniture and finding ways to make the space work for me. It didn’t cost a lot of money, but the time and energy was well worth it.
