Jerusalem Greer

The Theology of Place, Liturgical Shenanigans, Farm Living

make do {and make lovely} monday-introducing the art room

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Deciding to stay here in this house (instead of renting it or trying to sell it again) has come with some perks. One of the biggest being the proximity to our life- friends, church, work, etc. It is nice to wake up at 9:45 and be able to roll into church by 10:30 ( ok, sometimes 10:35,) or for the boys to be able ride their bikes to a friends house, or for Sweet Man to be able to go home for lunch.
Another benefit is the extra square footage that this house has compared to the tiny farmhouse. When we decided to stay put, it was a little bit like gaining 600 extra sq ft out of the blue. We always had this extra space of course, but because we had begun to think how we could downsize to 1200 sq ft, deciding to stay meant extra room we had not planned on. It’s amazing how suddenly something you have always taken for granted can look wonderful once you think you have lost it and then found it again.

The third bedroom is part of this “bonus space” we now find ourselves with.  Over the past almost 10 years (how did that happen? A whole decade??) it has been: Sweet Man and I’s bedroom, Sweet Man’s music room, my office/guest room, my sisters Judeas room, and most recently the junk room; The room where we put all the boxes we had packed to move, and where we threw things when we cleaned for parties and so on.

Over the past month I have worked to reclaim the space, and while I am not done, I am awfully close. We have decided the call this space “the art room,” as it will hold all our most artsy bits and will be for all of us to use. My wonderful craft desk and supplies live here, and eventually we will move some of our musical instruments in here as well. My borther painted the walls a very pale aqua and we put our old sofa in here, (which is a great place for napping, crocheting and strumming,) so the room can double as a guest room or a den when needed. The whole room feels so much lighter.

I am working to get all the craft supplies centralized and out in the open so that if the mood strikes, anyone can go in and get to creating. This would not have been an option a few years ago when Miles consider the entire house to be his canvas. Luckily that phase has passed.

 

This is also my writing space. Something I desperately need these days. Sometimes I can write sitting at the kitchen table, or in bed, but often I need a place to close the door and start fresh. My desk is centered on a large window that looks out into our backyard. I can sit and watch the boys play, or the chickens peck or the huge tree limbs sway. Right now I do not get to sit here during too many daylight hours. As much as I love a little winter reprieve I will be glad when there are more daylight hours after work and school.
Right now I only have one large shelf and two smaller ones. Eventually we are going to clean out the one small closet in this room, gut it, remove the door and put in shelving so that ALL of my fabric (this is only about half,) crafting and writing books and can live in the same room. This will free up other closets and cupboards throughout the house which will again expand our space that much more.

 

(A favorite family picture. I’m the baby, my Paw is holding me and my parents are on the right)

 

 

 

As is usual I have had to stop at the 3/4’s finished mark. Which means the room is usable and not hideous, and actually pretty lovely, but not quite all the way finished. This is actually okay with me. The rest of the room will come together over time, as time, inspiration and money allow. After all, as the great Pin says: “A home should feel collected, not decorated.”

 

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