BOOKS ABOVE.

(photos by Brock)

Brock and I installed a shelf above the doorway between the kitchen and bedroom months ago. We planned its use for plants. The plants never gathered enough light to fulfill a healthy existence. After they died we had an empty white shelf hovering above us—lonesome. (Un)Inspired by our piles of books lying about the apt I incorporated Brock’s height and stacked the reads on top of the lonely shelf. We are pleased with the results. The books help divide the room even more. It’s quite pleasant to have books look down happily upon us.

PLACE EVERYTHING.

A place for everything, everything in its place.
- Benjamin Franklin

My desk before: (still working on whole studio)

My desk after:

All my special zines and magazines go on the wire rack under my desk. There is a container for shears, pencils, office supplies, glue sticks, pushpins and the horse head is for my special neon color pencils (not shown).

I did all this and more (shelf organization – not shown) on a cold wintry Friday night. Approx. 3 hours. PS: Why does one own so many sketchbooks? I am never buying another sktbk again! Reduce Reuse.

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More to come on this Studio Saga. Here’s a sampling the mess to tame:

IKEA TRIP.

Brother Scott is leaving us in care of his SUVish car Feb 20 until March 1st.  A perfect time to schedule an Ikea trip. Here’s a big list. We have one month to scrimp and save. Cost will be about $320 before taxes.

1. Aneboda bed frame $99

2. Lack book case $129

3. Expedit book case for studio (Brock’s stuff) $89.99

January 2009/Month 1.

2009 is the year we turn our apartment into a H O M E.

There has been spurts of home improvement throughout 2008. ( Clutter Cowgirl, building desks, painting walls, moving bedroom, making floor pillows, ikea closet, rescuing moldy furniture from storage )

In 2008 the move itself was a big deal. Now that we are comfortable and love spending time at home I really want to make our home experience as pleasurable as possible.

Today I clean the studio. It’s been overrun with supplies, papers, cords and dust.

And we need batteries for the smoke alarm! And renters insurance.

Get rid of dead plants.

Inspiration:

WALLS.

What to do! I need to just pick some picks and get to (it)! I’d like to find some vintage wallpaper scraps and make some nice little accents.

STILL LIFE WITH A VIEW.

This is the view from our tiny kitchen table.

PIZZA AND CAKE.

At HQBK we cook. We make coffee, we brunch, we eat supper. That is the first big change in our lifestyle, cooking. To be noted: I never cooked. And usually go on and on about how I loathe cooking. But this week, things changed…

PIZZA: Don Pepino makes the sauces, Brock Shorno chops the mozzarella and basil. All I do is toss the dough (well, more like handle the dough), plop it onto the pizza stone and we’re good to go! Our Margherita pizza recipe is from the Italian version of The Joy of Cooking entitled, The Silver Spoon. Thanks very much to Kyle and Emily for this wonderful house warming gift!

CAKE: The Golden Cake (recipe from Mark Bittman) was baked in Honor of One, Kristen Lombardi. Our first dinner guest, house guest and generally number one. Ironically, Kristen was not the first to taste The Golden Cake. The Golden Cake was one-sixteenth eaten by Matt Cassity and me earlier in the day. He stopped by on Monday afternoon to check out HQBK. Matt deserves all the cakes in the world— he fixed my internet which had troubled me all Monday. (nb: Matt was only able to figure out my ‘net problems after he enjoyed my cake, prior to consumption, Matt had no luck) Magic Golden Cake!

AN ARTISTS INTERPRETATION.

LOVELY & AMAZING Photographer, Friend, HQBK supporter, Zoe Strauss, emailed me her interpretation of ‘Calder meets Hippie Woodlands’. The colors presented in this woodland photo inspire my wall painting palette. The Calder colors inspire my fabrics and wall hangings. Thank you Zoe! LOVE, B&K.

MIRROR, ARCANGAL, MESS.

Mirror from IKEA in bedroom.

Internet art by Cory Arcangal arranged on the mantel in bedroom.

Mess Hall.

CALDER MEETS HIPPIE WOOD LANDS.

Colors & Feelings. The apartment will be mostly white walls enhanced with primary colors of Calder (orangey reds, Royal Blue, bright yellows, blacks, whites), dingy Hippie tones of muted yellows, oranges, deep purples. The only Greens will be natural, that of Trees, Ferns, Grasses and the like. Deep, Fresh, Beautiful Greens.

Alexander Calder.

Hippies.

Wood Lands.