Some say, a change is as good as ...

When you find yourself at the end of a relationship that you put all of your heart, soul, and energy into, it can be hard to know what to do what that energy, when it can no longer be directed in the same direction it was. 
After spending so much time focused on a person, or a relationship, it can be hard to again put the focus on yourself. It seems almost selfish now! Wow, how we do brainwash ourselves.
 
Anyway, I figure I can't change my situation, but I can change my environment. That is one outcome I do have control over. So I found it is easier for me to focus on myself again, by allowing myself to change my outside world for the better, first ... it makes the transition to 'being selfish' again so much easier ... not to mention kinda fun. I take a lot of my inspiration from Nick Hornby's character in High Fidelity. I love the way he re-arranges his record collection every time he breaks up. It's the kind of thing I do too.

Knowing that I can live however I like, in whatever way and style that I like, is freeing and inspiring, and a good place to start learning a new direction, or way of being.
We don't have to limit ourselves by trying to live up to some magazine ideal of how our living and/or work spaces should be. I don't need to live in a McMansion, because I don't need, want, or desire a McMansion lifestyle. I won't go off on an architectural/sociological rant right now, other than to say we don't need to keep up with any of The Jones' at all, and, Australia's ambitions and ideals for, and of, living environments and spaces, is a bit narrow, to say the least. 

I want ... no, I need my space to be functional and creative.
My home and my work space can, & should, reflect exactly who I am and what I need to sustain myself and the people I live with, both inside and out. Nothing more.


So recently I have been pottering about the house, finding my new direction, and focusing on my home environment ... Which has lead to more productive work spaces, which leads to more of the things that matter, like nurturing inspiration and creativity, and before you know it - Bam! - you are focused on yourself & your creativity, and left wondering how you ever had the time to be consumed by anyone, or anything else. Hallelujah!



I have created a post office in my kitchen/diner, (its an open space house) and I am totally in love with it!
 I can store all of my postage & promotional needs in one place, and I don't have to fetch them form all corners every time I get an online sale. I have also stashed an array of crafty things for my newly revived love of paper and stationary. (How that ever left me I have no idea!) ... Plus I think it looks kind of awesome!  

The two pieces of furniture I used to build the 'post office' have their own story, (that I won't bore you with ... everything in this place has a story, right down to literally the kitchen sink) and they were just going to waste, being separated in different spaces in the house, doing different jobs, and neither of them very well. You could say I have re-purposed them in the same way I have been learning to re-purpose my life after love. awww. *shy face*

. Now all it needs is a folding parcel packing table and I'm set. I saw the perfect one in a catalog that will fit neatly between the cabinet and the door, that I will try to replicate when I source (find) the right materials.

My Da seems to think that the old pigeon hole cabinet would have been used at the railways back in its day, he says it has the same green government paint still on the side of it. The sideboard it is sitting on was saved from land fill too. Actually I think most of the things in this photo have been saved from landfill. The antique red gum ice box/cabinet that I keep my glasses in, was a gift from my Mum that she no longer needed, & thought it was the perfect place for it when I finished building - she was right. Oh and she is also responsible for the chairs, hours of stripping off layers of paint accumulated over the years. Thanks Mum!


Although I have been totally changing my home/work environment, I have not used anything in this little project that I didn't already have. Everything has just been moved around, re-ordered, re-arranged, re-purposed, re-discovered, re-vamped, or found. Its a bit of a metaphor for whats happening on the inside too I suppose.

How do you find new directions or inspiration?

Happy handmade love.
xoxo