A new home office + regaining control

Hi guys!

I'm so excited to finally have my own work space in our home! It's not quite ready yet, but it's finally on the way.

It was never really in the plans until my husband bought me this beautiful kit of studio lights and backdrops so that I could take photographs for my blog at night after the kids went to sleep. I figured I would store them in the basement during the day so that the kids didn't play with them. Shortly after, my husband suggested I turn the main room in the basement into a craft room/office for myself. Yay!

The room was originally supposed to be a home cinema, which we are still planning to do, but differently! Essentially, it'll be 3 rooms in 1; photography studio, home cinema, and my office! This is so exciting!

There's a lot to be done before I'm actually settled in but I'm really excited to get started. I got myself a desk at Ikea and I'll be painting the walls white soon. Right now it's this kind of pale yellow and it's not great for pictures. I think white will reflect the light better and will make the room look a lot bigger.

I'm also working on organizing and storing all of my gear and equipment. Figuring out what I want displayed and what I want hidden will be the first thing on my agenda. Then I'll figure out what furniture I want.

Finally, I'll decorate! I already have quite a few ideas and I can't wait to share everything with you!

I'm so happy to finally have a little space for myself to relax and do what I love; an actual designated space, as in, not invading the dinning room. The best part is I don't need to worry about waking up the kids.

Up until now, a part of me felt a bit lost and confused. We got married, a few months later we bought a house, and not long after we had our first child. It was so many new things at once that we didn't have time to readjust in between. Regaining control of my life wasn't easy and I still don't quite feel like I'm there yet, but it's getting there.

A few words of advice on regaining control.

1. GIVE YOURSELF TIME.
The biggest mistake I think I made was worrying about everything. I'm pretty sure everyone already knows this but it's true, everything gets sort out in time. Instead of worrying about the disaster in the kitchen or the mess on your desk, take it one thing at a time and allow yourself to enjoy the moment.

2. START SOMEWHERE.
I'm pretty sure we're all familiar with this concept. I mean, every time I get overwhelmed with tasks and deadlines, I start seeing blurry and I have a silent panic attack while 100 million thoughts pop into my head... and then, blank, nothing, I'm just sitting there, thinking about absolutely nothing and achieving exactly that, nothing. As hard as it may be sometimes, just grab one thing, anything, and get started.

3. WRITE IT DOWN.
Sometimes writing things down help. Things you'd like to get done, things you'd like to learn, things you'd like to buy... even writing down what you've achieved sometimes help you feel more in control.

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you felt you were loosing control? What did you do?

My goals for 2015

New year resolutions are like chocolate. They disappear as fast as they appeared.

This year, I decided to try setting goals for myself since I seem to have issues with New Year resolutions. Here is a list of some things I'd like to do without putting too much extra pressure on myself. You know, to keep things as stress free as possible.

1. Be more grateful.
This is pretty big and vague isn't it? My goal is pretty simple to be honest; every month, I have to write 10 things I am grateful down. I'm also planning to turn this into a mini video series at the end of each month, but we'll see how much time I actually have for that. Writing them down is non-negotiable though. :)

2. Make a plan.
Again, pretty vague. What kind of plan? For what? How? I have been meaning to plan things out, plan everything out: meals, blog posts, family outings... the list goes on and on. In fact, I have so many things I need to organize that I'm drowning in my own thoughts. The goal is simple. Make ONE plan. Just ONE, for anything.

3. Start my Etsy shop.
I've been wanting to branch out for a while now. I have so many ideas about things I want to do. I even bought materials for a whole bunch of handmade things I could make; jewelry, prints, digital designs... I never actually got to it though, it's a lot of work! Planning, making, taking photos, figuring out shipping fees, packaging, shipping, keeping track of finances... I really want to do it, but with my full time job and my babies, it's been nearly impossible. I think I found a way to start things slowly though, and it looks promising. My goal this year is to at least put one item up for sale in my shop.

4. Finish a project that's been neglected.
I'm actually kind of embarrassed about this. I start so many things all at the same time because I have tons of ideas but more often than not, I leave things unfinished. So much that my husband forbade me to buy anything else until I finish some of my projects. Lol. It's actually pretty silly since most of these projects are about 95% done. A goal for this year is to at least finish one of these. Shouldn't be too hard right?

5. Take care of myself.
Since becoming a mom I find that I've literally put myself last. Sometimes I forget to eat because I'm too busy making sure my kids eat. Sometimes I don't shower because I spent a lot of time in the bath with my kids. Often I don't blog, play world of warcraft, do crafts, or take pictures because my full time job takes all of my time. Most of the time I just throw on whatever clothes I can find, and almost never do I pamper myself with pretty makeup or hairdos. I'm not complaining or anything, but one of my goals this year is to remember that I still exist; ME, Julie, not me, the mom, the wife, the employee. Just me.

Do you have goals or aspirations for 2015? What are they?

DIY: Jewelry organization display board

I'm starting to have a lot of jewelry. I have a really beautiful jewelry box, but it's not big enough, and my necklaces were getting tangled up. I tried hanging them on a clothes hanger but that idea was a total fail. Then I remembered the previous owners had left cork boards in every room. My husband had taken them down and insisted on keeping them... I'm so glad I found a use for one. You can use the board as a decorative item for your room if you add a nice frame, paint it or add ribbons... but mine is in my closet, so I kept it simple.

MATERIALS:
Cork board
Push pins
Jewelry


1. Place the pins on the board.


2. Hang your jewelry.


I filled in gaps with more pins to hang earrings and bracelets.

What is your favorite kind of jewelry? What is your favorite jewelry store?

Yup, it's that easy!



I used colored push pins in the tutorial so you could see them better, but on my display I used clear and white pins.