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Studio tour!

We moved into our forever home (that we spent a year remodeling) last summer, and my office / studio is as good as finished now! I'm just so grateful to have this space, and thought I'd share with you how I've organized and set up the place! This is where I work, paint, create my illustrated journals, and comics!

Fun fact that I forgot to include in the video: the room was designed by the architect to make sure there was exactly enough space for the drawing table! (Meaning our bedroom is a bit smaller, haha)

'Nursery' Tour

Before we had Jacob, I posted a house tour on this blog, with the promise I would show you what our house looked like after we'd had our son. Click on the link above to see what our house still mostly looks like, apart from the bedroom and an added layer of milk stains. I expect our living room will at one point also turn into Babyland (with a highchair, a playpen, and more toys), but right now we make do with a beautiful handmade blanket and a basket for his rattles and books, and so it's just our bedroom that has changed since this last post. 

While I labeled this post 'Nursery Tour', we live in a London-sized one bedroom apartment, so our bedroom = our nursery. To be honest, at this point I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Co-sleepER

We decided (as in my pregnant self nagged Jochem to the point where he was like 'do what you need to do') to go the co-sleeper route. I knew I really wanted to breastfeed and having my baby right there seemed convenient. We chose the Snüzpod 3-in-1 mostly for its looks (isn't it purrdy?), but in theory you can also use it as a bassinet and a standalone crib. We've only ever used it as a co-sleeper thus far and I freaking LOVE this thing. It was easy to set up and you can strap it to your bed at exactly the right height. We of course didn't know I would end up having Jacob via c-section, but I honestly don't know how I would have managed those first weeks of night feedings if he hadn't been so close. Doing a 'sit up' to get out of bed, let alone lifting an infant from a crib was pretty much a no-go, and with the co-sleeper I could just roll him to me and nurse lying down. Pure bliss, my friends. 

The adorable monkey toy was made by my close friend Sabra and clouds were made by my friend Debbie - Jacob absolutely adores looking at the cloud's colorful raindrops in the morning. The bedding is from Snüzpod (mattress cover and cloud blanket) and Little Green Sheep (blue organic cotton blanket). The swaddle blanket is from Lodger and was a gift from my mom, as was the musical sheep that hangs from the back of his crib. We usually swaddle Jacob at night, as he tends to move his arms quite a bit and ends up hitting himself in the head and waking himself up - I usually just swaddle the top of his body tightly and then leave his legs free to move. 

 

Changing Mat & Wardrobe

We don't really have room for a separate changing table, so we re-used this old set of drawers from IKEA and put a changing mat on top. It's right next to the window, so Jacob can roll outside and tumble down into the garden whenever he feels like it. Nope, just kidding of course. To be honest, I usually just end up putting the mat on the floor as the drawers aren't quite tall enough and it usually hurts my back to stand bent over like that. Also, while Jacob hasn't yet managed to roll over, I am sure he will at some point and it just feels safer on the floor. 

The drawers are now used to house his diapers (we use these) and all of his adorable little clothes (OMG nobody warned me I would get SO obsessed with baby clothes), that I organized by kind and size. I used washi tape to label the sections, so I can easily rotate out stuff that is too small (which is everything, all the time) and switch things up. Now, if you're thinking "a) that baby only seems to wear three colors, and b) those drawers look like she Marie-Kondo'ed the shit out of them" - you would be absolutely right my friend. Let us all be glad this isn't the fifties and I wasn't destined to be a housewife, because I would be annoying as fudge.

The bear bum pants are from M&S and the grey muslin cloth is from my favorite Dutch store HEMA (as are many of his clothes). Finally, not pictured here because the sun was really bright this morning (yes, really) - I hung some colorful pompoms above the changing mat for Jacob to look at while I torture him with wet wipes (he especially loves it when I try to clean the dried up milk from under his quadruple chin).

 

Hope you enjoyed that little tour - next time I'll do a little overview of my diaper bag and other out-and-about with baby essentials!  (I am not even kidding, I am that mom now. Seriously who even am I? Was this person inside me all this time?)

Pre-Baby House Tour

A lot of friends have been asking me whether we're planning to move now that we've got a little one coming. Like most Londoners, we're in a one bedroom 'flat' (apartment) with little budgetary room to wiggle our way into something bigger that's not an hour or two away from work or would bankrupt us within six months. So the answer is no. We're not moving. 

As I imagine it will be interesting to see how we'll manage to squeeze in the babe in between the lack of storage space and came-with-the-flat bolted down IKEA stuff, I thought I'd give you all a 'before' tour of the house now, and come back in a few months from now when we've set up our baby gear. 

Living Room

The living room is by far the largest space in the house. It has large bay sash windows and holds a lot of our second hand and up cycled treasures. It's also where my studio nook is. It's tiny, but it's more than most people have and Jochem is often jealous of my miniature desk (an original Gispen), even if I end up accidentally knocking off my notebook, watercolors, water, tea, etc. while working.  

Bedroom

The bedroom came fully furnished (as did most of the house, originally), and most of the furniture here wasn't bought by us, with the exception of the bed. We decided to splurge on the bed when we moved in and it's been the best decision ever. Memory foam FTW. The bedroom has a large sash window overlooking the garden. 

Kitchen

Most of the kitchen is kind of a mess, but it's large enough and has a breakfast bar (my favorite) and a door leading to the shared garden (Jochem's favorite). It's airy and bright and I love sitting here in the morning with a cup of (now decaf) coffee. Not pictured: the dirty dishes. It's my blog, I can pretend I'm a good person here. 

Also not pictured in this post is our bathroom. We have a bath, but honestly, that whole space just depresses me. It needs a paint job and then some, so perhaps in the future I'll do a before & after on the bathroom. 

Hope you enjoyed that little tour!

Rock Star Status

I think I can safely say that I am now famous. I did two interviews in one month AND I was recognized by a fan in my local supermarket! Actually, that was my sister-in-law, and I went up to her as she didn't even see me, but she DID recognize me and talk to me. But the interviews happened! They're both in Dutch, so sorry everyone else.

Gratitude @ Allihoppa 
I did an interview with Annelies from Allihoppa.
I share my thoughts on drawing, form and function, on my process,  and gratitude. If you speak Dutch, I definitely recommend following the Annelies' blog as it's filled with DIY tips, interior design inspiration, interviews, and craft!

Life & Work @ 101 Woonideeën
I also was interviewed for a new feature on the 101 Woonideeën blog
, where Etsy makers talk about and show the spaces they live and work in! All of the lovely photos in that interview and this blog post were made by the talented Riley Salyards from Swift & Roe. I talk about my work, our house and the million things I bought off of Etsy that fill my house (I call it 'investing'). 

In addition to the amazing photos Riley took of my house and Miso she took some really nice photos of the studio and me at work. 

Thanks Annelies, Riley, Monique, and Ingrid for making me feel like a rock star!

Journal Page: Getting Our Hands Dirty

Two weeks.

A mere two weeks I don't post to the blog and all of a sudden, you make me turn 30! There I was, minding my own (well, everyone else's) business in Brooklyn on a work trip - next thing I know, people are singing happy birthday to me (in Dutch!) and handing me shots of tequilla. I was absolutely flabbergasted. One minute you're enjoying youth, hotness, full of promise, and then next thing you know, BAM you're thirty. In hindsight, I probably should have seen this coming for a while, but you know, thinking about age is très mundane. 

© Anna Denise Floor -- Click image to enlarge

Nah. Enough with the hilarious jokes. I had a great birthday, and then had another awesome birthday when I got home w/ the fantastic Mr. Floor.

But! All of that has nothing to do with this week's journal page, which is actually a journal page from two weeks ago, but I was busy trying to stuff sixteen outfits into a broken suitcase, so I forgot to share. We gardened (may or may not have been my very first time, ahem) and it was actually really fun. Look at me! All domestic and stuff!