Making my craft studio crafty

It's been a tough chore trying to set up my studio in this new house. I can't paint the dreary beige walls (which also have obvious roller marks from where the landlord painted over spots but didn't use perfectly matching paint), there's one tiiiiny window in the corner of the room that barely provides any light, and the ceiling fixture is so dim that I could go blind using it for anything.

I had to edit my storage solution, since the shelving units I had in my gorgeous Reno house can't be installed as they require lots of screws and anchors. Nathan and I made a trek up to Ikea to grab several shelving units a couple weeks ago and it has gone a fair way to helping us empty the pile of boxes still in the garage.

But honestly, this house is so uninspiring that I'm finding it impossible to care about the remainder of unpacking. I'm the kind of person who usually has everything unboxed and put away in 2 weeks, so that says a lot about my state of mind.

But I will get this room set up, even if it kills me (which it might) and get back into the swing of things. So I have been checking out some inspiring craft/sewing rooms online to help  me decide how to like this room enough to use it.

spaces design by saidosdaconcha.blogspot.com

I am loving the light looks that I am finding, even if the room I have to work with is minuscule in comparison, but I have found some that would be perfect in my dream house.

modern home office design by new york architect Incorporated

I've definitely been trying to keep the clutter under control, and if I didn't need such a large work space, I could definitely love this.

traditional home office design by dallas interior designer JDS DESIGNS

Now, this is more my style, even if that chair on the right seems out of place. Love the wall sconce task lights.

eclectic home office design by san diego interior designer My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Adore the slight grey walls, the beadboard wall, and the controlled chaos. The chandelier is a bonus.

traditional closet design by chicago media and blogs Kasey Buick

This room is more like what I have to work with, minus the interesting architecture. Dark room with tiny window, and it's very inviting.

eclectic home office design by portland media and blogs Julie Smith

Oh, and let's not forget Alicia Paulson's gorgeous studio (Posie Gets Cozy) that makes me drool every time I see it. I'd kill for windows like that.

Did you see one you liked?

Tell me why in the comments!

Jumping ship before it sinks

When I bought the polkadotbandit.com domain a couple years ago, I ditched my Typepad account for GoDaddy's in-house blogging platform Quick Blogcast. It was $4 less a month, and everything I needed was contained under one account.

It took almost no time to realize that I hated Quick Blogcast. It was touchy about everything and simple widgets like LinkWithin just didn't work. Picture editing was the worst nightmare ever, and the statistics menu was impossible to understand. It's tough to be motivated to post anything when everything is so difficult to do.

But I toughed it out.

Until the spam-bots invaded, that is.

You probably saw me complain about the spam comments I was getting that forced me to put all comments in moderation. For any of you who don't blog, reader statistics are important. Quick Blogcast supposedly had a spamkiller to prevent bots from posting. Supposedly.

The bot problem is something I have never encountered before. By the time I got fed up enough to switch to Blogger, I was getting 10,000 page hits a day, most of it from bots. The spam comments were making it through as though there was no preventative at all. I find it extremely important to be able to see who comes to my page and from where in order to tailor my content, and the stats page made it extremely difficult to wade through the bots to find the real people.

So, yesterday I decided it was time to get out before I drowned in bots and spam. Blogger has come a long way from my very first House Of Devign (remember that) website, and it's now easy for me to incorporate all the widgets I need in a layout I want, all while saving $10 a month.

Of course, the big problem is that I can't import my posts from the old format (I tried), so I have to start fresh. Which isn't too much of a bother, I think I can swing some great postings now that I have some things at my fingertips I had greatly missed. It will just be a bit bare for a bit while I clean house and get settled in.

If you want to be useful, click on the sale shoes on the left so I know you care!

Welcome!

If you're here and confused because it is empty, instead of full of posts, don't panic. I am switching to a new platform and things have changed. I will be filling this place up again soon, and giving a nice explanation.

So just update your bookmarks, and give me a chance to load this place up!

Heather