The Beginning of Something New

This was our biggest birthday packed week for our family. My aunt (who is more like a big sister and is definitely a best friend) started out the week, then Ariana and I had ours on Wednesday and Thursday. There was much cupcake eating to be had, and there will be much more over the weekend! 

My biggest gift so far has been this next one.

We've lived in our old southern home for 5 years now. It's a little squishy around here sometimes, and we (read here as: me) are constantly getting creative with the way we use our spaces.

 My other closest (non-related!) friend, Michelle, saw the beauty in our detached garage (aka a carriage house... our house is along an old horse & buggy route) that I had long ignored.

Sure, the outside was cute, but the inside was full of piles of leaves, old strollers, and random debris that ended up in there. It was the gross place I avoided..... definitely not where I thought I could one day make art!

She came over today with the intentions of us creating a new space out of this yucko one. We rolled up our sleeves, pulled out the brooms & buckets o' soapy water, and grabbed the bug spray.

 It still has to be functional to hold our lawnmower, so we began covering up that side. I want to continue building a wall with two more stacked pallets on top of those. How cool will they look eventually? I think I may paint some words on them. I'd also like to add a shelf unit in that area between the curtain and the pallets.

One of the cool things about this project is that all the "art" and architectural pieces are from things that were already in the garage. This is an old footboard to a bed. I'm planning on painting the middle part with chalkboard paint. 

Some old bike tires, hung up on the wall, become a place to clip small pieces of art onto in the future.

The old tin roof is going to sound AMAZING when it rains.

 The was a mirror stashed in there that was a great accent piece on the main wall. We quickly painted it blue and hung it up. Oh my word. LOVE it.

 To some of y'all, this may just look like an old yucko garage... but to me, it is a small piece of heaven. I see so much potential in the space... so many things I want to do with it. I don't want to say too much yet because I need to check out a few things, but I very much would like to see classes here in the future. :)

Welcome to the Carriage House Studio... a work in progress!

The area non-pictured on the right side has a little corral for the kids' bikes and scooters. The kids were pretending it was a jail today and wanted me to share this picture with you guys.

Sillies. :)