[Jewelry making - Article 00988] - Re: [Orchid] Studio - at home or away?

[ElegantBee]

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    Hi: We live in a very small house and long ago gave up the idea of
    keeping up with the neighbors, and accepted the fact that we'll
    never be able to afford a loft in New York City. So we decided to
    follow our own style and timetable, creating within our house, what I
    call," a working house." I have a small studio in one room that
    jewelry shares with stained glass. My husband has a workshop in the
    basement.  We each have a "computer room" that is also an office or
    a guest room when necessary. Mine also houses my sewing machine and
    all the fabric I can't get myself to throw out. We spend a great deal
    of time at our own interests, and a lot of time working in the house.
     
    Cleaning and repairs, which have to be done wherever you live, are
    done on an 'as needed' basis and shared between us. My husband seems
    to think he needs to do all the repairs himself, and what's more,
    he's very good at it, so they tend to wait until he gets to them,
    unless of course, it's an emergency. Even cooking has become very
    informal, and we often prepare things in advance and freeze them so
    we have the elements to put a meal together in a hurry.  Over the
    years I've become less concerned about the dust -- it's not life
    threatening, and does no harm. Eventually it gets cleared away, but
    it always comes back. 

    Our house is also very personal--the decor is idiosyncratic--only
    things we love to look at and that have meaning to us are hung on
    the walls, lots of big, tropical plants that winter indoors, and a
    few animals (just got 4 parakeets). Added to this, my collection of
    preserved and framed insects turns some people off, but I think
    they're beautiful and I like to look at them, so they stay on the
    wall. Since we are concerned about the neighborhood looking
    attractive we keep the outside as neat as possible, and hire a
    neighborhood boy to cut the grass in the front of the house.  We
    plant flowers because we love to have flowers.  

    I don't need to have my neighbors agree with my style of decoration
    or housekeeping, and I suspect they think we are a little strange. 
    But we are friendly and cordial, and when someone does come into the
    house, they are fascinated by all the interesting things we have,
    and seem to think it is very cozy. Our friends, of course, know we
    are a little 'different' but love us anyway, or maybe because of it,
    so that's no problem. 

    I hope this helps! It's meant to encourage you to set your own style
    of living, and that your are not alone in finding your work more
    valuable than conforming to other people's norms.   If you'd like to
    talk about it some more, e-mail me offline at elegantbee AT aol.com  
    Sandra

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