Our Office

It only took 2 months (literally from start to finish), but it's finally done! And I could not be happier with how my office turned out! You see, I'm kind of the compulsive, neat freak, everything-has-to-have-a-home kind of artisan. And sort of a visual one at that...as you'll be able to see with the oodles and oodles of photos below:

Standing in the dining room, looking into the office.

Our business is Two Seaside Babes. We stick with a trendy (certainly not kitschy) "beach theme" to our shop. So of course I carried it over to the office. I like to call it Beach Chic. This color is called "Seattle Haze". It's the first time I ever tried the accent wall. I'm digging it!

The main wall color is a very light shade of blue with grey undertones called "Orchid Ash". Obviously white trim. White is clean and crisp. I like clean. And crisp.

The yarn area. Ummm...I might have a tiny bit of an addiction.

Yes, the compulsive neat freak in me color coordinates everything. EVERYTHING! But doesn't it look oh so pretty that way?

More yarn. And also our hair accessory area...headbands, hair clips, and buttons.

See what I mean about everything having it's own little place? I have individual containers for every single color and style of headband that Two Seaside Babes' makes. It takes up a lot of space, but it's much easier to see what I'm low on for re-ordering and to grab what I need when I have an order to fill.

The shipping area. Ideally, in the future, I'm going to paint the armoire white.

USPS must love me. Or hate me. I'm not really sure which one. I order boxes in quantities of 25...usually 2 bundles per size. Come fall and winter, they can't deliver them to me fast enough!

Hundreds of envelopes. Yes, that giant box has even more in it.

The bottom of the shipping armoire. I do other crafts besides crochet, you might know. I paint. And sew. OK...I TRY to sew.

My shipping table. Shipping is the least favorite part of my job. So I put my favorite, beach-inspired photos in front of me to calm me down during this tedious phase.

One of my very first purchases on Etsy. "Lonely Spire 2" by lafrenchie.

"Mist on the Columbia" by lucybirdphotos.

There's a short story about this one...when we came up with our shop name Two Seaside Babes in May of 2008, we used an image of Haystack Rock as a part of our logo. I had literally been searching Etsy for 3+ years trying to find the most perfect photo of Haystack Rock. No seagulls. No people walking on the beach. So I find it a ironic that my good friend Beth of bethjt was the one that I finally ended up buying that photo from. I love, Love, LOVE it!

I'm one of those people that can't sleep at night because I have a thousand creative thoughts running through my head. I always need to write things down...thoughts, ideas, projects, products. So I have an entire basket filled with notepads, notebooks, and sticky pads.

My desk. Yes, that's us on the desktop. And yes, that's 2 notepads you see there next to the keyboard.

Under the table covers...my scrap yarns. I totally use those to make other things! Also, add compulsive pack rat to the list. I never throw anything out. I can make something out of everything. I'm JUST like my mom!

My cotton yarn area. Cones on top and skeins in the baskets.

Ribbons for making hair bows and head bands.

The yarn for our mini flowers. I love how there is a little cubby for each color and/or shade of yarn. Looking at that colorful deliciousness just makes me want to be creative!

I think I may have been a little ribbon crazy before I found these life savers. A true crafter invented this. I hate those kind of ribbon organizers with the dowel rod running through the center. In order to get the spool you needed, you had to pull every other spool off the dowel. This one allows the spool to sit in its own little cubby. And the cubbies are perfect for organizing...polka dots, stripes, plaids. See...compulsive neat freak...I'm telling you! Get yours at organizemore on Etsy.

We went from 2200 sq ft down to 1700. Not only did we downsize in sq ft, but we also lost a number of closets. Closets which held toys. So I bought these inexpensive cabinets from Wal-mart. Did you notice that the only thing in this office that is really hidden from view are the toys? Toys are one of a compulsive neat freaks worst enemies.

One of my most favorite possessions...a hand-knotted rug that I got while deployed to Afghanistan. The colors don't really "work" amazingly well and doesn't seem to go with the "feel" of the office. But I love it. So there is stays.

That's is in a nutshell. One crazy organized, neat freak, everything-now-has-a-home, nutshell.