ROOM // STUDIO TOUR

So this is where I spend 99% of my time. It's a pretty big multifunctional space, because for the most part, this isn't just where I sleep, but where I work as well, and where I live. It took a good couple of years of saving up and overtime at my part-time job to make it a space that worked for me, so I'm really happy to finally be able to show you around. It makes sense to start in the most important part of the room. Because this is where I sleep, I wanted the space to be tranquil and easy on the eye. The walls are white and bare, and directly opposite the bed is a curtain, actually the lining of a pair of my mum's curtains, held up with copper piping, screwed into the ceiling and draped all the way to the floor to hide the busy view of my clothes behind. I came up with this DIY wardrobe system, where I bought a load of cheap bookshelves and cut them to fit the space, mounted some of the inner shelves to the wall, freeing up room within the unit to screw in pipes for hanging clothes. For intimates and cosies, there are these sets of drawers which came as a pair. To the left, on this patch of wall that's looking a little bit neglected, are a few pieces that don't fit into my jewellery box, hung with hooks screwed into deep Ikea picture frames, one of them containing a slightly worn photo of my grandparents on their wedding day. And to the right is a rail of clothes with colours that compliment the room, some dressier pairs of shoes that I never have the opportunity to wear, and a couple of accessories hanging off the side to mask the fact that this rail I've found in the loft is probably older than me and definitely looks it. Moving on to a sort of deconstructed vanity area, these cabinet drawers decorated with sunglasses and a plastic orchid hold makeup and cosmetics and hair products, all organised with these DIY origami boxes. The mirror was here when we moved in but I spray-painted the frame gold to make it a bit more my own. The stool is the only remnant I have left of my old drum kit, I upholstered it with the suedette fabric of an unused cushion cover and attempted to spray the legs gold but ran out because I spray everything gold, and this at the end of my bed spruced up with some marble contact paper is the home of my jewellery, a peace lily that desperately needs pruning and yet more products. The bed is too comfortable for its own good and because of that, I spend way more time in it than I should. One thing that helps to keep me out of it is making it every morning, carefully layering cushions and blankets and faux fur, too neat to want to disturb it. The bedside table is actually a stool but it gives me enough shelf space for the books I'm reading and writing in and always want to hand, as well as a larger notebook repurposed into a marble tabletop slab, a little pot I nicked from the kitchen, marbleised with black nail varnish holding lip balm and tweezers and other things that I probably don't but might need while I'm in bed, and a night sky motif box for the pens that I use for evening planning and journaling and doodling. My favourite thing about this part of the room is that it can be isolated from the rest. I got this blind system from Ikea to make a room divider, giving me privacy but also a cosier closed-in feel when I need it. Now we're in the living area, from left to right is the futon that folds out and sleeps one, covered with a blanket I got in Mexico two summers ago, this heater, a £3.50 carboot cell phone that I use as a table and not as a heater because the noises and smell it lets out when it's on make me think it might be close to spontaneous combustion, the sofa with a fur cushion cover that I made myself, above it the gallery wall featuring artwork by Picasso, Kondo, Miro and myself, as well as a jigsaw puzzle that we completed as a family one Christmas years ago, and a few extras. And this coffee table found on the street near my house on my way home from work, it's missing a shelf and the legs but it's sturdy and in line with the scheme of the room. On and in this table are magazines, a few graphic novels, a blanket and a few of my mum's old records from when she was a teenager. Which leads us to the other side of the room, to a very basic record player that my dad got for my mum a few years ago, a clock I decorated with yet more marble paper and black paint, the temperamental off-brand TV I got while it was on sale with an additional 20% off staff discount. All of this sits on these unfinished drawers, they're intended for priming and painting or varnishing, they also came with handles but I prefer the stripped back basic look. If you've been wondering so far where I keep all my junk, it's here. And that pink fur again, this time I used it to make a cover for a beanbag. The backdrop to it all, nothing means more to me in this room than this painting I did of a bear blowing bubbles, his name is Chesney and if the house was burning down and I could only take one thing, it would somehow have to be this wall. Within his line of sight is this minimal geometric lampshade. The transition from the living space to the workspace is marked with this seemingly purposeless boulder wall that turned out to be the perfect size for this mirror. Leaning against it in an effort to give the illusion of a full table without taking up the space is a table cut in half, it's reflection completing it. This was another street find but it was a whole table then, my mum cut it and kept the other half. What you're seeing in the reflection are the shelves where I keep a few books and bits and bobs and some of my sewing stuff at the bottom. This is an extension of my workspace, somewhere to keep things that aren't always needed but handy to have within reach. If you saw my old workspace tour, you might be noticing that things are a little different. My desk still sits on two large trestles that hold paints and my printer, my sewing machine is down there somewhere as well. The wall and the shelves above are dressed with a few notebooks and sketchbooks, my gold spray-painted mannequin and this wall grid, another item pilfered from our kitchen. This was actually a sort of spice rack, I painted it black and use it to pin pictures of my family and friends. I've also used black washi tape to stick up more pictures, some artwork of my own, plus prints by Manjit Tapp and Kim Jung Gi. Limitless inspiration, I'll leave links to their work below. Where there used to be a shelving unit at the side, I cut it in half and used each half to form support for an extended tabletop, creating this L shape. It isn't the neatest bit of handiwork but what can I say, I love any excuse to get my hands on power tools. This is space for my art supplies, organised into boxes with the nearest to me holding my most used items. Two cheap shoe racks, stacked on top of each other, fill this space perfectly and make a great extra set of shelves for paper and stationery. And on the top is the radio my mum gave to me, a proper relic of the 90s, maybe even earlier, some decorative pieces and a few books for reference and inspiration. If you're interested in a more detailed look at my workspace and how I store things, just let me know in the comments. So this is where things get a bit messy. This is the place for things that don't have a place anywhere else. Thankfully tucked around a corner out of view from most of the rest of the room. The easel was my mum's, this bamboo room divider, yet another thing I found on the street, I decorated with fake ivy and don't really have a place for it but don't wanna throw it away. And then my workout gear, my bike being on wheels means I can roll it out in front of the tv whenever I wanna use it. There's also a yoga mat, hula hoop and a few larger pieces of work that I don't have any room for. And what's behind the mystery doors? It's actually just the boiler and a big water tank and it's boring, which feels like not the best place to end this video but that's all there is. I hope you enjoyed it, thanks so much for coming to have a look. If you're not subscribed, please come and join the fam, we'd love to have you and I'll see you all in the next video. Bye!