Rainy Day Design Thoughts – Take Care Of Business & Stay Safe

I like blogging in blue. It’s a sunnier way for me to work. I also like having either a very, very small – tiny little bouquet of fresh flowers here on my desk, (today they are yellow Gerberer daisy’s – $2.99 at McCaffrey’s food store. What a deal.) In lieu of fresh flowers – which I admit I don’t always make the time to purchase – I also like to light a candle on my desk when I work. Again – just a sunnier way for me to work. So since it is raining and dreary outside right now – as it may well be for you too – let me share with you how this exercise – make your interior more sunny – worked for me not too long ago.

About a month ago I faced a large and neglected (by me) pile of ‘designer paperwork.’ Tackling that paper pile did not please this right brainer too very much. That’s why it had been neglected in the 1st place. 🙂 Still – it had to get done – hence the choice to add music to the task as well as light a candle. Now, my studio office is designed in such a way that my creative juices can just run wild in here. Because I work with color all day – I designed my office in delicious shades of vanilla only – very quiet and restful – but with tiny, intentional splashes soft plum – a little toile here, an awning stripe there. Subtle. Perfect. Just walking in here and taking a visual whiff, my design mojo starts working. But on that one particular day, just to get through my Mount Everest paperwork pile – the equivalent of a rainy day for this girl – well, I needed the extra environment push – the music and a candle. And did I mention my decaf blueberry cobbler coffee with a splash of skim – perfect. I did everything I could to my environment to make the task at hand go smoothly and feel a good as possible – and if possible – make it feel good! Add a little indoor sunshine.

As I worked, I noticed how relaxed I felt. The music was perfect. My coffee so yummy. I really felt good, focused, energized. I was whipping through that pile, filing, following up, revising, redesigning – getting things done. And I might add – I was feeling really quite pleased with myself. At one point, I recall consciously thinking, ‘Wow – the power of a good environment – this is really working – this really isn’t so bad after all.” It was almost at the same moment that this run-on thought crossed my designing mind that I realized that the client estimate that I held in my left hand had caught fire thanks to my candle. (It was for one of my favorite clients too – went up in flames. Scared me to death 🙂 True story. But – work with me here for a sec.

My point is, find your own sunshine – and stick it into your environment – and unlike me in the story above – keep your brain turned on too. Don’t fight ‘what is.’ Today, it is gray and dreary outside. Because I rely on natural light here, I know that color will not look right in my studio at the moment – so I’m not going to do any fabric searches. Instead – I’ll take care of other business in other ways. I can plough through paperwork, (with my bouquet on my desk…no danger zone here today…). I can get my fabric library put back together, and I can do a myraid other things that are easily taken care of regardless of weather. Like sharing some important announcements with my peeps (that’s you) about staying safe in your own indoor haven. For example:

1. Be careful of lit candles indoors. d.s. ala coda….enough said. The obvious alternative is the faux-light-up candle. I have to admit that I don’t care for those artificial candles sold by my alma mater and other TV shopping channels. They look cheap – and fake. I’m sorry. But they do. I say – go for the real thing when it comes to candles, but be mindful, cautious, careful and wise. Exercise excellent judgment…unlike me a month ago. Ask yourself – what can this candle damage – (beyond the extreme of burning down your house) and proceed with your well thought out plan from there.

2. Window Safety Recall at the end of 2009. If you haven’t heard yet – in December of 2009 the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the window blind industry recalled nearly 50 million Roman blinds & roller shades on the market. It was directed particularly to people who either have small children living in their homes or as frequent visitors. The recall is an effort to prevent the potential hazard of strangulation by way of looped bead chains on Roman shades, strings on the back of Roman shades and lifting loops on roll-up blinds (if they slide off.) For more information – as well as a free retro fit kit for use on older existing products – please visit www.windowcovers.org. And as ever – if doing a nursery, child’s, tween’s or teen’s room – CHORDLESS treatments have always been – and always remains – the way to go.

Oh – by the way – on that stella blueberry cobler decaf coffee – as well as other PERfect flavored caf and decaf coffee – head to www.flyingbean.com