Finding a place to be Creative  | Roselle Photography

When Brian and I moved into our first apartment, we were both leaving our parents houses for the first time. We didn’t plan on staying there long, so we signed a six-month lease. We were more than thrilled to have something to call ‘ours’. Because it was only short lease, we didn’t waste time decorating. Our hodge-podge furniture mismatching, the walls bare, and enough clutter to share. We could live with it for six months!

That six-month lease quickly turned into a year, as our house hunt was fruitless. More than once we had an offer in on a house, and for one reason or another, it would fall through. The inspection would go bad, we would be outbid; you name it – it happened.

My good friend Kerry told me that when she and her husband were looking for their perfect house, it was important to them to find a house that they could “be creative in”. I had heard of wanting X number of bathrooms, or Y number of rooms, but I had never thought of a space as fostering creativity. Obviously, within the cinder block walls of my high school, I never felt especially creative, but I didn’t necessary associate it with the walls themselves.

But her saying that really got me thinking. I am a visual person. Working from home, this house would be not only be my home, but my office, with most of my waking hours being spent there. Taking into account how creative the house made me feel was suddenly a priority.

When Brian and I first looked at our house, it didn’t scream “LOOK AT ME! I’m CREATIVE!” In fact, many would argue the opposite. It was a foreclosure that had been empty for two years. Between the questionable colors (um, hello peach colored kitchen with pink counter tops), the waterfalls that resulted from busted pipes, the carpet that was stained with God knows what, and, no joke, a mallard duck-themed office, I understood why so many people had passed on this property. But it had the bones: an open floor plan, lots of windows, and space for me to be creative.

Spoiler alert: We bought the house. It took two months of grunt work, and way too many decisions, but we moved in. My In-Laws are the only reason that was possible. Dave spent countless hours here, replacing dry wall, hanging light fixtures, fixing plumbing, and a number of other jobs that Brian and I were 100% incapable of doing on our own. Jane was my sanding, painting, and cleaning buddy. She showed up without asking. I seriously think we’d still be struggling if we hadn’t had their help.

Now, as I sit on my (matching) couch and write this, almost a year later, I am so grateful that we had that advice. We definitely don’t have everything figured out, and I have been told we never will. I have only just started hanging things on the walls recently, so decoration is still sparse. That is okay…those things will come in time. I have seen my productivity soar this past year. I have an office that is separate from my living space, so I can have some work-life balance. I have a window by my desk that affords some much-needed sunlight, and a kitchen with enough space to turn around in – all things that I missed in the apartment.

I guess my point in this rambling is this: sometimes, the answer to being more creative isn’t drilling yourself in techniques, comparing your work to others, or trying to work harder. Sometimes, getting out of a creative rut can be as simple as changing your surroundings, or using your creativity in a way completely unrelated. For me, it was envisioning what potential our house could have, and figuring out practical ways to make that a reality. For you, it might be taking up a hobby, working from a coffee shop or renting a shared workspace.

Whatever your answer is, stay creative my friends!

In case you were curious to see: here are some before and afters of our house!

Family Room:

Kitchen:

Office: