New Spaces
I know I literally just said I was being quieter, but so much has changed in the past two weeks and if you don’t follow me on instagram, you may be a bit behind on that visually. We not only moved into a new apartment, but a work studio as well, both in Koreatown (our apartment is technically East Hollywood according to the city, but locals can debate that one out). Needless to say going on a vacation and then immediately moving upon our return has done much expected things for my stress level, but things are slowly coming together. The studio is mostly together, but the apartment is another story due to the fact that we do not own a single piece of living room furniture since we moved to LA with no furniture and then used our living room as a workspace (and moved the crappy “sofa” we have to the studio). We have a faux fireplace though, so every single little knick knack and book we own has been crammed onto it in an almost art-piece like way that we both find hilarious. There are things I love about the new place, but I’d be lying if I said I really loved it. We had to make a sacrifice in order to afford a work space, so I feel good about our decision and know it will just take time to adjust! But there are really good things: an awesome view, it’s much quieter, you can hear crickets at night, the street is much cleaner than our last one, that fireplace, there’s enough light for our plant hoarding collection, there are nice wood floors in most of the apartment.
Now, the studio is a funny space. It’s a ten minute walk from the apartment into a bit of a sketchier neighborhood (I never feel unsafe, it’s just visibly dirtier, etc – it feels very much likes parts of Brooklyn I’ve lived in, in fact) and is in a big raw space off of the laundry room of an apartment building. I mention this because when someone is doing their laundry I have to wait until I hear them leave to go use the bathroom across the hall because one time I popped out and a lady screamed bloody murder upon seeing me as she clearly didn’t know an art studio was in that room. Whoops! We had a good laugh after she calmed down.
Will and I split the space but I’ve only included some little bits of my side that are finished (my jewelry desk and bookshelf is a disaster due to being in the middle of CRUNCH! TIME!) and he’s in the middle of some pieces he probably doesn’t want me to share photos of. The space doesn’t get a ton of light because huge trees mostly block the windows, but the exposed pipes allowed us to hang these cool utility lights we have, and the concrete room stays really cool. The hot hot week we’ve been having barely had any effect on me while working, which is amazing.
Details, because I know you may ask: the posters above my desk are by Reference Library, the desk legs by hairpin legs (remade this desk with larger wood), a Fieldguided calendar peeking out, the paper organizer is from Ikea, and don’t even ask me about the damn pipe legs on my jewelry desk because it was a disaster and had to be bracketed to the wall it was so wobbly. Pipe legs just don’t work for standing desks, I’ve discovered.
Now, before I go, please come back on Monday because I’m launching something pretty awesome!
July 13th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Love the office!!
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July 13th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
gorgeous! i love all the plants. and the colors!
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July 13th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
All this white and light… oh, Kate! It’s so beautiful.
Just as I was typing this “Life in LA” came on iTunes and I feel like this was kind of a special, cosmic moment for me, haha.
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July 13th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
neat! i can’t wait to see the place once there’s some official furniture in there. and the studio looks totally awesome…i wish i had somewhere like that! :) (…i’m especially jealous that it’s not mega-hot in there…i can only work in the very early + very late hours of the night, and even then, only with a fan on. ugh.)
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July 13th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
The white on white mantel is GORGEOUS! Congrats on the move! x
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July 14th, 2012 at 4:26 am
I’m moving into a new apartment in August, and the photos of your spaces are so open, bright, and inspiring! I’m especially taken with all those plants!
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July 14th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Beautiful space! I’m a huge fan of the white.
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July 14th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Love what you’ve done with the space and I think the fireplace looks awesome!!! Have you ever actually tried out that boomerang? hah, so cool. Really looking forward to your print shop.
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July 16th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
The fake fireplace is really kind of awesome, and so is the way you decorated it.
Here’s hoping you find a nice couch for your living room soon!
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July 16th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
i would have taken it based on that leaded windows overlooking palm tree view any day. it looks great!
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July 17th, 2012 at 8:39 am
Go Kate, go!
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July 17th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
LOVE your office + blog + photography.
Quick question: what kind of computer do you have? I’m also a designer and I need something heavy duty. I know I want the 27″ imac. Do I do i5 or i7? 2.7 GHz or 3.1? This is probably the most boring comment you’ve ever read. Your computer photo prompted me to at least ask. Maybe you’re really passionate about ram?
Keep doing what you do. Your blog is one of my must-reads!
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Kate Reply:
July 18th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Hi Becky!
I am not super computer knowledgable, but I used to be with a guy who was, so I feel like I picked up a couple tips along the way, ha. So for what it’s worth my iMac is 2.5 years old and it’s the 3 GHz and it’s not even and i5 since it was before all that. So I don’t know a lot about that, but for my macbook I remember googling the difference, so you should do that as there are tons of lovable nerds in computer forums who will fill you in on that. But I’ve only had one problem with my imac and bought the apple care 3 year warranty (DO THAT OMG SAVED MY LIFE) so it was covered. I always upgrade my ram to the max because design programs use tons of memory, and I get it from http://www.crucial.com instead of apple. You have to install it yourself, but it’s super easy. I hope that helps!
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Becky! Reply:
July 18th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Super helpful! Thanks so much!
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July 24th, 2012 at 8:40 am
I can’t exactly remember how I chanced upon your blog, but the first thing that caught my eye in this post are all of your plants and the faux fireplace. Then I went back to actually read the post…and HOLY SHIT we have to be neighbors or something!
Well maybe not quite neighbors, but we’re in the same hood…technically I’m in Hancock Park but some would argue Koreatown or Wilton Historic District.
Your space is looking ever so lovely! I’ve tried searching for cool studio spaces around town and finally settled on one in downtown LA in one of the fashion buildings. If you guys ever get tired of K-Town, you should check out the fashion district or the industrial district.
xoxo,
Rodellee
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