Feeling Less than Inspired

So, I'd been feeling a little "uninspired" lately! So,  I've been going out almost every day and exploring my new city with my new friend Derya Aksoy. We've visited tons of great vintage shops and antique stores, thrift stores and consignment shops and we've seen tons of cool things! But I'm feeling sad because I have such a small space and no where to do crafty things, or to store great finds and I want so badly to be creative.

Derya is a jewelry designer and makes gorgeous one-of-a-kind pieces. She's just moved to SLC as well, (her husband and Perry work for the same company) and is having a bit of a struggle while living in temporary digs, like me. So, we've been on the hunt for creative outlets!

Turkish Coffee Set

We've had some wonderful adventures around town finding our favorite coffee shops, our favorite places to shop and eat. One of those places is The Copper Onion which is not only our favorite restaurant so far, but also has the best coffee. And that started...

...a sort of  "coffee pilgrimage". There we discovered Caffe Ibis a Utah coffee company and we LOVE it! We bought french coffee presses at Ikea and watched a youtube.com video of how to make the coffee so we could enjoy it at home!

Derya has introduced me to Turkish Coffee and a friend of hers from Turkey sent me a coffee set! Now, I'm not saying this is going to replace other coffees for me, it is quite strong, but I did love "reading" the coffee grounds afterward! Talk about creativity!

I've done some fairly creative things with "photography" (which doesn't take a lot of room in the condo, but is eating up the memory in my computer; gotta get an external hard drive!) Derya also introduced me to picnik.com, which is a photo editing website and it is so simple, anyone can create great photos! I'm working on a website to display my photography, will post again when it is complete, I never realized how many photos I take!

"recycled" necklace

One of the most fun things I've done is work with Derya on a necklace that I wore on Christmas Eve. We made it from an old necklace, a brooch, and plastic trash bags!

This, along with visiting a few vintage clothing stores and seeing the beautiful vintage ladies hats has given me a new idea. I am going to attempt to create lampshades with a "vintage milliner" feel.

I had to find a way to combine the inspirations I've seen into the passion for decor that I already possess. I haven't started the lampshade projects yet, but have purchased a few old lamps and shades from thrift shops to begin with. My goal is to make these projects from mostly reclaimed or vintage materials, so I'm gathering bits and pieces together and will definitely share more when I get something completed!

So, with these projects I've got a pretty busy next couple of weeks, and will be out and about looking for materials, ideas and inspiration. While this is not really about interior design, it is about living in your surroundings... sometimes what we encounter while out of our homes, can greatly impact how we feel in our homes... and as is my philosophy about interior design... the spaces where you spend your time should feed and rejuvenate your soul! (even if they are not inside your home.)

Happy New Year!