My Creative Space: A Studio Tour

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have read a recent post about how Sarah Reimer Designs has evolved.  I began by simply listing a few photographs on Etsy in 2014. I loved the process of creating simple greeting cards with my photos, and found great satisfaction in sharing a bit of our world through this creative journey of mine. At this point, we were living in Cambridge, England, sharing a two bedroom flat with other people (the flat was half the size of our house we live in now).  Not only was I nervous about "putting myself out there" (which is an entirely different topic I could get into), but I was assembling these cards and researching ideas all from our bedroom.  At this point, I definitely was not making and creating the way I do now, but I would be lying if I said I didn't long for a space to call my own. I longed for a space where I could spread out and make a mess.... a place where I could take my photographs and see what my hands could make from them.

Fast forward 1 year to 2015.  

Zack and I found ourselves in Chiang Mai, Thailand, ready to take on the next two years in this new place we adopted as our new home.  I viewed this as an opportunity to explore my creativity and perhaps take things to the next level (whatever that means).  We moved into a one bedroom apartment (which was probably the same size of our flat in England), and finally could afford the place to ourselves.  My creative space upgraded to a much larger bedroom... or even sometimes our large kitchen table (gasp! wow..dreamy, right?)  It was in fact, a great upgrade for me.  Just the fact that we did not have housemates to be considerate of, allowed me to, well, make a mess. :)

Fast forward 1 year to 2016.

As we approached our second year in Chiang Mai, we realized that for the same amount of money we paid in rent for our apartment in the city centre, we could rent a 2 or 3 bedroom house just outside of town.  We packed up our stuff and moved 5km out of the city, into a three(!) bedroom house.  Ballin!  I was able to claim one of the bedrooms as MY working room.  I bought a couple tables to work on, decorated it the way I liked, and am happy to call it my own studio space!

Presently...

Sarah Reimer Designs has been a slow growth.  I continue to explore different ways of turning my photographs into something more than just a simple print and I also take my time with the process. Since moving to Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2015, I have enjoyed seeking out paper made by local artisans to print my photographs on and include in my handbound notebooks. I also have been focusing on keeping my products sustainable and eco-friendly which aligns with many of my everyday lifestyle choices.

I am happy to share some photos of my work space with you.  Being a visual person, and also having spent a few years studying and working in Interior Design, I am aware that my surroundings deeply affect my productivity and my mood.  There are still many things I would change about the space if I had the option (and funds), but I always seem to find a way to work with what I have.  This is by far my favourite space in our house. :)