Finding Space Within Space

Fifteen years in NYC as an apartment dweller taught me so much about interior space - mostly how to make more out of less. This house is not big - a little over 1000 sq ft, but I have managed to create zones for work and play. And rest too! The biggest challenge in a home like mine where the kitchen/dining/living is combined, is to create a flow that connects the various functions and seamlessly brings them into a whole. After moving here in late 1990, I changed careers. In NY I freelanced as a music journalist/publicist and makeup artist/stylist. Taos in the early 90's had no place for those skills so I studied Feng Shui and began practising in 93, but mostly my move here was for my kids who were pre-teens at the time. Well, Taos is a lot different now - movies are being made, books written and the art scene flourishes like never before. Today I thought I'd show you where I cook (a passion) and write and paint! I've set my "studio" up in a corner of my living space,a small French easel with drawers holds the paint and media you don't see. My "office" is tucked into a corner of my entry, in front of a wall of mirrors I've collected over the years. Some good, some not but I love the light they throw around the room and the way they expand space. My desk (an old white table) is covered with an antique suzani (I collect tribal rugs and textiles) which hides all files and supplies, organized neatly underneath, and in the stacked trunk/baskets below the mirrors. The chair is vintage, found years ago for 4 bucks in a thrift shop. The lamp is Noguchi. The series 7 chairs sit around a table I had made years ago from an ancient fence bound for firewood. Some of the silver scattered about was inherited, the 19th Century water - gilded Italian mirror on top of page, just an amazing find! Provenance means nothing. Obviously for me it's all about the mix!