Cube Unit 540: Office supplies and Pictures

(Part 3 in a series)

Through the kind offices (heh.) of a car-enabled friend, i was able to visit
Home Depot and IKEA all in one evening.

My shopping list was:
3 plants (a bamboo, a fern, and something else) from home depot
little cherry blossom lamp from ikea
fira tabletop drawers from ikea
plant holders/saucers as necessary from ikea
basket from ikea

I found just about everything I was looking for, though IKEA was out of the basket that I had in mind. Choosing plants was more tricky than I expected. Not only because home depot employees seem to avoid the plant area like the plague. We ended up commandeering one of the rolling ladders and fetching down the fern ourselves. The potted bamboo they had was rather ugly. Instead, I just bought 3 individual stalks. At home, I tied them together with some jute twine and potted it up myself with some dollar store river pebbles and a pot from IKEA. In retrospect, the third plant I chose wasn't really ideal for where I intended it to go. I wanted something for my shelf and I think I should have chosen an ivy, but I got some other leafy upright plant. I think I will place it by my cupboard instead.

While I've taken a couple things to work (the bamboo and small lamp), transporting the larger items (especially the fern) is not going to be very feasible on the busy morning metro, so I may have to take a taxi.

I still need to select which pictures I want printed and get that done. So here's the potentially fun part of this post. Which of these pictures should I choose? Please vote in the poll in the sidebar!

For the 3 pictures along the back of my cube:
a) 3 b&w (mixed)

3 b&w
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

b) 3 colour (pagodas)

3 pagodas
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

c) 3 colour (stones)

3 stones
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

For the one picture under my shelf (obviously not to duplicate one of the above set):
d)

pagoda d
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

e)

pagoda e
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

f)

pagoda f
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

g)

pagoda g
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Cube Unit 540: The Redecoration Plan

(Part 2 in a series)

Cube MoodBoard
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I love seeing "mood boards" on the design blogs I read occasionally (Making it Lovely, Decor8, sfgirlbybay, etc). I've made one only once before based on some stationery. It's cool how some random pretty item can be used as inspiration, but I wasn't trying to create a specific room for a known space that time.

I thought about somehow covering the ugly puce-yellow-beige fabric walls with something more attractive. But this would be tricky, require quite a lot of fabric, and perhaps not look very professional. So I decided instead to make it work for me.

With a zen sort of theme, I would end up seeing the dull yellow colour more like a grasscloth or bamboo. Adding some plants would add colour and life while still being "neutral" office items. Some containers for messy desk stuff would make my desk prettier AND more efficient. To make it a happy place to sit, nicer lighting and some pictures were the final elements to add.

Obviously, I can't actually get rid of the flurorescent lights, but the ones directly above my desk are off, and I can add a pretty little table lamp to give it a better mood.

Next up, shopping and actually trying to achieve the desired effect ...


Cube Layout Plan
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Cube Unit 540: The Harsh Light of Fluorescents

(Part 1 in a series)


Cube Unit 540 (before)
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
One of the downsides of my otherwise pretty cool job is the Dreaded Cubicle. Like most Mega Corps, there is the typical sea of grey and beige cubes. My Cube Unit, Number 540, has two kinds of dull yellow fabric walls, a dark grey metal shelf, and a light grey metal cupboard. Everything I look at is grey, black, or puce and lit by fluorescent lighting. Not exactly the most inspiring surroundings.

Cube Unit 540 (before)
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
If I was coming from another office I probably wouldn't even notice. But the comparison is harsh after my lovely sunny home office with its wooden desk, exposed brick wall and lots of art. And even more so after my soothing pale green studio with funky blue arborite table, door leading onto a balcony, and inspiring bits and pieces.

Cube Unit 540 (before)
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
So I devised a Plan. To redecorate this blahest of blah Cube Units. My goal was to make my workspace soothing and pretty, but still professional and neat looking.

How will I do it? It's a daunting task alright. I'll leave you in suspense until I post the next installment in the series.

Holiday reflections

me on nat's wedding day
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
The lovely summer holiday that my sweetie and I took in August was mainly to attend the wedding of one of my best friends from high school. It was 5 days of colourful activities and delicious food. We also crammed in a lot of touristing and visiting. We ate at such yummy places, that I was inspired to expand from our Montreal restaurant guide to having a list of our favourites in other places. Afterall, it doesn't get much more fun than Japanese fusion hotdogs from a stand with a huge lineup and a staff of four.


reflections of a city
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

In other news, I've got an injured foot which is going to hinder my plans for sewing over the Thanksgiving long weekend (that's this weekend for the non-Canadians reading this). Alternate crafty plans will have to be made! Maybe I'll try to finish my jolly blue socks or crocheted afghan at long last so I can cast on (with no guilt) the seaweed shawl that I've been planning for ages.

Life with lunchboxes

my second bento (with snack)
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
Hello again. I haven't forgotten that my blog is here... neglected. In fact, it's been nagging in the back of my mind for days. I am so much more in awe of those who manage to blog regularly on top of fulltime work and actually still have time for the crafty projects to blog about. I'm slowly working into a new routine and my poor quilt has been as neglected as this blog.

The one bit of creativity has been in my lunchbox. My rule for myself was that I was allowed to eat out once a week if I packed my lunch the rest of the time. The goal of this was for a healthy waistline AND pocketbook. So far I've been keeping that up, with a mix of hastily packed leftovers and cute bento lunches.