Interior Imagery and Lifestyle INTRO

I am not an expert on interior imagery. But I am a keen observer of living spaces - not in a peeping tom kind of way - more so in my desire to see how a space can be worked and re-worked (and re-worked again). I once lived in a garage (semi-converted) and so I know that making the most out of a space can be extremely difficult. See here for example - an image of my old studio interior.

This is the day that I moved in. My suitcase and scarf being all I took with me. Now seriously, look closely and you will see the tiny kitchen on the right, a hideous tv set on a bracket on the wall to the left. The 'bed' in front of the cupboards at the back, and behind me as I stood here with tears in my eyes and a spider in my hair, was a sink behind yet more slatted doors and a bathroom complete with stand up shower cubicle, a basin, a toilet and a washer dryer, enclosed behind a sliding door.

Setting to work immediately on this shack, I decided that a) the TV set was black, large and pretty much split the room in two. I took it down and hid it in the shed.  The wooden wall division looked ghastly and so I painted it white. b) the wooden doors to the cupboards made the room stop abruptly. So I took one of them off and I also put white wallpaper behind the shelves in the back unit. c) the sofabed did the same to the room, making it look short and narrow. I moved it to the side and most of the time left it as a bed with white linen. d) I exchanged the taller table with a lower one with storage underneath.

Since leaving this garage/studio, I have lived in one or two bed flats and they have all been much larger and have not needed any input from me on their overall ambiance. Until now.

In Jan 2011, I will be taking on the 'studio living challenge' once again, and moving into a perfectly formed yet small studio apartment in Bournemouth's cultural hub. I will be challenged to fit my belongings into this small space, and from experience, I have found myself looking at all the options available on space-saving-living...