Parties are a lot of fun. Events are great to pull together. But sometimes, maybe even most of the time, you have a blank slate of a room that’s bland, lacks character and you think…what am I going to do with this?

That type of thing really gets my juices flowing because I like creating something from nothing. I love how parties and events create different worlds and illusions that can transport guests to somewhere exotic, or comfortable, or different or cozy.

In the beginning of my corporate career, budgets were good and I had a lot of flexibility to create really awesome parties. But, as with many companies, the need to scale back was evident, so I had to try and create the same experience with less than half of what I used to have access to.

It was a challenge, but it can be done and even on a very limited personal budget, we can create something from nothing.

I will be collaborating a bit with a good friend of mine who is a furniture designer (you must check out her stuff at nisah studio – amazing custom pieces).  We tend to bounce off the walls with ideas because I find that I am much more creative when I’m not working solely on my own. But because both of us run our business from home most of the time, we needed a space to come together that was exclusively ours.

some inspiration found from this office courtesy of The Style Files.

I came across this image for inspiration and there is so much that I like about this office space. I like the feature wall (I could do that), I like the concrete floor (I have that), and I like all the visual and textural detail (I need that) that helps the creative juices flow. So, with that said…

After some searching we found this:

I know right? What are we going to do with this!! Listen, I see potential in everything.

This room is fantastic with great ceiling height, white walls and a fabulous original stone facade at one end.  It is a bit challenging because there is no natural light and, well, we have to do a few renos. But the open-ness will be great for photo shoots, the space will give us great movability to set up various scenarios or ideas…overall I think it has huge potential.

This room was actually the lunchroom for the workers in this woodworking factory (did you catch the built in lunch tables?!). I like that story and the history behind it, and now we’ll be able to create a new story for the space.

Now, while this may seem unrelated to my musings of creating something from nothing for parties, it really is very much in-line with that concept.

Creating parties and events involve many of the same principles as creating a room – essentially, you have to “design” an experience. What I hope to show and give tips on with my new studio rejuvenation is that little things, little changes can transform parties, rooms, your home….whatever.  I’ll be doing a lot more than simply draping a room, but I know that it will show you that things like an ugly wall, or a pillar that seems obtrusive, can be overcome with simple tweaks and alterations.  If I can create something from this space, you too can create the parties, events and rooms of your dreams.

So, I hope you’ll join me on my ride to creating a funky, fun and creative space.