Dreaming of a Good Crafting Space

England is a tiny country, with tiny houses and tiny yards and tiny rooms and tiny pieces of furniture (and average sized people!).  Dont get me wrong, I adore it in all its tiny lovliness.  But I find it difficult being young and poor, and having enough space to move around in.

When I first moved here I made sure I rented a double room, as a single room might claustraphobia me right back to where I came from.  I'm glad I did, because as I was renting a room in a shared house with no living room and a tiny kitchen, I spent the better part of a year in that room.

I learned about England from watching Relocation Relocation - Phil and Kirstie held my hand and introduced me to the pasty, calling your yard a 'garden', that washing machines in the kitchen was normal, and that sometimes fireplaces are big enough that you can sit in them.  But I also learned that property in England is EXPENSIVE, and that space comes at a premium.



Me at my bedroom corner workshop!

I now live in a two bedroom flat above some shops in the centre of town, with my husband and his parents.  We dont have any outdoor space, and things are a bit tight for space.  I love this flat though, it's pretty, in great condition, and in an excellent location.  Besides being able to hear the clubs booming bass around the corner, I love looking out over the Mary Poppins chimneys and rooftops from the kitchen window.

Not having all that much space, though, means my little business venture is confined to an ever growing corner of the bedroom, spilling across the floor, and over and under my husband's desk.  Sometimes I long for the cheap available wide-open spaces of Canada - where the streets are wider and where my two bedroom rented ground floor suite in Vancouver cost as much as the little bedroom when I first moved to London.

We're happily moving to rented accomodation in Oxford this Autumn, and I hope that we'll feel like we can stretch out out limbs and not knock over a pile of books!

Most of all, I hope I can take over a corner of either the bedroom or the living room, and my crafting space will feel a bit less cramped.  Although the four bedroom stone cottage with paddocks and a fireplace I can sit in is a long way off (possibly a lottery win away), I'll be happy whatever happens crafting away in my bedroom corner.