The Final Hour + Next Steps

 12/14/21, 6:30 pm -7:30 pm, 1 hour

Today I finally stepped into stores! I went to Menards to pick out paint samples, and I took photos of two different ideas for the wooden strips/slats for the northwest corner wal

Then, I hopped over to the HomeGoods store to find some inspiration. I almost bit the bullet on a desk, but I have come to realize that I have expensive taste. 

Since I have identified time and money as being two barriers to my creativity, I have allowed myself permission to explore ideas and create a design for my office without a budget or a timeframe for completion. This has helped my creativity immensely! Now I need to begin making purchases and making my plan a reality - with cost and timeline in mind.

Being overwhelmed by a whole project is a common occurrence for me, and one of the main reasons this project hasn’t been completed before now. That being said, in order for it to be functional, I am going to need to now begin tackling each element of the room piece by piece. 

First, I’m going to pick the paint (white on the bottom with a light yellow on the top, separated by the white chair rail), put up the wood strips in the northwest corner, and then purchase a desk. Next, I will tackle the office nook/side of the room, so it can function as my workspace immediately. Then, I will move on to the closet space, before finally finding my day bed/sofa bed and rug. Once these pieces are in place, I am going to begin decorating the walls and hanging/placing plants. I will give myself two months to complete this project.

I have a feeling that second-hand shops, antique stores, and creativity will play a big role in how I complete this project on a budget!

Reviewing Techniques, & Drafting

 12/13/21, 2:16 pm - 6:58 pm, 4.7 hours

Planning for Today: 

In looking back at chapter 8 of my textbook, I can see I’ve used several techniques or “active ingredients” so far in this creative project. 

• Abstracting - rather than viewing the problem as just “I need to reorganize my office” I recognized the broader picture was a need to craft a personal space and to invest in myself/my mindset/my creativity. 

• Block Removal - At the onset of this project, I identified several barriers to my creativity. The first being the “clutter” and stuff just everywhere in the office. So, I removed this barrier by clearing out the entire office ensuring that I had a “blank slate” to work with. 

• Bootstrapping and Concrete stimuli - I took ideas and did research, I found images and pictures to spur creativity and to consider further possibilities. 

• Deferred Evaluation  - I have tried my damndest to avoid critical thoughts or dismissing images for ideas as implausible. I allowed myself to save all images that inspired me or held potential.

• Display - I created Pinterest boards for inspiration as I display my concrete stimuli. 

• Mental Stimulation -  I have spent countless minutes thinking of different ideas, applying different characteristics to the office, and imagining how it would feel to be IN the room. 

Today, as I dive into a minimum of five hours on this project, I am planning to do the following aspects: 

• Display - I’m going to use an online app that allows me to design my office so that I do not waste money, time, or materials in trying out ideas and so that I can see my ideas come to life. Online App: https://floorplanner.com/

• Goal focus - I am going to tackle different aspects of the room one at a time before returning to the “display” idea and putting the ideas together as a whole.
   

• Group Interaction - I am going to enlist the creative mind of my fiance to explore ideas and make a plan based on my preliminary ideas, desires, and research. 

Activities:

I began by reviewing some of the images from my Pinterest boards. Then, I spent some time learning how to use the Floorplanner app and measuring my office to input the room onto Floorplanner. This helped me to get a sense of the layout. 

Next, I brought in my fiance for an outsider’s perspective. I shared with him my inspirational pictures from the pinterest boards, and then we spent time in the office talking through each wall and the layout of the room. This aspect was so helpful to explore ideas and make some tentative plans. 

From this conversation, I totally flipped where I planned on putting my office desk versus the sofa which will double as a pull out guest bed. We also discussed ways to put the closet space to dual function by being decorative and storage. This eliminates the need for a closet door as well. 

Here’s a little video of the layout of desk/sofa bed so far using Floorplanner. https://www.loom.com/share/4a53d62ca47242c98145ba804ab5d238

Next,I hopped on Ikea for some more inspiration based on the layout Jared (the fiance) and I had come up with. We found a sofa bed and daybed that fit my aesthetic (image 1 below) , and also a few different ideas for the closet organization (image 2). 

Image 1 - Sofa Bed (left) and Day Bed (right)

Image 2 - Closet organization Looking for a combination of the bottom portion of left image with right image on top. 

I spent about two hours just playing with the layout and different components of the office set up including furniture positioning, colors/paint, and then searching online for more ideas. 

Today, I end the day with the beginnings of the plan for my room. A quick summary: the “office” (desk, chair) will be on the south west side of the room with some shelves off to the south east side of the wall. The sofa bed will go on the north west wall. I’ll put some wooden panels (see image 3) as an accent/decoration meeting in the corner of the west and north facing walls. 

Image 3: Oak slats for corner of west and north walls (inspo picture)

The closet will remain open (I’m thinking with a complimentary accent color on the back closet wall). We will put in storage unit(s) that are dual functional/decorative. 

I am still playing with ideas on decorations, places for the animals when they want to visit me during the work day, and the inclusion of plants!

I’m looking forward to shopping for the “right” furniture items now and getting started with painting. 

Analogical Thinking Continued

 12/9/21, 8:27 - 9:05 pm, 0.53 hours

Today, I am continuing my research for analogical thinking by searching for examples/ideas for my table or “elaboration activity”. I am still guided by the questions listed in chapter 6 (p.105) to stimulate analogical thinking. 

1. What else is like this? 

2. What have others done?

3. What could I copy?

The following table are my Pinterest links for ideas gathered. Those listed in dark magenta were from yesterday’s research, and those links in blue are from today’s work.

Add plants (Hanging plants, shelves/plants on the walls, art work of plants)	Include places for brainstorming such as a white board, bulletin board	Add a practical bed or daybed to allow sitting/lounging but also accommodate friends	Little place for “cabinet of curiosities” inspired collectibles
Build a storage system in the closet (instead of just putting a shelf and a filing cabinet)	Make as much furniture and decoration double as practical storage	Lighting that can be changed to increase focus and productivity	Keep surfaces clear (really emphasize dual functionality furniture with storage)
Use a modern/dark color pallet	Add a desk that can allow “spreading out” such as a round table	Brown “slats” used in a corner or nook for decoration on the wall to separate the “office” portion from the daybed/guest portion	Designated place for Jacque (dog bed?)
Use earthy colors to paint the walls	Yellow or light colors to brighten it up	A sliding door for the closet	Something for the kitties (cat tree? Cat corner?)
Travel themes	Artwork or Photography	Designated “goals” or inspiration wall or area (does this overlap with brainstorming area?)	Decorative lights (twinkle lights?)

Elaboration & Analogical Thinking

 12/8/21, 7:45 - 9:52 pm, 2.12 hours

I was starting to feel overwhelmed by ideas and the potential to waste time and money I did have just to try ideas - yet, I know creativity needs to be a little messy and try out different things. So, I did some research on different websites and found some apps that will allow you to try out different things and essentially do your own interior design online. I still haven’t broken ground on DOING the thing - as in painting and decorating. However, I’m going to use this journal entry as a “creative process” today. I found using CPS as a starting point for this process to be really helpful, and as I completed our readings in this course I kept thinking I should apply these different strategies to my creative planning time. 

For today, I am going to use this entry AS a part of my creative project. Today, I will be doing an elaboration technique that we practiced in our Creativity Skills and CPS activity. 

Elaboration:  20 ways I can modify this office to make it more appealing and more “me”.

Add plants (Hanging plants, shelves/plants on the walls, art work of plants)	Include places for brainstorming such as a white board, bulletin board	Add a practical bed or daybed to allow sitting/lounging but also accommodate friends	Little place for “cabinet of curiosities” inspired collectibles
Build a storage system in the closet (instead of just putting a shelf and a filing cabinet)	Make as much furniture and decoration double as practical storage	Lighting that can be changed to increase focus and productivity	Keep surfaces clear (really emphasize dual functionality furniture with storage)
Use a modern/dark color pallet	Add a desk that can allow “spreading out” such as a round table	Brown “slats” used in a corner or nook for decoration on the wall to separate the “office” portion from the daybed/guest portion	Designated place for Jacque (dog bed?)
Use earthy colors to paint the walls	Yellow or light colors to brighten it up	A sliding door for the closet	Something for the kitties (cat tree? Cat corner?)
Travel themes	Artwork or Photography	Designated “goals” or inspiration wall or area (does this overlap with brainstorming area?)	Decorative lights (twinkle lights?)

Just the above exercise alone has really helped me think of some unique ideas for the layout of my room. 

Now, I’m going to move on to some analogical problem solving. I’m going to try to find ideas for the above elaboration activity by asking the questions listed in chapter 6 (p.105) to stimulate analogical thinking. I’ve just created Pinterest boards to save images and ideas that answer the following questions - 

1. What else is like this? 

2. What have others done?

3. What could I copy?

I’ve made each of my “elaborate” ideas hyperlinks to their own pinterest board so you can travel through my ‘analogical thinking’ research.