Getting the balance right...

How tricky is it to get the balance right in life?

I have two toddlers under two-and-a-half, run a small business with my sister Kim, manage busy and messy household, forget to exercise and to drink water, eat way too much cake and chocolate, try really hard to be the best wife I can, and often neglect my vegetable garden.

I feel like I’ve had a very messy and disorganised last couple of years; so, this year, I promised myself that I’m going to make an effort to get some balance back into my life.

Of course, there are some old favourites in the mix – to exercise, eat well, and to love the place that I’m in and the people that I’m with. But I’m adding in some new ones too: to read at least a chapter just before bed; to tell the people I care about that I appreciate and love them more often; to write more letters and send birthday cards; to make an effort to see and spend more time with friends and family. I’d also love to live a more creative life by taking more photos, by experimenting in the kitchen, by writing on a regular basis, by taking a sewing class, so I can make my children beautiful clothes using beautiful materials, and by making the kids a handmade birthday present each year. I’d love to grow watermelons and apples, would love to give my neighbours fresh herbs from my garden, would love to grow sweet-smelling creeping flowers all over our white picket fence, and would love to install a timed water feeder in the garden, so if I forget to water the plants they won’t wilt in the heat.

Looks like so many things to do; luckily, the year is long…

How do you get the balance right in your own life?

Nat

A second 'home' among the gum trees...

I have this wonderful fantasy that I’d just love to indulge in – a purpose built studio. Just one small room, with wide doors looking out onto the garden, tucked into the back corner of the yard near the fence. And I’ve been obsessing about it for years.

Currently, my ‘studio’ is in the dining room on our big, wooden table. It’s noisy, hot, and at the centre of the house; it’s also perfect for my two small fidgety children, who like to pull off and run away with anything I happen to be working on. Not ideal, to say the least; but I’ve managed so far, and will probably manage for a good while longer.

To keep me going, I dream studios. I imagine being in a space all my own, with all my creative bits and pieces housed neatly around me - a place where I always know where things are, and where beloved items never mysteriously disappear into the void. I dream of filling orders, playing with ideas, and drinking tea, of planning out the week, working late into the night, and listening to the sounds of the garden.

If I was allowed to dream up a space that was all my very own, this is probably what it’d look like:

Image from readymade

And on the inside? Shelves brimming with the sweetest stacked vintage prints, neatly folded, just waiting to be used; a big wooden table to work on, a comfortable old-fashioned fabric covered chair, a beloved sewing machine. Shelves with new beautiful stock ready, waiting to be sold; draws with all the patterned papers and cardstock we could ever need; a blackboard for notes and reminders, an ipod dock and all my favourite songs, and the afternoon to work away uninterrupted...

Nat