Going All-in...The Studio is open

I know I am fortunate to have the opportunity to build something for myself. Something I greatly enjoy doing (I actually look forward to going to work), and something that might one day support my family and the little life I’ve created over these past few years.

Choosing to step into self-employment, to go all-in and try to make this work, is no small decision. Even now, I catch myself feeling daunted by it all.

What if it fails?
Is anyone actually going to care about my products?
Isn't the saying about not putting all your eggs in one basket?

Well… my basket is full of all my eggs.

For me and Ethan, going all-in has meant stepping away from the inital hope of our business a little. Our small kitchen, inside our box home that is already too small for the four of us, simply isn’t enough to hold our ambitions. The tools, the materials, the slow accumulation of “just one more thing” have quickly outgrown the space we have. Not to mention the constant effort of keeping everything packed away, organised, and out of reach of curious little hands. 

For a while now we've make it work. Packing things up as soon as nap time is over, or swapping who had dominion over the kitchen counter (often out ruled by any needs of children). Creating in between meals, naps, and the happening of everyday family life.

But slowly, it became clear that we weren’t just making do anymore. We were being held back by the space itself.

We’ve known for a while that our home is too small, which is why we’re in the middle of a slow-built extension. Which was the initial focus, not to start up two businesses. My dad, a retired carpenter and veteran, is building it himself, practically entirely on his own. It’s been years in the making and will continue to be another couple of years before truly finished.

In the extension we’ve planned for one of the bedrooms to become our workspace. At least until it’s likely eventually claimed by a teenage boy in want of his own room from rivalling siblings in the future.

But that space is still a long way off. As I write this, it’s just a floor, stud walls, and open rafters exposed to the elements and not yet something we can use.

So, in the meantime, we’ve added more eggs to our basket and took a step forward, without knowing the path ahead, by finding a space of our own. We've now signed a lease on an office space in the bigger of nearby towns in a lovely building - have I mentioned there's a sewing and fabric shop just downstairs?

It's has ample space for us to leave multiple works-in-progress out, to have the ability to see all materials laid out, to move between tasks without the need of resetting the space. It's given us the freedom to expand phycially but also separate us mentally from the demands of the home domestics.

In a small home there is always the constant distraction and interruptions of everyday life. The laundry piles threatening to bury me in the hallway, the dishes side-eyeing me from the sink, the tiny humans vying for attention. The office space, dubbed "The Studio" gives us the chance to focus on building within a workspace and the undivided attention needed when we are at home.

I’m already looking forward to returning to parts of work I’ve had to put aside for a while, mainly sewing, after spending so long focused on the bookbinding side of things. Bookbinding was easier for me to set aside and revisit than keeping several sewing machines, threads neatly organised, and half sewn scraps of fabric of a piece mid-project.

While it is a step forward, it's not perfect and not necessarily in the right direction as it’s not the end goal.

Home is still where we want this to live. But right now, this is what gives us the best chance of building something strong enough to bring back with us.

If I’m being honest, this needs to work.

We’ve stretched our space, our time, ourselves, and our finances to make room for this. While not impossible to search for work, there isn’t a neat backup plan sitting quietly on the sidelines.

But what we do have is the willingness to try, to learn, to keep going, and to build something with our own hands.

The Studio is just a chapter.
Home is still the end goal.

And we’re doing everything we can to make sure we get there.