workspaces: Xenia of saturdayAMvintage

Today's workspace is that of Xenia Feere, owner of etsy shop saturdayAMvintage and blogger at saturdayAMvintage. I came across Xenia's shop awhile back and instantly fell in love with all of the vintage paper and odds and ends she finds. I order her scrap paper packs every now and then and it is always a fun treat to receive in the mail :)

1. Tell us about yourself and your creativity - ie. what you make or do, what you blog about, your history behind your creativity, etc. My name is Xenia, and I run a little shop and blog named Saturday Morning Vintage.  My shop is filled with vintage finds with a strong emphasis on vintage ephemera – old tags, flashcards, labels, and other paper. In addition, I offer handmade journals made from a variety of new, vintage, and found papers – scrapbook paper, vintage sheet music, office paper, pages from old books, and more.  My blog also has a big focus on vintage ephemera and other paper.  I share projects of my own, along with highlighting other small businesses through my weekly "Affordable Finds" feature and periodic interviews.  I've been collecting paper in some form since I was a little girl and don't anticipate it stopping any time soon.  It started with stickers and has evolved to vintage paper for the time being.

2. Tell us about your workspace.

Much of my free time is spent scouring flea markets, estate sales, and thrift stores for vintage paper and other interesting things.  Thankfully I have a separate office to house all of my finds and provide some creative space.  It's a small room, but fits a lot.  I couldn't find a simple desk I was happy with, so I purchased an unfinished tabletop from IKEA, stained it a dark shade, and attached some legs.  I like to do most of my work on the floor so I only needed room for my laptop, cup of coffee, and some basic office supplies.  The rest of the room is filled with a bookshelf lined with old books, a wall of IKEA cubes containing craft supplies and shop inventory, and a metal cabinet that holds my shipping supplies.  The room has an itty bitty closet, but an open area above the closet that runs the length of the room.  All of my extra inventory is stored up here in 14 crates that are organized by category and labeled with hanging tags.  

3. What is your favorite thing about your workspace?

From a visual point of view, the vintage pull down map is my favorite.  I found it in an antique shop in Ohio while my fiance was temporarily working out of state and I came to visit.  I fell in love with the colors and the price was unbelievable.  Unfortunately I didn't have any way to get it home with me to California.  However, a few months later it was waiting for me under the Christmas tree!  My fiance went back to the antique shop and bought the map, and then shipped it to California without me knowing.  The best part is that he couldn't find a shipping tube that was large enough so he pieced together his own with lots of shorter tubes and lots and lots of tape.  Clearly a lot of love has gone into bringing this map into my office.

From a practical point of view, the shipping station is my favorite.  It holds all of the wrapping and shipping supplies for my shop - boxes, bubble mailers, tape, scissors, twine, and even mini paper packs I like to include with orders.  I can wrap, package, and weigh an order using just supplies housed in this old metal cabinet.  It is very convenient and saves me a lot of time.

4. What is one thing you can't live without in your workspace? I can't live without color!  Even though I really love seeing others decorate their space with mainly neutrals, I'm always drawn to colorful pieces for myself.  When my vintage book collection grew too large and I had to buy a bookshelf, I picked this one from IKEA because I loved the bright red.  The crates above my closet that hold extra inventory are olive green, and the boxes and baskets holding craft supplies in my cubes are various shades of orange.  The vintage map pulls together all of these colors - another reason it's my favorite!

Thank you, Xenia, for sharing about yourself and your fabulous workspace!

*All images are by Xenia Feere.