The "Tidy Mind" vs. The Pliers & Prosecco Lifestyle 🥂

Untidy work room

Take a good, long look at the photo above.

No, it’s not a crime scene. And no, I haven’t been burgled. This is the current state of the RainbowRegalia studio. It is a visual representation of "I’ll clear that up in a minute" and the slow, mounting realization that I have been saying that for about four years now.

I know what the "professional" business blogs say. I should have a tidy mind. I should have my pliers alphabetically arranged, my vintage 10p coins sorted by mint year, and my glitter collection organized into a Pinterest-perfect rainbow on a dust-free shelf.

But let’s be honest: if I waited for this room to be tidy before I started creating, I’d never make a single thing.

The Great Pliers vs. Panicking Debate

When I walk in here, I usually have three options:

  1. Spend an hour searching for a flat surface to work on.

  2. Spend that same hour actually cleaning the mess, only to be too exhausted to actually make anything.

  3. Or... just grab my pliers and make the damn necklace.

Option three wins every single time.

Creativity is Chaos (And I’m Owning It)

My Pliers & Prosecco philosophy has never been about perfection. It’s about accepting that "beauty from the broken" often starts in a bit of a heap. Between navigating the "fibro-fog" and just the general domestic madness of life, the pressure to maintain a "perfect" creative space is just another stick to beat myself with.

So, yes, my studio is currently a disaster zone. There are boxes of packaging competing for floor space with vintage beads, and my desk is more "archaeological dig" than "workspace." But you know what?

  • The "Love You, Bye" necklaces are still heading out the door.

  • The Meanies earrings are still making people laugh, even if they were born next to a stray bottle of resin.

  • And I am still finding magic under the mountain of copper and turquoise.

I am choosing creativity over tidiness. I am choosing the pliers over the panicking. And when I finally can’t see the floor at all? Well, that’s when I’ll have a glass of Prosecco and clear a path. Until then, I’ve got things to make. 🥂

 


RainbowRegalia studio tour, creative chaos blog, messy studio reality, Pliers & Prosecco, Irish designer workspace, Beauty from the Broken, slow fashion studio, handmade in Greystones, chronic illness creative process, authentic maker blog.

2 comments

Thanks Mum! 🤣🤣🤣

Eleanor Jordan O'Farrell

Despite my very clever, creative daughter’s untidiness (you should have seen her bedroom when she was a child 😭🥴🫣) she has managed to make the most beautiful matching necklace and earrings from upcycled jewellery, found in a charity shop, for my dear sister’s birthday. Her talent knows no bounds.

Gabrielle Jordan

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