One year in the studio

Hi friends, Maisy here.

At the end of January, we reached one year in our studio. Can you believe that? I still remember the cold concrete floors and cracked walls when we first saw it. I could picture what I wanted to do with the space, but looking around now is quite different from imagining it back then.

There's a woodshop, a wall of printers and a long table where we pack your orders. We cook in the kitchen, and the lounge has become somewhere to sit together or play games. It finally feels like the place I had in mind, with all of us actually using it.

The lounge is by the entrance, on the east side. I wanted it to feel a little like a tea house corner, somewhere we could sit down instead of walking straight into work. At night, the paper lantern gives it such a warm glow. Buko has made himself very comfortable there, too.

Getting used to our days here

This first year was also about finding a way to work in the space. The drops gave us a rhythm, with time spent printing, finishing and packing each batch. Making the pieces ourselves is still important to me, and having room for those different parts of the work has made the studio feel like ours.

When I was planning it, I wanted somewhere we would enjoy creating together. A year later, I can see that in the ordinary parts of our days, not just in the finished rooms.

Dad's new title

In February, we had a big day of orders to pack and turned it into a family packing competition. Dad won, so naturally he became our Chief Box Officer. Thank you to everyone who watched that video and enjoyed it with us.

Buko kept his title as Chief Box Destruction Officer. He takes that part of the job very seriously, so there's no confusion about who's responsible for what.

Looking back over the year, what I love most is that we get to spend our days here together. The tools and furniture matter, of course, but they're only part of why this place feels like Cozyleigh to me.

My mom used to ask me, "Did you try your best?" When I said I thought so, she'd say, "Then that's enough." I still come back to that. There's always something else we could work on, but I wanted to take a moment to appreciate what we'd already made of this space.

Thank you for being part of our first year here, whether you've ordered something, watched a studio video or just been following along. I'm glad we have these little records of it, and I'm glad we get to share them with you.

Watch the reel

Maisy

From our family, to yours.