Before we bought 'The Otto House' we rented a large, detached three-bedroom house with an enormous studio in the garden.  Like many here in the South of England we had to downsize to get on the property ladder so storage has always been a bit of an ongoing challenge.  I am a curtain-maker by trade and not only used the old garden studio for making curtains but also for hoarding HEAPS of fabric, wallpaper, paint, magazines, books and anything else remotely crafty.  It was like a creative paradise to me and something which I am sure I will never have again, but I am so very grateful for the two glorious years I spent stitching away in there whilst the sun streamed through the double doors.  (And the winters spent in a coat, hat and gloves bent shivering over my sewing machine, but, you know, that sounded less poetic!)

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