Ok, that title makes me giggle a little bit. Like many artists, my "studio", is really just a section of our living room where I have my desk and a few shelves on the side. With my recent resurgent interest in beading, bracelet-making and bookbinding, I have added even more to my usual stack of drawing pads, pencils, pens and art books! Add in the regular household paperwork and I have a big ol' mess on my hands most of the time.
However, just because I have a small space, doesn't mean it can't be more efficient! I had an opportunity recently to get a few wall-organizing pieces for my work area and so I have started the process of sorting out what needs to go where, and I'd like to take you on a bit of tour.
BEFORE:
Here is what things looked like before I added the new shelves:
Originally, I kept my calendar on the wall where that white hook is on the left side of the photo. And a pin board hung right beneath the two wall units, immediately above the desk. This was handy for putting up business cards, etc., but would get rather crammed with papers.
My desktop was fairly crowded with my planner propped up in front of the pin board and the organizing bin you see in the photo on the right-side of the desk. The remaining desktop surface would routinely be filled with whatever important paperwork or books I was looking at currently, leaving little or no room for actually working on projects there.
AFTER:
Here is what things look like today:
Much cleaner! You can see that I moved the pin board up to the top slot in the wall organizer. It's still handy, but up out of the way. My wall calendar now fits right under the shelf, instead
of being up above and to the left of my monitor. I don't have to squint
anymore to see the date!
And we installed a large shelf above my desk. I love, love, LOVE the wide shelf! It allows me to put my planner and all of those regular bits
and pieces that I use throughout the week (file folders of things I
need, receipts, pencils, pens, etc.) in easy reach, but up off the
surface of my desk, opening up that space to work on projects.
This is the Holman shelf and
it is heavy duty. It projects a full 10 inches out from the wall which
is plenty of space for the desktop items I wanted to move up and out of
the way. We followed the instructions to install it into the studs and
it can hold up to 50 lbs.
I would love to say that I hunted through all of the
second-hand and recycling shops in town to find the right piece and
refinished it myself, etc., but alas, no. I went straight to Pottery
Barn to find something that would work. Yes, I'm a sell-out. I love my
Pottery Barn desk (Bedford style) and their wall-organizing system. I
have several of the pieces now including the pin board (great for
business cards, photos, important coupons, etc.), file cubby, and two of
the shelf/hook units. Since we are fortunate to have lots of great
wall-space, it works really well for my desk area.
Off to the left of the monitor, up on the wall, we moved the file cubby unit over and beneath it put the two units with additional small shelves where I can keep my
completed bracelets and jotter journal sets as well as photos and random
bits of nature like the pinecone and walnut I currently have.
There is
also space beneath the shelves for pencils (perhaps whatever favorite
colored pencils I am working with on a given project?), and a total of
six hooks for bead hanks, or other hanging items that I might want to
have handy. Again, great to have things within reach, but up and out of the way.
I definitely still have more sorting to do of the side-shelving in the bookcase
as you can see here. They are just as crammed full as before, but I feel
like I am making good progress. One step at a time!
I am thrilled to see the top of my desk again!
What is your favorite part of your studio or workspace? Do you find it easy to stay organized, or are you like me and just keep piling things up until you start to lose things and are forced to reorganize? I'd love to hear about your space!
3 comments:
Yay! I love getting to see other people's work spaces.
Your studio is coming along nicely! I like the idea of within reach, but out of the way. If I has wall space (I share the studio with Mr. Sequin, and Mr. Sequin's thousands of books) I'd do that, too.
I tend to let things pile up until I'm forced to organize, just like you. I think my favorite part of my work space is the book shelves I wrestled away from the book collection -- it's stacked with old cream cheese containers, labeled so I know where some things are. :)
I know just how you feel to get a little more organized. I just can't get focused on a project if my space is in a mess. I'm lucky to have a large room in our walk-out basement for my "studio". It's glorious to have a place for everything. Nothing fancy, mind you, but even though a mix of plastic and build-it-yourself from Walmart, it's very functunal for me.(and I don't have to put a project away before it's done-Yea!)
Thanks, Sarah and Anita! Yes, I dream of the day I can leave projects out on my desk! I also realized that my photos didn't show most of my current supplies, which are sitting in bins next to the kitchen table :) I'll have to keep working on the 'everything needs a home' concept for keeping things organized!
Carol
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