Clever Organized Yet Out of Sight Storage

This is a post directed to those of you lacking space or a separate craft room but may also be a useful idea even if you have a studio.

I spend a lot of time on Facebook, thus often ignoring my blogs.  There are a lot of crafters, painters, crazy quilters and beaders that formed group on Facebook and interact with each other pretty regularly.  It is fun to get instant responses and meet so many in this manner.  A fellow crafter/crazy quilter, Fran Lees Quirk, had posted this photo of her solution as a comment and was kind enough to let me share it with you all.

This is her wall of supplies.  She said it is in her bedroom where she has easy access to it.  When finished or between projects she can pull the curtains to hide it.  I think it looks great!  Just think of the possibilities.  I would love to hear from others that have had success with this type of solution.

New Addition in My Studio

I have had a fairly productive day today.  I have had this shelf for years just waiting for the perfect spot.  I am sure you know what I mean *wink*.  I finally had painted it ivory when I painted my two dressers a couple weeks ago.  The more I looked at it the more I thought it really needed a different color.  I decided to go with green, so today I went and picked up the paint and started painting.  I didn't paint the rods and hinges because I was concerned they may leave marks on my items, so I just sealed them with varnish.  I kind of like the brown stain color with the green anyway.  It was a beautiful day outside so it dried quickly.  I brought it in and hung it up.  My rotating spice button jars fit perfectly on top.  There are three pegs on the bottom which I will use for my reference tags and the "dryer rack" will pull out or tuck in as shown and will work perfectly for trims or fabrics.  I am loving the green and think I may even repaint my dressers in green now (not literally right now, but in the near future)!

I have this hanging above my sewing machine where it seems pretty happy.  Don't you just love adding something new to a room?  It always makes me feel like cleaning and organizing for some reason.  Does that happen to you too?  What do you think of the green?  I am so ready for color instead of being so safe with shades of cream, white and ivory.

LINK with LINKS

There is a (linky) party going on here – for offices and with lots of interesting links. Even though this is for offices, there appears to be some really inspiring links for repurposing, constructing functional pieces, etc. that could easily be adapted for your studio.  Time to grab a cuppa and do a little visual sightseeing…


http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2012/09/sns-151-junk-styled-offices.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FKCcu+%28Funky+Junk+Interiors%29

Recycled and Repurposed Jars

Sometimes it just takes a little elbow grease to transform something everyday into something attractive. I purchased this wall mounted spice rack at a thrift store. It was very old and tired looking. The jars had really old outdated spices in them and the wood rack was stained a dark tone. I was attracted to the detail of the rack and the size and square shape of the jars. I knew I could use it in my craft studio. I painted and lightly distressed the rack and cleaned out the jars. I wish I had taken a before shot, but I know you have all seen something similar around.

I decided to use it for my 'holeless' beads so I could keep them all together in one place, easily visible. Since the top was nice and flat I could also use it to hold some of my smaller jars of the tiny holeless beads. I also placed a cute little round salt shaker filled with the beads on top alongside a color sample board.

This hangs in my studio, clearly visible, reminding me that I have the beads when I need them and I immediately know what colors I have. I have lots of jars of beads which I will share with you in a later post. This keeps my holeless beads separate from the others.

Spice jars make wonderful storage for small items you want to keep visible. Watch thrift stores and/or garage sales for an old set that you can repurpose. I know you scrapbookers and other beaders could find a use for these!