Vintage Storage Ideas

I am lucky enough to have a studio.

It is my garage.

It is my space and I love it.

I love utilizing vintage finds for studio storage.

I thought I would share some of my favorite vintage storage from my work spaces.

Each works hard in its own way.

I store most little items for mixed media, jewelry and such in vintage mason jars.

I collect them whenever possible along with zinc lids for on them.

My cupboards are filled with them.

My husband found, bought, loaded and helped me clean this vintage card catalog.

It holds a ton of essentials. 

I love that I can change the contents and the tags in a minute.

  I can send my daughter to the studio to find something and she can quickly locate it.

Yay!

You have to love a piece that hard working.

I have been thinking maybe some day I will paint it...

I have always love little divided shadow boxes.

This one had some splits in some of the dividers so I did not want to use it for shows.

It makes the perfect home for my hand crafted polymer clay beads.

As I use them and make more, it looks different all the time.

Just seeing the beads inspires me to use them.

These fun little tins were thrifted finds.

I use and buy some tins to use in jewelry designs but these are perfect as is.

They are such a pretty way to store things.

Printer's trays are my kryptonite.

I have to buy them if they are reasonable and in good shape.

My daughter has pointed out more than once that I do not NEED any more.

She is right, of course.

They are so handy though.

I usually use them for booth displays but now I use them in the studio.

Bits and baubles are right there...

This little green drawer unit was last spring's splurge from Lucketts.

It also holds tons of essentials.

It helps me find things.

And it looks cool.

Old luggage makes great storage.

I love that these suitcases hold my yarn supply out of the way and keep it dust free.

These cases are also full of yarns and fibers.

They are missing their handles so this is the perfect use for them.

Last summer my daughter spray painted a vintage ceiling tile to use as a memo board.

This fun color really makes it pop.

My neighbor dropped off this rusty cart one day.

I transformed it into a great little storage piece.

I use this ceiling tin in my green house as a magnetic memo board.

This vintage box is the perfect booth display for bangle bracelets.

Wooden crates are both storage and booth display.

Is your studio space sleek and sophisticated or full of vintage storage pieces?

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Fun Studio Organization from Artistic Endeavors 101

January always makes me want to clean up and organize.

I am fortunate enough to have several creative spaces, but organization always seems to be a challenge.

Here are a couple of my favorite ways to organize.

I make my own polymer clay beads.

I love to organize them so I can clearly see what I have.

These are organized in a house shaped shadow box.

The little compartments are perfect for sorting what I have made.

I use this tie/belt rack that I got at the thrift store to hold chains and necklaces.

I used to use these printer's trays in my booth to hold necklaces, but people tangled things in them.

I decided to use them myself in the studio to organize my favorite bits and baubles.

I love that I can see what I have and easily choose components.

This fun industrial drawer unit came from Lucketts last spring.

It was my big splurge of the day.

I adore it.

Last summer I made this spinning studio organization.

All my favorite materials are readily available.

Tin cans got a new look with a coat of spray paint and some burlap.

Sugar shakers hold spools of baker's twine.

They do not get tangled and are easy to use.

All my favorite markers and pencils are finally all in one place.

This year I want to start an art journal.

This will keep all those materials at my fingertips.

The colors inspire me and make me smile.

I bought this little shelf from a closed store in town.

It only takes up a few inches of table space, yet it organizes many of my most used supplies.

My big paper punches rest on a tension rod I added.

My RIT dyes are close to the sink here and ready as soon as inspiration strikes.

Another tension rod holds spools of ribbon.

I love ribbon.

You can see how much I love ribbon.

This was my husbands brilliant idea.

We used long clear rods to hold 5 rows of ribbon.

My husband added wood strips to this storage shelf and screwed in cup hooks to hold the rods.

I also keep twine and cotton string and lace here.

This galvanized tiered rack was on clearance from Sam's last year.

I imagine it will end up holding many things, many places in my studio and home.

I try to use what I have.

What is your favorite studio storage piece?

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these blogs.

Baby Steps to A Clean Studio...

I am still chipping away at the studio.

It does get overwhelming.  

So I am trying to celebrate the little victories.

My workbench area is shaped like a U.  I have a long counter along the wall with old kitchen cabinets above and below.

At one end is our old kitchen table.

It kicks out from the counter at a right angle.

From the other end is a tall counter my husband created for me from an extra locker from work.

He suggested turning it on it's side and then we put casters on it so I can move it if I need to.

I wanted to put a lot of my tools and such on there so I can find them.

Over time it got really full.

Eventually I made curtains from an old shower curtain from the thrift store for the front to hide my mess.

Here are a couple before the cleaning shots:

That is a lot of stuff....

You can see part of the U shape work area here:

My target area is to the left in the picture.

When I went to Lucketts this spring, one of my finds was this amazing industrial style metal cabinet.

I love it and actually cleaned it and got it into the studio the day after I bought it...

A new record!

I love all those amazing little drawers.

I am filling them slowly with new flea market goodies and supplies I use frequently.

You can see this paint rack is actually accessible.

Remember, the one on the other side of the studio serves duel storage purposes.

Those cool copper canisters were a thrift store find this

spring. 

 There were 2 larger ones that said $4 for the set. 

 Cool, I thought.

  They will make great studio storage.

I paid for them, brought them home and got them out to clean them.

I opened them up and there were two more little ones inside!

A bonus!

Score!

Took them from a good buy to a great buy.

My daughter even likes them.

One is filled with lace.

One is filled with stained and dyed cheesecloth.

The other two are waiting...

Also on the counter now are three printers ' trays from a family junking trip this spring.

My husband spied these for me.

He knows my weakness for these trays.

These are actually the cleanest, nicest, least damaged trays I have ever seen.

So I paid a little more than usual.

I usually put them into my booth for jewelry display but I decided to enjoy these in my studio every day.

I am filling them with goodies from a recent junking score.

The vendor was liquidating. 

 He offered 7 jewelry boxes and contents for an unheard of price each.

I could not scoop them up fast enough.

I did not even really look at them until I got them home.

They were full of lots of cool pieces.

The rest we will put on Etsy.

There are some other junking goodies.

Pebbles and sewing notions.

So you can see I am making progress.

A little bit each day.

There is a reason behind the steady push.

I am working to get it done so I can work here again.

So I can find my supplies and tools.

And so I can participate in the Where Bloggers Create Tour 2014.

So watch for my studio tour on July 11th.

Until then I will keep updating you on my progress.

Thanks for stopping by....