Another Trip to My Studio

One of my earliest posts on this blog was a tour of my studio.  Today I'm taking you back there.  There have not been significant changes--at least not ones that you can easily see.  But I have reworked a few of my storage solutions and thought I would share.

I know, it probably looks nearly identical to what I showed you before, but trust me, there have been changes!  Yes, I still have that ratty, cat-clawed chair.  I really need to get a new one....



I have a thing about organization.  I love finding the perfect place to store something.  I love to sort things by color.  I like knowing right where to find something.  That being said, I'm also a very messy worker.  My studio oftentimes looks like a tornado went through it.  I TRY to clean up every day, but that just doesn't happen.  And when I'm in 'crunch time'--the days leading up to a show--all bets are off.  So after a show, when I don't have the pressure to produce, I actually enjoy spending a day or two putting things back in order. 

I've spent some time already this year reorganizing things.  Sometimes you have to live with a chaotic system before you find the right solution.  It helps to work in a space and learn what supplies and tools you want the easiest access to before you make changes.  And those things can vary over time, I've learned. 

Earlier this year I went through nearly all of my supplies AGAIN and sorted and resorted all my wonderful plastic storage drawers.  I also needed to come up with a solution for storing my finished work.  I wanted to have access to it in my studio.  I didn't want it stored in the garage or the basement.  But my studio did not have room for one more piece of furniture to store them.  What to do?

I decided to sacrifice some space on my book shelves.  But I didn't want to just line them all up on the shelves.  That wouldn't look pretty.  I like my bookshelves to look orderly and nicely arranged and interesting.  My solution:  a curtain!

 

I found this simple white curtain at my favorite store, Target.  It wasn't exactly the right length.  It was too short to hang from the top and too long to hang from the second shelf.  I decided too long was better than too short.  I still need to hem it, but for now, I've just got it pinned up.  I hung it simply with a tension rod.

 

 

Pull back the curtain and you can see I've added a couple more shelves so I have plenty of room to store my finished work.  Right now I have a few other random things stored behind the curtain, and I still have one shelf filled with books.  As I need the space I will find new homes for those things. 

 

 

All my little critters are lined up.  It's so much nicer to have access to them, but not have them covering every surface of the studio.  This system works....for now.....you never know with me when I am going to switch things up again in the studio!

 

 

Now that the studio is back in order, it's time to mess it up again!  LOL!! 

I would love to hear about your work spaces.  I'm always intrigued by how other artists work.

 

Lisa

 

OK---I'm NOT PROUD of this picture, but thought I would show it anyway.  This is what my studio looked like after the holiday season was over.  I KNOW!!  How does one function in such chaos?!  This is definitely at its worst.  Most days you will find it at some level between pristine and this:

 

 

(I'm so glad my mother doesn't read my blog....)