bbwalkup

I've fallen in love with the plastic drawer type things. I usually buy them on sale in the late summer when the collage students come back to town. With the clear drawers I can see thru to find which drawer I want. I divide my fabic by color, for the stuff with too many colors I go by "topic" I have a drawer for Christmas, cats, flowers, bugs, boy stuff, food....and on. I have a lot of drawers. But I have to keep the fleece and flannel seperate from the rest. Don't really know why I do that. I love to buy ribbon, but finding a place got easy when I started buying those big hat boxes. They look nice stacked on a bookshelf and hold lots of ribbon. One has a Christmas scene and has Christmas ribbon in it. A fancy flower one was great for wedding type ribbon and a fun color box was great for a mix of colors.
Surprised as I was, my husband bought me a Craftsman workbench for my craft room. He about died when he found out how much I love it. The height is perfect for "Man type stuff" but great for cutting and just playing with projects...no more back pain!!! And it has these wonderful huge drawers with plenty of space to hide my M&M's. They even put these little holes along the side (I guess for man type tools) I just hang my scissors in them. My poor husband, I girlfied his find. I've noticed...he's been hiding his wirecutters and hammer from me lately....and I don't remember the last time he trusted me with the drill...maybe he's scared??

DonnaRae

I was wondering. Alot of you keep mentioning storing your fabric in plastic drewers and containers. I have read at different web sites that you should not keep your fabric in plastic. I still have a lot of mine in containers and drawers and have been slowly changing to what I can not keep on all my shelves (and I have a lot of shelves) to boxes. Any thoughts? Thanks

Lucia

Hi Boo
Do you have in your area any Big Lots or Job Lots stores? I bought my shelves there at a very affordable price and they have them in different sizes and finishes. Wal-Mart also has them. I bought at Big Lots floor Otte light lamps for $29.00! Actually I think they are called Easy Reading. When I went to their site I found they are the makers of the Otte lights. I bought also at JoAnns (with 50% coupon off) a great cutting table with draws on one side and a door with shelves on the other; it has two “wings” that can stay up or be lowered against the sides. I bought some 3M hooks and I have my big rulers and squares hanging on them. My rotary cutters, scissors, pencils and pens are in a basket with slots for forks, spoons and knives. And one more thing: file cabinets are great to store fabric. Just have to fold them to the size and place them standing up in the draws. I used 2 of those for a long time with a door on top to make a table. I guess with all these ideas we all will have the perfect studios! Just one question: What about the time to organize everything????
Lucia

Lucia

I forgot to tell that, for a long time I had a “movable” flannel wall. I bought 2 yd of white felt and made a sleeve on top to insert a rod. I used a long cord tied to the ends to hang the wall on the dining room. When I had to put it away, I just rolled carefully with the project inside.
Lucia

77mercedes

hi all,

I just re-did my sewing room last spring. -- Ran out of room for fabic as I'm sure you all understand. I got used kitchen cabs for $100, used the uppers for the lower section and cut a hole to drop in the machine. the counter height cabs I set up for the cutting area. I even got a bench seat that fits perfectly under the windows out of an oven cab that I cut up. I wrapped plywood with vinyl (on sale for a buck/yd - hideous, but i used the back) for the counter. I managed to do the whole thing (paint, drapes, pillows and storage) for under $200!! I love it! The plywood was easy to cut and cover, the mats and fabric stayed put on the vinyl and I could just wipe them down.

Ironically, two weeks after I finished the installation, I got brand new formica counters for free from work - wrong color delivered and they were gonna be tossed out. They fit the cabinet layout perfectly and look great, but were a pain to cut for the machine and VERY heavy. in some ways i miss the old ones, but don't regret the investment for a second.

good luck with your holiday projects!
kdt

Betty

Hi Becky/all,
What great ideas! The pizza box idea was not original, I saw it somewhere &just adopted it as it is a space saver plus what’s in it doesn’t get all knocked around or wrinkled or whatever. Don’t know about having it together at all, just try to figure out the problem & what might work to solve it. I also am really loving that bookcase idea. It could fit in the space my standing up ironing board had before I found the used $4 door mount one that folds up when not used. Going to use the bread slicing/pot lids storage too, I also can find them for 50 cents at a thrift. Donna, I too have read about not storing in plastic. If I do, in baggies, I never seal up because of that. It is supposed to be because cotton is a natural fiber and needs to breathe they say. I also am such a newbie I don’t have any UFOs & had pretty much decided to listen to those with long experience to finish what you start. Have managed to so far but my head is so full of ideas it is really hard not to give this or that a try. Lucia that is a great price for a floor otte light,will have to go check it out. Sometimes I feel like I can’t turn on enough lights sometimes! And aren’t those 50% Joanns coupons the greatest? We all love those. I don’t know about perfect studios but I was determined to have a space I could work & not have to put anything away after till the next time. I have found I got the time to organize by only looking at the idea I had at the moment, looking at the whole doesn’t work & seems impossible, so I have been able to chip away at it a bit at a time. 77Mercedes, sounds like you have my kind of work place, I can’t believe what they throw out. I take it all & have been able to adapt much for my area. I stumbled on the copy paper box thing when I was at a dollar store picking up plastic storage boxes, just kinda hit me that I bet I could use those boxes, just resize them by cutting down, it sure worked for me & the price was right! We all have such wonderful ideas & in sharing it’s just the best. Keep em coming!! 8) Betty

judyjo

Wow, what great ideas! I've got to come back to this thread when I have more time to read. We have a small 4 room house. My sewing area is one wall of a combination spare BR, and computer corner. My husband has put up shelves on the wall next to my sewing machine. These hold many clear shoe boxes filled with stuff I use. I also have shoe boxes on a shelf in the closet but they have to share the shelf with other things. I utilize under the bed storage also. I read somewhere recently that pant/skirt hangers are good ways to manage your cutting boards. They don't take up much room hanging in the closet. So far that has worked for me.

Judyjo

Leslee

Hi all. What Betty wrote about having projects out in the open and not having to constantly put away what you're working on is oh-so true. Even the sewing machine; my little Betsy has to sit on top of her cabinet, uncovered, and giving me tempting come-hither looks! Quilting is an art, and like any art form we need to have space to call our own where we can just let the creative juices flow! I'm amazed at all the storage tips you've all shared, and want to say thanks to all for sharing their studios, large and small alike! Keep the tips coming :thumbup:

Becky

Betty

Where can you get the used cabinets?Can you suggest some places?As far as my bk-cases I got them at target, tall white ones, No they where'nt much at all. I had never heard about the plastic thing, Altho it makes sense, thanks for the info. I have alot of books to, so I'm going to have to go through them to. And just slimply break down and buy some book cases for them to. Again thanks for the info, appreciate your time.
Becky

Betty

Hi Becky, It was 77Mercedes who was writing about used cabinets. If I were going to try to get some, at least in my area, there are so many people rehab-ing/redecorating their homes that I would watch my local little classifieds-type papers. Many people when they do their kitchens over will put their used cabinets up for sale to see if they can recoop some of their costs. Unless they are practically still new they are usually pretty inexpensive. If you have a Habitat for Humanity store nearby, which I luckily do, they have all sorts of building supplies they sell, my store always seem to have many cabinets. Other than that I would not know anywhere else to look. If you keep a mental "shopping" list when around different places you would be surprised what you practically accidently stumble across. I have come across drastically marked down cabinets, odd ones, maybe some scratches, being cleared out at Home Depot,Lowe's kind of places, but you can't depend on just going there and finding any. It is hit or miss.Good luck with your hunt. 8) Betty