An Organized Workroom Part 1

Well, I finally got my workroom organized!  Nothing like posting those ugly before photos (see the post here) to make me get my tail in gear.  I should try this tactic more often.

After I got everything cleaned up, organized, and photographed, I realized I had about a bazillion pics to share.   So, instead of being that person that pulls out the slide projector and subjects you to a ton of vacation pictures, I'm breaking this up into two posts.

Before we jump into my newly organized workroom, I thought I'd share a little about it.  When we moved to the country almost 10 years ago, I decided the shed that was on the property would be a great place for my art studio.

I painted the walls inside, bought a little woodburning stove to heat it during the winter, bought a really l-o-n-g vintage cast iron sink to use for washing paint brushes (and the occasional dirty dog).  I bought cute curtains and dreamed of planting an herb garden outside the front door.  It was coming right along until...

The Flood of 2010

Yeah, in my own little world, this was somewhat devastating but compared in real life to those that lost much, much more from that flood.  It's was just an inconvenience.  We ended up burning practically everything that was in the shed.  And, quickly decided the shed was not a safe place for my art studio.

So now, I have a little 10 x 10 room that my husband built me in our basement garage.  It's actually cozy and now it's organized!  Come on in!

fabric scraps, vintage shopping cart (for the Country Living Fair and other shows), fall floral decor

my version of the old woodburing stove (electric heater), old door turned mantel, vintage bistro chairs

vintage china cabinet turned storage cabinet and my many, many jars of junk :)

an old board covered with batting and cloth is used to hold inspiration pieces and projects

my work table made from an old dismantled desk and a hodge pode of other containers for art supplies

Well, whaddya think?  Much better than the before photos ;)  Be sure to check back tomorrow as I'm sharing more of what's in all those jars as well as some secret storage areas that my husband so ingeniously created!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!
Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES
MISS MUSTARD SEED
CONFESSIONS OF A PLATE ADDICT

My DIY Workroom - UNEDITED

How's your new year going?  Are you taking this time of the year to get organzied?  I'm trying.  I've got a list of areas to work on.  One of them being my workroom.  Today I'm going to share some pictures that my sister-in-law took at Thanksgiving.  Prepare yourself...these are unedited photos of my little (10x10) workroom.  

Come on in!  That is, if you can get in.  Excuse the pile of fabric spilling out of my vintage shopping cart.  Oh, and be careful of the pile of tobacco sticks in the corner.

Good, you're in!  Maybe we should do this one at a time.  You go ahead and look around.  It is crowded but my little "fireplace" heater does keep it warm and cozy.

I found this cabinet on Craigslist for $70.  It's a 1970's stereo cabinet that I gutted and painted to use for storage.  I loved the shape and the fact that I could hide some of my supplies behind the covered doors.

This former china cabinet came from a friend that was looking to just get it out of her house.  I like when friends get in that mood.

I use lots of jars for storing little items.  Most of these are supplies for my altered art pieces.  Umm, this cabinet could really use some organizing.  (On the list)

My big jar of keys from my father-in-law.  God bless that man's kindred-hoardin' heart :)

More jars and buttons...I like buttons.

And, well, glitter is just so sparkly and blingy it needs fancy bottles to store it in.

Well, there you have it.  My messy, unedited workroom in desperate need of some organizing.  I hope to be soon with the after pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!  Who's next to go in?  ;)

God bless,
Angie


I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES
MISS MUSTARD SEED
CONFESSIONS OF A PLATE ADDICT

Organizing Christmas Decorations for Storage

Are you an organized person?  I'm not.  Organization does not come easy to me.  I read once that creativity and organization can act kind of like a seesaw in people.  When I'm more creative, my organization goes down.  When I become more organized, my creativity seems to decrease.  Does that happen to you?  It made sense to me.  However, don't despair.  You can have some of both and we can do it together!  Let's get creatively organized!

Since organizing doesn't come naturally to me, I turned to good ol' Pinterest for inspiration.  I even created a Christmas Decoration Organization board if you want to follow it you can do that HERE

I know some of you may not want to take down all of the decorations right away but there are some ideas that you can be thinking about and gathering supplies for.  Don't worry, these are easy to find items.  (All of the photos are from Pinterest so be sure to check them out on their original site!)

Let's take a look!

This is an easy fix to all those rolls of wrapping paper that are falling out of the gift wrapping closet whenever I open the door.  Easy to find cardboard wine box for free at most liquor stores!

How about this!?!  I usually save the original box for Christmas balls but those other ornaments are usually just tossed in a tote.  Plastic cups are a great idea for keeping those ornaments nice and safe while being stored.  No more bed head for ornaments with hair ;)

Another great idea for those smaller ornaments or for those glass balls that don't have their original box.

This idea of labeled, clear totes is from Yvonne of Stone Gable.  She always has her home beautifully decorated for Christmas (well, every season as a matter of fact) and so she's got organized storage down pat.

Do you use a real tree or an artificial?  This is our first year with an artificial so I'll be looking for a great way to store it.  I have the original box but I'm thinking I may just leave it put together, pull a large garbage bag down over it, and put it in the attic as is.  That may not work for everyone but we are blessed to have a walk in attic in this house...first one after owning several homes and I love it!

Ok, so let's start gathering our supplies...plastic cups, egg cartons, clear totes, cardboard wine box...and get to organizing our Christmas decor!

Anyone with a great way to store wreaths??  I'd love to hear!!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!!

DIY Galvanized Cake Pedestal

Have you seen the cute galvanized cake pedestals?  I first saw them on Antique Farmhouse's website.  I don't think they are currently for sale but here's another site that had them too.

Farmhouse Ware

Cute, right?

Well, I saw this and quickly thought it looked like some things I already had, and you probably do to!

Pie pans and galvanized buckets

This DIY project is so simple, I feel silly even writing it out for you.  Just remove any handles from the buckets, turn upside down, and glue to the bottom of the pie pans!

One of my pans was curved in the center so I pressed down to make sure the glue came in contact with both the bucket and pie pan.

Here's the glue I used...Strong Stik by DAP.  You can find it at Home Depot or other hardware stores.  It's repositionable for up to 10 minutes then it begins to adhere.  It's pretty good stuff!

And, here are the cake pedestals after just minutes of putting them together!

Underneath, no exposed adhesive :)

Use two different size buckets to vary the height.

Ready for an impromptu, rainy day s'mores party!

Rosie had to get in on the s'more action.  She's helping with the skewers.  Although for me, a big plate of marshmallows roasted in the microwave is my kinda indoor roasting.  Give them about a minute and we're talking perfectly brown roasted marshmallow perfection!  Jus' saying

Alright, what are you waiting for?  Go grab those buckets, pie pans, and glue and get to DIYing!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Angie

Here's a pic for pinning, if you please!  :)

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES
MISS MUSTARD SEED
CONFESSIONS OF A PLATE ADDICT

DIY Ladder for Guest Bath Storage

My oldest daughter and my niece recently moved into their first, real apartment.  It's a townhouse with a small guest bath on the first floor.  You know, the small bath that's under the stairs, causing all sorts of storage problems because of the sloped ceiling.  That's when we discovered this:

BHG website

One problem, we didn't have a cute vintage ladder.  So, we made one!  Here's a super, easy tutorial:

While visiting my hometown last year, I picked up a bunch of old tobacco stakes from my grandparent's farm.  The aged wood and stake height was right for making a ladder but most of the stakes were a little crooked...in a charming way.  (Don't worry if you don't have stakes, you can use new 1 x 2 pine stakes as well.)

Hmmm...these aren't the same thickness.  Back to the pile.

The two in the center were the most uniform in size so they became the uprights.  I used one of the others to cut for the rungs.

With the rungs cut in graduating lengths, I eyeballed their placement...because that's how I roll (which may explain all of the nail holes in our walls.)  Since the upright stakes are not square by any means, it took a little tweaking and trimming to get the rungs to fit right but it was a pretty quick fix.

Now, this step is important.  Since the wood is very old and dry and likely to split, you must pre-drill the holes for the screws.  I used a drill bit slightly smaller than the screw.  Also, since we didn't want shiny new screws showing on our "vintage" ladder, I used the larger drill bit to countersink the heads of the screws.  Eight holes drilled and eight screws countersunk, it's finished.

There you have it!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  It took less than an hour including clean up.  While I made my daughter's ladder last week and have already taken to her place (upcoming post of their place soon!), this is a second ladder I whipped up today.  It hasn't found a permanent spot in my house yet but here's a few options.

In the kitchen near ironstone platters

Other side of the kitchen....meh.

Hmmm...I think I'm liking it here...for now :)

Vintage ladders are popular in decorating and add some great storage options.  Let me know if you make one and how you're using yours!

God bless and thanks for stopping by!

Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE

China Cabinet Makeover

A free china cabinet from a friend becomes storage for my extra decor items

This is the before shot that she took when she listed it as "free - come and get it!"  And, that's exactly what I did.  If you're noticing the awesome wood floors and large baseboards, those would be in her lovely, old log home.  I'm an old house fan and I tried not to be too nosy while we were loading the china cabinet but the exposed beams, wood floors, huge foyer were speaking to me!

After a little paint, removing the doors, and adding hardware, here she is.  Try not to notice the floors or anything else in the background of this photo.  I had just finished the cabinet and decided to stage it right there in the garage.  The paint is a beautiful apple green with an umber glaze over top.  The photo isn't quite showing the true color.  I believe it's the fluorescent lights in the garage.  

The prep work required was just a little cleaning with Greased Lightning to remove any residues.  I sanded the seams where the "frame" pieces had been on the bottom doors.  The paint was actually a latex wall paint left over from my daughter's room.  The umber glaze is an old can that I've had for a while.  It's actually clear but I tint it with acrylic paints for each project.  That way I can control if I want a darker brown glaze or a golden brown glaze.  The glaze helps seal the paint and gives it a satin finish.  

Since the doors did not have original hardware, I added these glass knobs.  I'm not sure they will stay but I happened to have them on hand so I'll use them for now.  Even though the bottom storage area is the entire width of the cabinet, the center door does not open. 

I liked the glass doors but I wanted the cabinet to be more of an open hutch.  I still have the doors.  I'll save them for another project.  

The cabinet now sits outside of my studio door (aka my room in the garage).  It contains quite a bit more than the pieces in the picture but it makes the perfect place to hold decorating items I'm not currently using in the house.  If you have beautiful things, it's still nice to look at them even when they aren't being used.

I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted but life in the real world grabs our attention from the virtual.  We experienced the loss of my daughter's friend and one of my tutorial students.  He was hit by a driver under the influence of drugs while he was changing the tire for his mother.  Such a tragedy.  Our prayers are with the family as they walk through this.  

We are also coming to the end of our school year which requires a lot of time in registering new students for the upcoming fall.  I hope to be back in full swing soon!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Angie

I'm linking here:  

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW

SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE

ART IS BEAUTY

  CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS