More Studio Organizing!

As you go down the stairs to the basement, there is a “foyer” area that mimics the one upstairs, that separates my studio (to the left) from my husband’s study (to the right) that had a lot of unused wall space.  The shelves were part of the booth infrastructure that I used to take to the Bead & Button show and they fit perfectly, all we had to do was buy the mounting hardware.  These shelves hold my sewing patterns, and a few other odds and ends.

This is the facing wall.  I have had the “file cabinets” (stacking file drawers) for a while, they also hold sewing patterns, and are surrounded by an overflow of yarn in pest proof bags and boxes.  If you turn to the left to go into my studio, you see the back side of the grid wall that now surrounds my beading station.

I have a lot of project bags, and on the left is a swift that conveniently disassembles for storage, and beneath that is a scroll frame for needlework - I have done embroidery and needlepoint in the past, and will do more of that in the future.  I had four boxes of grid wall - each containing three grids - from the booth infrastructure, and this is one box.  As you enter my studio, you can see my display of pins.  That is an Inkle loom that is resting on the top of the grid.  You can also see a beading loom, and my Niddy Noddy hanging on the other side of the grid.  So my beading corner holds more than just beading supplies because grid wall is just so great for providing storage.

And here is the beading corner itself:

Chock full of stuff.  The table is a computer table with a pullout keyboard tray that my mother gave me years ago.  The top surface is expanded by a piece of veneered plywood that has been stained natural.  My beading trays are neatly organized in the space that would hold an old desktop computer.  There are also a couple of stacking drawers that hold random beads and other odds and ends.  Those are beading kits that are hanging along the top of the grid wall, almost all of them designed by my sister Virginia, who I worked for every year at the Bead & Button show.  Taking a closer look:

The kits on the left are from Earthfaire, those on the right are by my sister.  The cubbies along the back are part of Jimmy Beans Wool Advent calendar boxes, back when they were more sturdy, and are useful for stashing all manner of little things, including a lot of random beads that I’ve accumulated.  Of course I have an Ott light for illuminating my work.  On the side panel are more goodies:

The aforementioned Inkle Loom and a beading loom, plus a small pin loom, more bead kits by my sister, and some sewing notions, because again the storage area offered by the grid is just so useful.  In the background you can see my main bead storage.  I blogged about that in my third blog post back on May 25, 2009.  Since that post I have double my bead stash storage.  And since my very first blog post back on May 10, 2009 I have largely gotten my yarn stash under control, in the sense that most of it is catalogued on Ravelry and is organized by yarn weight.  It is ginormous, but the growth rate has slowed, and should slow even further as I have retired and will no longer have the extra money for buying anything that catches my eye.  Time instead to start working through the stash that I have of all my crafting supplies.