The Paper Cart Delivers
Well, the Sterilite carts arrived. In cardboard boxes that could have easily housed largish zoo animals (and which are currently occupied by my kids). I love the carts. LOVE THEM. As much as someone can love ugly plastic furniture, I love them. Because they work.
I always feel a bit hesitant to show pictures taken in my studio. I think I have an inferiority complex from all the stunning, color coordinated and neat-as-a-pin studio tours I’ve seen on blogs. Let me just be clear: my studio will never win any beauty awards. It’s more about function than form. I’m trying to own that. I feel very lucky to even have a dedicated space to create, no matter how crowded and mismatched it is. That in itself is a huge blessing. Huge. But I digress.
The drawers had these nice, hinged lids on them. Which I spent a few minutes popping off with a flathead screwdriver. It seemed a shame. But I wanted easy access and didn’t want to have to take the drawers completely out in order to get to the paper.
I stacked the two units together and installed the casters on the bottom unit. Which are a really nice feature because it’s helpful to move the cart out of the way when I’m not doing a paper project.
Each drawer can hold 12×12 inch pieces (I discovered a lot of my 12x12s are actually bigger than that but if I turn them the right way they stay flat) and I keep all my scraps on top of the whole pieces. It’s very easy to take a drawer out to rummage through it. And I like that I can see the color of the paper through the plastic so I can zero in on the drawer I want quickly.
Organizing all the small paper in the new carts has left my big ol’ wooden flat file to do what it does best: House large sheets. I’ve just rediscovered a stack of expensive Arches papers from college. Bonus.
And that solves my dilemma with the ridiculous pile of solid colored art papers. (I am not going to worry about the ludicrous pile of patterned art papers for now. Or the preposterous piles of fabric. One thing at a time.)
Having the paper organized so nicely has put me in a card making mood! See, I even purchased a new X-ACTO knife. If you’ve ever seen a picture of my old one with the grimy, 20 year old masking tape around the grip, you’ll be thankful. (I still have it though.)
perfect!! It's the little things that sometimes makes the biggest difference.
I'm glad for your success! And success certainly puts one in a better mood, doesn't it? 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your new cards!
My studio is a disaster. It is in an unfinished part of the basement with a cracked window and the washer and dryer. Yours IS a "designer" studio in my book! 😉
I eventually gave into those clear plastic drawers as well. I house one under my sewing table for all of those pesky things that are required whilst sewing. And a couple drawers are all thread. I love that they are hidden away and don't collect dust! Yay for plastic!
I absolutely LOVE the plastic roller towers/drawers/chests etc etc. No other 'furniture' does exactly what we need so well! You organize, can see what you have, they're durable when you knock your iron over and it hits your coffee cup all over the …OH! Wait! It's PLASTIC and completely protected the fabric inside. Yay.
🙂
PS….. I quilt in the Cave. Er, the basement. It's dark. 70's woodpanel. Messy Mess. But I love it. Be proud!
honey, you create beautiful work…don't let the "mess" embarrass you one bit, that's just how you roll. Some people are just naturally neat (I'm NOT) and some people aren't and we're all O.K.
What a good solution…neat and clean (and easy to clean, too!). It's so much easier it is to be creative when you're organized and have all the tools you need at your fingertips.
That looks awesome!
Do you think it would work for felt? Because my felt needs some serious help, I can't find anything!