It's officially that time. I have been waiting for this moment. It's time to ORGANIZE!!!!! Woop Woop WOOP! In case you can't already tell, I LOVE organizing. It gives me an absolute high and sense of satisfaction. I feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about it! I firmly believe that an organized space leads to a peaceful mind. You can't relax when there is clutter around you. This space is extra special to me. It is my first time having an art space, and those of you that know me know how important and exciting this is for me. Now, I will warn you. I am a SUPREME organizer. My brain just functions that way. For most people organizing can be quite the daunting task. So, for those of you that don't find it so easy, I hope you get some tips and inspiration in the process to help with your own space.
Let the fun begin....
First things first we have to take everything out. I have 3 closets and half of a room full of art supplies and craft stuff. Before I organize it, I need to know what I have.
You know after looking at all of it, it's really not as much as I thought. Well, on second glance maybe it is. I think it all depends on what angle you stand at. There are things on this floor I totally forgot I had. That also means my mind has gone through all of the things I want to make now that I know it exists.
Now that I know what I have, I need to make a plan and design for storing it all. If you plan the space beforehand it will be easier to fit it all together perfectly later. (I learned that from one of my YouTube gurus) As I took everything out I semi sorted and grouped everything into like categories. Putting it back shouldn't be so bad I hope. After looking at it for a while I decided to divide the stuff into 2 closets. 1 closet will have art supplies and materials. The other will have misc art pieces and items. You know that kind of sounds the same. Basically, one closet will have supplies the other one...all of the random stuff I keep in case it comes in handy one day. You never know, and would rather not have to buy.
Now that everything is out, it is time to design this closet and put it all back. I did the "random" closet first. This was easy because there was no real design or "pretty" element here. Just stack it back in there and make everything easy to see and find. Absolutely no excitement here. The supplies closet was a different story. I thought about it for a long while, and watched several Youtube vidoes for ideas. I decided on a mix of drawers and shelving. I like things to be out of sight. The drawers I got from Ikea (Shout out to Herb for helping me get the box out of Ikea and to my house. I had trouble just sliding the thing across the garage floor. So carrying it out of the store would have been a total NO GO). I designed the shelving myself from Home Depot. I was going to just buy something, but it was hard finding the exact measurements. Therefore building seemed like the way to go. I also liked the idea of custom shelving because I can change the height of the shelves if I need to.
*SIDE NOTE -- I went against Ikea's instructions and did not brace the drawers to the wall. For those of you that have ever put together Ikea furniture they always suggest that you use a strap and anchor the piece to the wall so it does not fall forward. In the picture they show you the right way, and then the wrong way. However, I noticed something that in the wrong picture they show it not just falling, but falling from a person climbing on it. Now if you have children I can understand the importance of this. As an adult though, if you are climbing on your drawers...you deserve to have it fall on you. Just saying...
Back to organizing....
With the drawers and shelves in place it was time to put the stuff back in the closet. First, I filled the drawers. Based on my categories I figured out what was going to go in each one. Paint Brushes, Paint tools, Other Paint, Letters & Stencils, Labels/Adhesives, Varnishes/Sealers, Markers & Pencils, and Glitter. Since the drawers do not come out I didn't put anything with small pieces. It's too hard to clean. Once the drawers were filled, I organized the items to go on the shelves. I took what was left and figured out how much space I needed for each item. This dictated the size of the boxes and height of the remaining shelves. This was a little harder than I thought. It was difficult to get the perfect setup and combination of boxes and bins. It took a while but I finally got it all together. The final reveal....... (Insert the OOHs and AAHs now)
It's not a surprise but.......I LOVE IT!!!! It's so pretty and organized. I've gone in there a couple of times since I've finished just to marvel at it. I know some of you all are quite impressed, and the rest are thinking "That would never happen. I would have just bought a few big rubbermaid bins and called it a day!" I know I'm slightly OCD...and I accept this about myself. However, one thing I've learned about organizing is that if you make it look good, you're more likely to keep it that way.
Now, before you ask I actually purchased most of the things in here. The only pieces I made were the specialty paper box, the ribbon box, and the labels. That's not a lot. Especially considering we're talking about me. The drawers like I said came from Ikea. They are part of the ALEX series. I spotted them months ago, and thought it would work perfectly for the space. There is one drawer on the bottom that I haven't filled yet. I did not pack the closet. I left myself room and space to grow. I do a lot of random projects, so at some point I will accumulate more stuff. The 2 boxes on top I got from The Container Store. I got these boxes a couple of years ago when my paint collection outgrew the bin it was in. The set came with 4 boxes all in varied sizes. I was actually only using 2, and totally forgot about the others. Needless to say that was a pleasant surprise.
On the bottom of the closet is my sewing stuff and iron I use for making t-shirts. The 4 clear bins above that I bought on sale a while back from Michaels. I got 4 boxes for $6. I put most of my wood pieces and some other random supplies in them. On top of that are the other 2 smaller Container Store boxes. I decided to put my jewelry supplies in them. I will actually need to go back at some point and reorganize inside of the boxes. It looks a little scary in there. The 2 blue boxes were my most recent purchases. I saw these while wandering through Target. I loved the color, and had to have them. I have my rhinestones in one of these. (I'm thinking it might be time for another pair of shoes.) The little gray box is full of popsicle sticks. I mainly use them to mix paint. Pretty boring I know. You were probably expecting me to say I'm in here making a life size popsicle stick village with a working ceiling fan. Sorry, not this time. Above that is my ribbon box. This is one of the few things I actually made. I cut the bottom off of a shipping box I had laying around and covered it with paper. This might be one of my favorite things in here. Before, my ribbon and string was thrown in a bin all tangled together. It drove me bananas. It's nice to finally be able to see it all.
On top I put all of my paper. I also made this scrapbook paper holder. Scrapbook paper usually comes in 12" x 12". Most storage solutions are big boxes that lay flat. It was hard to find something that stood upright, so I just made one.
On top are things I don't use so often. On the right are my projector and light box, on the left are my gift wrapping supplies. I actually enjoy gift wrapping, but don't get the opportunity to do it as much as I would like. Christmas is right around the corner so we'll see. With everything in a place you can't forget the finishing touch....LABELS! I made labels for every bin and box. What's the point of having it organized if you can't easily tell what's in it. I didn't want them to all be the exact same, but still keep a cohesive look.
So that's it. What do you think? If you're not sure scroll back up and look at the whole thing again. Isn't it fantastical! It makes me happy just thinking about it. I can't wait to go in there and do a project. I think I'm going to go start one right now. Until the next one....
That looks awesome and like a lot of hard work! :)
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