Friday, July 18, 2008

Organized Work Space

I talked about moving my work space into the family room in an earlier post. Well I finally finished (for now!) organizing my beads and findings. I know I'm always very curious about how others organize and use their space, so I thought I would share how I organized mine.

Everything is against one wall in plastic storage drawers.
The large set of drawers on the far right contains paperwork, shipping and packaging materials and tools that I use occasionally. The four 3-drawer units in the center contain most of my beads organized by color. I have one or two drawer for each color: red, pink, orange, yellow, green (2), blue, purple, brown, black/grey, white/clear, mixed/multi. Most of the beads are stored in see through acrylic boxes. This system works well for me. The drawers come out easily so I can look through them, or I can pull out individual boxes and put them together until I find my inspiration. Previously I stored my beads in ziploc bags, but the beads are so much easier to see, and prettier to look at too, in the acrylic boxes.

One of the bead drawer units.

Here is the inside of one of the green drawers.
I have seperate 3-drawer units for sterling silver and copper beads and components. They are organized by findings, beads/spacers and chain/bead-caps/misc.
Other drawer units hold other types of metal findings, stringing materials, focal beads, metallic beads etc. I'm sure as time goes by I'll make some changes, but this is working very well for me right now, and it makes it very easy to clean up after a creative session.

Not shown in the pictures is a portable file box that is stored under the desk. Inside are hanging file folders. I have my stash of wire stored there, seperated by type (sterling, copper, brass) and gauge.

Well, that's how my space is organized. If you are curious how another artist organized her space, check out how Lily of Tulip's Treasure Box organized hers.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's just _gorgeous_.

Couse I might be weird in getting such a thrill out of seeing everything so nicely organized...wish I could get mine looking that nice!

ChezChani said...

Yikes, that's impressive. I don't think I could be that organized. Unless someone wants to come in and do it for me???

Anonymous said...

You really have this well thought out and organized, I'll say. I just added a long table along the wall, under the window in my office/studio. Hopefully, if I add a couple of lamps so my own shadow isn't in the way, it will work for me. I think we all need those bookshelves that go to the ceiling with those rolling ladders!!!
Teri B
www.sandtcreations.etsy.com

Annette Piper said...

Well done Teresa! Will you be able to WORK in it though? (When I tidy up I often find the muse has gone on a little walk. I have to mess things up a bit before she returns!)

Inspired Designs by Teresa said...

I have to admit that it's not always so neat. As a matter of fact, I just kind of swept everything from this side of the desk to the other to take the pictures! LOL As we all know, creativity and neatness don't always go hand in hand. But it is nice to be able to quickly drop everything back in the right spot.

Anonymous said...

Hi Teresa,

I found this with a Google Alert to my email...

Thank you for participating in the Skwigga-zine BlogRing and adding a link to my organized seed bead supply.

SandT has it right and I had to LOL. I could use the space with one of those rolling ladders myself!

However, Ms. Piper has a point too. I moved my studio, but still find myself with my work on my lap watching tv while I create, and the studio still needs much organizational attention!

~Lily

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, I love little drawers all neatly labeled!! Looks terrific!