Studio Reorganization

I feel very blessed to be able to have a studio space in my home to create and retreat to when I need to feed my soul. Unfortunately it had become way too cluttered the past few months and it was more a place of chaos than serenity. It was definitely hindering my creative juices so enough was enough! I spent three days doing a complete reorganization and refreshing of my office and studio. Here is a little tour of my "before" and "after":

This is what my office looked like the morning before I started my cleaning spree. The kids were starting to take over as you can see by the sleeping bag in the computer chair, the stuffed animal on the floor, and the dinosaur art gallery on the back wall. Time to reclaim my space!

Yikes! This is my former dining room which we never used. I took it over and this is where I now create all of my jewelry. The large table is perfect for spreading everything out when I'm working, but I also have a little issue with returning everything to its proper spot when I'm done. This inevitably results in a table full of miscellaneous supplies, half finished projects and other random items.

This is the bench where I keep most of my finished jewelry as well as all of the vintage bits and baubles that I pick up from estate sales, garage sales, thrift shops and from friends and family. The old printer's drawer on top of the bench is perfect for organizing, but unfortunately I've started piling on bags of miscellaneous costume jewelry that hasn't been sorted through. Time to get cleaning!

The first area I tackled was the shelves in my office. I pulled the vintage suitcase from the studio that was formally used to stack my massive collection of dictionaries on. I filled it with table covers and displays that I use for craft shows and put it up on the top shelf. The covered white glass dish, the long oval dish, and the displays to the right hold jewelry that I've taken to shows, but don't currently have listed on my website.

I just love all of the drawers in these vintage organizers!! The two larger ones were purchased from a fellow Etsy seller and are perfect for some of my flower cabochons, ring blanks, and other little miscellaneous findings. The smaller plastic organizer was picked up at a local church rummage sale for a buck...gotta love that! I use it to hold some of the rings and post earrings that are listed on my website.

Here are all three shelves all organized and decorated with many of my favorite estate sale finds. The large oval white Fenton bowl tucked away on the bottom shelf is one of my most recent finds and is filled almost all the way to the top with my collection of vintage buttons.



This cute cubby organizer is another one of my recent favorite finds. It was originally brown wood, which you can see in the "before" picture. My sweet hubby and son spray painted it white for me and hung it next to my shelves. I've taken some of my costume jewelry from the overloaded printer's tray and organized it by color in the little cubbies. I also discovered that my cuff bracelets fit perfectly in the spots. Some of my teal gift boxes are stored here and I also left a few of the cubbies empty for future treasures!

I created this shipping area so that when I package up my orders I have all of my supplies right at my fingertips. My bubble mailers are stored in a cute shabby chic mail organizer, my teal jewelry boxes are ready to be filled with customer's orders, and scissors, tape, ribbons, pens, and shipping labels are all within reach. I love the black stacking drawers that I picked up at Target a while back. They hold my return address labels, business cards, plastic zipper baggies for jewelry, and vintage paper wraps for my packages.

Here is a wider angle view of the back wall of my office. I recently found the vintage goldtone metal phone stand at an estate sale. I had to grab it because it is exactly like the one my Hoot used to have. I'm using it to store my smaller dictionaries in...I have a feeling it will be getting a coat of spray paint soon!

We always get a kick out of getting caricature drawings when we go on family vacations. These were the latest ones we had done in Kemah last month. Love them!

Here is my bench which is now nice and organized. The memo board holds some of my finished pieces. My inventory from my vintage shop, Hoot's House, is tucked away behind the white drapes. The blue shelf on the wall is a previous re-do which you can read about here: http://outofthebluedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/05/taking-over-dining-room.html

I can actually see my table again!! I covered it with a fun retro tablecloth to give the room a little color.

I filled this rotating metal jewelry display with all of my chains. Why didn't I think of this sooner?!?

I picked up this glass wall display case at Michael's for 50% off and was pleasantly surprised to discover that my revamped pink estate sale frame fit perfectly around the door. A little hot glue and it gave the piece a whole new look!

I have had this glass table since shortly after I moved in with my husband 15 years ago. It was a shiny chrome and had definitely seen better days. A few months ago I was headed to the dumpster with it and had a last minute change of heart. I decided to give it a few coats of sky blue paint and I fell in love with it all over again. It is perfect for holding all of my mason jars full of supplies!

This old window frame was salvaged by my husband from our old shed out back. He asked if I could do something with it and I said "you bet"! I stapled wire mesh to the back side, attached a couple of hooks at the top and now I have the perfect display for some of my dangle earrings and necklaces.

As my dictionary jewelry gets more popular, I am constantly on the lookout for more old dictionaries for my stock. I never photocopy any of the words, I only use actual clipping from vintage dictionaries. Therefore, when a popular word like "love" or "mother" or "friend" is sold, I have to find another dictionary. As a result I've amassed quite a collection. These were once piled up on a chair in the corner of my studio. They now line the counter of my office as well as fill up some of the cabinets above.

Thank you so much for touring my studio with me! I feel a renewed sense of creativity in my refreshed space and can't wait to get busy making new pieces for my collection. I just hope I can keep it organized!!