Cool Finds #2
Storage Solutions in the Studio

For this installment of "Cool Finds," I will focus on cool & affordable storage solutions for the creative types. I have been working on adding functionality, organization and visual appeal to my studio for several weeks, on an indie designer's budget. I still have a long way to go, but I wanted to share some great deals I have found locally that have made my life as a designer soooo much easier.

First off, take a peek at one corner of my studio where I store my fabric, trims and books. That tall modern looking bookcase was purchased at IKEA for just around $80 and it is the perfect size for my smaller cuts of fabric... anything from 1yd. - 3yds. Any cut smaller than 1 yd. goes into a Rubbermaid container (or two or three) inside the closet. Anything larger than 3 yards goes on a bolt and stacks horizontally on the shorter shelving unit on the right. I have no idea where I purchased this second shelving unit, but I have had it since I was in college (so, a looong time!) and I'm pretty sure I bought it at some discount store and paid nearly nothing for it... after all, I was a starving art student. ;)



Oh, and I still have to spend some time re-folding and re-stacking my fabrics. If the fabulous Monica stumbles upon this posting she will be horrified. Don't look, Monica! I was so thrilled to have found her fabric folding tutorial and it is on my to-do list. You guys have to check it out... it is fantastic!

Anyway, let's take a closer look, shall we? I found these cool red boxes at Joann Fabrics and thought they would be perfect to store my patterns and trims. I normally don't use a lot of sewing patterns, but the few I do have are stored in the bottom, larger of the two boxes. Some lace trims and ric-rac and such is tucked away neatly in the smaller box. The cool thing is that these boxes are collapsible and they stack inside each other perfectly... these were originally a set of 3 boxes but I gave the smaller one away, and they cost around $14.95 for all 3 of them.



On the other side of that shelf I just have some visual candy to help me get through the day. :) My Pullip dolls, some Amy Butler books and my collection of Nightmare Before Christmas stuffies. YUM!



On the other side of the room, and at arm's reach from my sewing table, I have the more utilitarian items... woven tags, size tags, care labels, buttons, ribbons, etc. The buttons are in those little clear jars from IKEA up on the top of the shelf...



I found these awesome magnetized jars at World Market (I just adore that store!). They were $1.99 each and have a round magnet on the back of them and a clear lid so you can easily see the contents. I think they are meant to be spice jars, but they are perfect to hold my MODKID woven tags, seam inserts, size tags and care labels. These come in plain stainless steel and red... of course I had to have the red! ;) Oh, and the magnetic board was purchased at IKEA for around $15.00



My most frequently used ribbons, including the one printed with MODKID that I use to wrap my packages with, are neatly displayed on this shelf that my father-in-law helped me build last year. Want to learn how you can make one yourself? Check out my tutorial here. All materials were purchased at a local hardware store and were very affordable. :)



And last, but certainly not least, my latest purchase. I bought this Gütermann thread cabinet at Joann Fabrics a couple of weeks ago during one of their 50% off sales. It came out to be exactly $75. What an amazing deal! It comes with 100 different thread colors... and when you think about it, if you were to buy each one separately, you would be spending around $170, plus add to that the cost of this nifty storage cabinet, and I think I got a steal.



The best part... no more frantic runs to the fabric store 5 minutes before they close clutching a piece of fabric in one hand and my debit card in the other. Come on, I'm sure I'm not the only one! ;)



Don't they look like candy? Almost too pretty to use...