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. ;)

fabric

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.

red-boxes

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!

dollsandbooks

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...

ribbonandmagnets

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

magnets

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. :)

ribbon

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.

thread1

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! ;)

thread2

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

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:33 PM

    Now that is organized! You put my sewing room to shame. It's a total mess over here.

    I think I'll be heading to IKEA soon:)

    Chelsea

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  2. Love it! and I am inspired ... but I have just a wee bit more fabric than that - what to do with it all?!??!

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  3. Thanks, Girls!

    Chelsea, I just love IKEA. I go there as often as I can and when I look around me I can't believe how much stuff I own from there... it's like a showroom around here! LOL!

    Kristen, I do have a ton more fabric than what I'm showing here. I have several tubs filled with stuff in the closet, plus I have all my vintage fabric bolts in the storage rom. I just didn't want to make this posting a mile long! ;)

    Eventually I would love to get 2 or more of those IKEA bookcases and have all my fabric along one wall... just gotta get more $$$.

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  4. I love your sewing room!!! My favorite are the little red magnetized tins...soo cool and cute! Patty, what can't you do??

    Dayna

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  5. Thanks, Mz Dayna! I knew you would like those. :)

    Well, this didn't just happen overnight. I've been doing a little here & a little there. At one point all my fabric was sitting on the floor in stacks because I hadn't found a suitable place to put them. And the ribbons used to be in a big brown box in the closet before I convinced my FIL to build me that shelf. LOL!

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  6. Anonymous12:18 PM

    Don't look... are you kidding! I'm drooling. Drooling, drooling, drooling!!!

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  7. Wow!!!!I'm totally jelaous!
    I love those magnets,too!
    I still don't have my studio set up, so my fabrics are all over the house.I was offten complaining with my kids how they are messy with theirs toys and that they have a way toooooo much of them,until my daughter remainded me how I "stole" theirs room's biggest drawer to keep my fabrics,LOL.

    We also have a lot of Ikea furniture in the house;)

    Katarina

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  8. Anonymous6:26 PM

    Oooooo. I love it all!
    I was just starting to get my studio/office usable and now I'm going to have to put a baby in there soon. Guess I'll have to stake out another area of the house.
    My favorite is the fabric shelves. I would just sit there and look at my stash all day if I had that :)

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  9. Patty, I just refolded all of my fabric, too and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE looking at it now!

    I absolutely have to have those magnetic jars! I love them! Thanks for sharing your studio, so inspiring!

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  10. Thanks for stopping by and your wonderful comments, ladies! :)

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  11. Anonymous8:05 AM

    WOW!!! It's looks BEAUTIFUL!!! Definitely a room full of inspiration!

    I, too, love those magnetic cups...I have tons of them!

    With friendship,
    Lisa

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  12. Anonymous10:40 AM

    Wow Patty I love it! I also have buttons in those same spice jars from ikea. I'm going to run to World Market to find those magnetic jars, those are so cool!

    I wish I knew a way to make my cutting tables look better. They came out of an old Joann's and I don't know what I'd do without them. It's just an ugly 8 foot expanse of brown.

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  13. That is GORGEOUS!

    Especailly your thread rack! ...LOL...if my husband asks me what I want for Valentines Day...I'll send him over to your blog.

    :)

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  14. GORGEOUS!

    Oh my, I need to get one of those thread racks! Amazing!

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  15. Hey girls! If you have any pictures of your studios/craft rooms/etc., I'd love to see. Please post a link over here. Mine is far from finished... there are still some areas that need major work.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  16. i love it...and i love ikea!
    so cute--thanks for sharing! =)

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