Shed/Studio Makover

I am a very lucky girl.

I have multiple places to store and create on our property.

One of my favorites is this shed.

It is about 18 feet across and shaped like an octagon.

It has an upstairs.

It is all my junk.

And when I say that, I mean it.

I have been creating my whole life and doing craft shows for almost 20 years.

I have collected items I thought I could use for booth display.

I have collected multiples of materials to make things.

And I just kept sticking them in the shed.

 For Years.....

This winter my husband said, "What we should do is take everything out and I will build you work benches around the perimeter."

And that idea stuck in my head.

My brother said he would come to help.

So I began planning my attack.

I have not really gone in there for over a year and it was REALLY piled up.

So I chose a long weekend and put it on the calendar for the clean out.

Then I scheduled the following weekend for my brother to come.

Then I spent months planning...

What will I keep?

What can go away?

How do I want it to look?

Doing this for months, made a very clear picture in my head of what the end result should look like.

Then I got ready.

I planned with my husband and we figured out dimensions and materials.

I bought totes so they are all the same size to go on the workbench shelves.

I set up my EZups so I could pull everything out to sort.

A lot of things were given away or donated.

I was merciless in the purging process.

My sweet husband and brother put in a new window for me.

This will be a huge improvement.

I will have light and cross ventilation.

Here is an "In Progress..." shot.

My husband also replaced my doors with Dutch doors that he built.

I have always wanted Dutch doors...

Then came all the sorting.

So much sorting...

I worked for a couple weeks on the sorting.

My husband and daughter installed another window on the other side when it arrived.

I made curtains from burlap coffee sacks to cover most of the boxes and totes and create a less cluttered looking space..

I used more burlap sacks to cover the Tyvek on the inside walls.

And finally it is ready.  

Want to see?

This shed has not been this empty since we moved in...

Those counter spaces are awesome.

The area below houses ribbons and trims.  

Some are on spools so they are on the dowels where I can easily see what I have.

All the loose trims are in the cheese boxes above.

This space is a seasonal space. 

It is, after all, a shed.

So no heat or air conditioning.  

That helps to determine what and how things are stored out here.

The sewing machine will come inside when it gets colder.

I brought it out to make all the curtains and found I actually enjoyed standing to sew.

The mannequins are awaiting a makeover.

I promise to share them when they are done.

Previously my storage consisted of wooden crates around the perimeter.

I wanted to minimize buying for this project so I reused what I had as much as possible.

I used the crates to make movable storage.

I built bases from pallets and added casters.

I made two bar-style storage units for in front of the back shelves and a square unit for the center island.

My band saw lives in this corner.

This side is the more hardware/machinery related side of the shed.  

There are lots of goodies in all those little drawers.

And here are those coveted Dutch doors.

As soon as the wood cures and dries I will paint them and add Tyvek and burlap to the insides.

 My husband helped me move my belt sander and grinder out here.  

I so love that they have a nice little home.

That is my space in a nutshell.

I will be showing some of the details another time.  

I hope you will stop back to see.

For a peek at other amazing work areas/studios/spaces, head over to My Desert Cottage for "Where Bloggers Create 2016".

Thanks for stopping by....

Thrifty Thursdays.... A Sewing Box Makeover...

A couple months ago, I picked up this cute sewing box at the thrift store.

It is molded plastic.

I just really loved something about it.

It even has a neat tray inside.

So I gave it a couple coats of white spray paint.

Here it is painted.

Later on I may add some distressing or a color added to the design but for now, it is perfect for storing my wool roving.

I left the inside the original color.

Soon I will show you what I am doing with the roving too.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

Workbench Wednesday...

This week I decided to show you one of my actual work areas and what is on it this week.

This is the table next to my spot on the couch.

There's my laptop, my newish wooden unit and the looped beads I have been playing with.

I bought a one step looper, which I love.

I can make my own beaded chains easily.

I made some into chains.

Others are just the beads with the loops on each end, ready to be bulit into designs.

I apologize for the photo quality. 

 It is rather dim and the lighting is not ideal for photography.

The looper is pretty versatile.

I tried seed beads and larger glass beads to play around with it.

 These are not the tiny seed beads.

They are the "E" size.

The glass beads are from one of those glass budget bead containers.

I love those for the variety.

Here are the loopers.

They are supposed to work for wire 18- 24 guage.  

I used 20 gauge.

I wanted to share my new organizer as well.

It holds essentials and some other fun goodies.

I recently splurged and bought some silk strips so the colors are arranged in the top slots.

I have some of my specialty pliers in their own slots.

My tag punch is where I can find it.

And those little glass jars have hand forged steel findings.

I spent Sunday morning hammering them so I could fill all the little jars.

Kleenex, sewing supplies and chocolate are essentials.

There is always a magazine from Stampington in that slot.

Next to the wooden organizer is a little basket with some pliers and clippers.

Behind it, is a poster my daughter bought for me when we went to Lucketts this spring.

It was a great day.

So that is what is new on the workbench this week.

What are you up to?

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.