STUDIO TIDYING, 2025 – A NEW SHELF UNIT
My studio has been driving me nuts for months. All through last year I was busy with the online art course and was able to do most of the work on my lap in the sitting room in comfort. When I am not using my studio regularly, it soon becomes a dumping ground and the chaos mounts up. Every now and then when I can’t stand it any longer, I have a blitz so that I can actually get in there, and maybe do something.
I began another blitz early in January of this year.
This is what it was like when you first entered the room. Unbearably chaotic!!
The further side of the room:
This is a panoramic photo I took after I’d started moving some stuff around. It’s the first time I’ve done a panoramic with my phone. Very odd distortions!
This is an edited version of a photo I took last year, where I’ve selected the boxes and baskets under the window from amongst the rest of the chaos, and darkened the rest and made it monochrome.
I couldn’t find a photo of that part of the worktop with just the boxes and baskets. The large boxes (Really Useful Boxes sans lids) contain polywallets with all my gel prints and other useful papers for collage etc. The smaller white plastic baskets hold my dies, embossing folders and card-making stuff.
These boxes and baskets have taken up so much room on that part of the worktop that I haven’t been able to use it for anything else. I had nowhere else to store them.
More baskets on the shelf above my main work area. This is also an edited version of a photo taken last year. I’ve never liked them there. The one on the left contains stamps, and the one on the right is sitting in a box of paper with some inked papers in front. I would like to free up this space to keep more tools and materials which are at present cluttering up the area around my media mat.
A new shelf unit
I thought that if I could install some kind of shelf unit on the left, I could store all this stuff vertically rather than horizontally. It would still be easily accessible, and it would clear most of the space. I didn’t want anything too much in front of the window or it would block the light.
Searching online
I spent hours searching for something that would fit, and which would hold my boxes. Nothing seemed suitable. Everything was either too small, or much too large, and designed to be floor-standing. Searching for storage shelves seemed to yield no useful results.
Bingo!
Eventually I came across a metal shelf unit on Amazon, designed as a microwave stand for the kitchen. This unit is adjustable, and I immedately knew I could make it work in the space, so I ordered one. It has taken several weeks to come (from China, of course) and it arrived a couple of days ago.
Assembling the shelf unit
It was only today that I had time to unbox it and assemble it.
I had a terrible job assembling it. The instructions were not exactly crystal clear, and the white plastic parts you can see in the bag were not shown on the list of contents so I had to work out how to use those. At first, it appeared that I was short of a fairly important piece, and I wondered if they had sent me the smaller version of the unit by mistake. There were enough screws in the bag for the larger version, though. I looked in the box again and there was the part, which was a relief! It was a nightmare working out where everything went, because there seemed to be too many holes in the frame.
Anyway, I managed it at last, and here it is in situ. Being metal, it is nice and strong and will hold quite a weight. My basket of dies weighs a ton, and the weight of the rest of the stuff adds up too.
Some detail shots of the unit
The adjustable bars at the back of the unit. You unscrew the plastic knurled ring to release the pressure on the inner bar, and you can telescope them apart.
The adjustable shelf and bars
You can see that the shelf has a slightly smaller end which slots into the larger piece so you can adjust the width of the unit. The shelves are folded around on the remaining three sides so they are pretty rigid.
Moveable LED lamp
You can see my movable LED lamp attached to the underside of the top shelf with its strong magnet. I bought this lamp at a craft show years ago, and it came with lots of variations, including two different lengths of gooseneck. This is the longer one, and unfortunately the lamp is much too heavy and it makes the gooseneck droop, so I’ve tied it up with string in true Heath Robinson style. The lamp unscrews from the end of the gooseneck. The other end of the gooseneck also unscrews and can be screwed onto a stand, or a clamp. The lamp is rechargeable by USB and you can run it off the battery or off the mains. I thought I’d leave the magnetised gooseneck in place on the self unit, and unscrew the lamp and move it around the room if I want to use it somewhere else. I’ve got the clamp mounted on a shelf above my drawing area on the other side of the room. It’s on the short gooseneck there.
It’s a very useful piece of kit but I wish the goosenecks were a bit more sturdy! The lamp itself is pretty heavy.
The shelf unit fully stocked
This is highly satisfactory! It fits the space perfectly and doesn’t obscure much of the window. I can get at everything easily and it looks really cool. There’s enough space in front of the baskets to put a few loose items, and just enough room either side of the Really Useful Boxes to store my box of Taperlogy papers and the red magazine box containing a few magazines.
Useful hooks
The unit also came with six plastic hooks which clip onto the frame. These are presumably supposed to be for hanging kitchen utensils, but I am already finding uses for them.
Cleared space!
Here is the space under the window, clear for the first time for ages.
The shelf above my main work area is now free for me to use for things that are currently cluttering up the work area.
Now that the shelf unit has arrived and I’ve got it up and running, the tidying can go ahead more easily.
I am very pleased with the result of this project.
