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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early January 23, 2013 at 12:36am

I am so jealous!  I too have worked in my family room, kitchen, actually a little of everywhere.  I did take over one of my daughter's bedroom a few years ago for my sewing room, but find it really doesn't give me the space I need.  Recently, I have added some shelving and two sets of storage cubes, which work great for storing my blocks.  I have a kitchen counter top attached to one wall with rta drawers under each end.  I am currently lobbying my husband to allow me to enclose a corner of the pole barn that we keep our tractors in, but am also entertaining the idea of building a one car garage or similar building to house my habit.  We are weighing the advantages vs disadvantages of needing to heat an additional area--dreams VS reality.

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Permalink Reply by Cynthia G Peacock January 23, 2013 at 12:37am

Nice digs, Elaine.  Where do you store your blocks?

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Permalink Reply by Elaine Mergard January 23, 2013 at 8:57am

I store my crown blocks on shelves against wall to the left of bench & brim blocks in low corner cupboards in pic. Behind the pic I have huge cupboard against wall for fabrics, braids ,feathers & swiss straw. I use another cupboard in laundry to store "stuff" plus another 50-60 blocks in garage!

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Permalink Reply by Tina Kite Millinery January 23, 2013 at 4:28am

I currently share a 600 square foot studio loft with three other artists. I'm currently renovating a small shed into my millinery studio. It will include space for meeting and consulting with my clients, hat tea parties and a small sleeping loft for overnight guests. I'm collecting images on Pinterest of things I'd like for the new space and images of inspiration from other milliners and artists around the world.

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Permalink Reply by Tina Kite Millinery January 23, 2013 at 4:36am

I use tall metal shelves and a vintage dresser for storing supplies and flat archival boxes for feathers and flowers. I'm looking forward to having more space to store those items in a way that protects them from light but where I can see everything at one time. I'm considering closet with sliding doors so I can open and see these things on a very narrow shelf. Probably stored in glass bottles and vases.

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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early January 23, 2013 at 7:23am

One thing that I find valuable is jar candle jars.  I save everyone I get and also collect them from my daughters.  They are not hard to clean out and make wonderful containers to store small items, lace, and other trims.  When I am working I want to be able to see all my supplies while keeping them free of dust.  They fit well on shelves, in cubbies and work stations. The lids stay on well, and they are heavy enough that they don't break easily.

Another thing that I have not incorporated into my studio, but designed for my office is a unit of sliding doors that reach from ceiling to floor and encompass an entire wall.  I have a wall of heavy duty shelving for books and heavy files along the wall.  I hung a double door track from the ceiling, purchased 5 used doors of various styles ($15 ea) which I painted to match, and alternated the front and back track when hanging.  It makes the whole wall space a a closet that can be opened a little or a lot just by sliding the doors different directions.  When the closet is closed, you have a pretty wall of doors to look at.

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Permalink Reply by Monika Neuhauser January 24, 2013 at 8:30am

that "door wall" sounds amazing - would love to see a picture of it! What a brilliant idea!!!

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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early January 24, 2013 at 12:01pm

I will take a photo tomorrow, when I have better light.  My husband thought I was crazy, but now even he thinks it was a pretty good idea. I love the amount of access that it allows.

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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early January 25, 2013 at 4:33am

OK, Monika, here are a couple pics of my door wall.  My office isn't terribly big, so it was a little difficult to get good pics of the whole wall.  You can see that each door is different with the exception of the two end doors which match.  Our ceilings are 9', and the doors are 8', so my husband and I built a very short wall coming down less than a foot from the ceiling. Hung the track from that, and trimmed with crown molding to hide the short wall and track.  I used regular closet door track.  It works for me, because I am not rough with my doors, but barn door track or something a little heavier than the closet door track would be better for these doors.  My doors are solid wood, so they are heavier than hollow core closet doors.  You can buy used doors at restores or even get them free from a contractor or homeowner that is upgrading a home or business.  Fill in dents, cracks, and imperfections with wood putty, sand and paint. You can purchase hand slides to slip into the holes that once had doorknobs at a home store. Painting the doors in a common color scheme pulls the eclectic look together.  I chose to paint the doors the same color for a cohesive look, but celebrate the ecclectic collection buy trimming the panels in each door.  Someone might even choose to paint florals or scenery pictures on the door panels for another look.

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Permalink Reply by Monika Neuhauser January 25, 2013 at 6:07am

AMAZING!! Genius idea and I also love the color choice - very elegant!! If I had the right space to do something like this I would in a heart beat. Duly noted for future reference to implement in my dream studio/store :)

thanks for sharing!!

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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early January 25, 2013 at 6:20am

Glad you like it.  I tried to talk my husband into this for several years.  He finally relented, after I bought the doors and started the project. We live in a 100 year old house and the closets are small and definately not designed for the way closets are used today.  The one in my studio has a small door at one end and the closet runs the full length of the room, but it is so narrow, that you can't use shelves, because you can't get to them. Seriously, I still have the metal, wire hooks that they hung their clothes on.  I want that wall gone so bad.  Would love to open that space up, and do the same thing in that room.

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Permalink Reply by Hat Academy January 23, 2013 at 8:34am

@hatacademy just a small part of my mess! twitter.com/hattherapy/sta…

— chrissie king (@hattherapy) January 22, 2013

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