Well, I blogged about the woes of setting up a steel cabinet I purchased. After speaking with the ACTUAL ENGINEER who designed the cabinet, and after he sent me replacement parts, I finally finished putting "the box" together...the box being the top, bottom, and sides of the cabinet. I also finally finished assembling the drawers. When it came time to put the drawers inside the cabinet, the instructions stated "you will feel a lot of resistance - be persistent and push the drawers in place". Well....after pushing, the metal sliders that allow the drawers to slide in and out of the box literally fell apart...I had so many ball bearings sliding around on my floor! 1-800-GOT-JUNK picked up the cabinet the next day.
The Engineer happened to call me a few days later - I told him what happened. He apologized profusely and stated that there was now a second complaint on the design AND the lack of instructions for assembling the cabinet. So, it was in the process of redesign. I am going to look on the bright side here - my INTENSE frustrations (2 weeks of my time - waiting for parts, etc.) with the design of this cabinet maybe stopped some other sucker from buying it, as it was pulled from the shelves.
So, I thought I would share some pics of my completed studio. My haven - I can do everything from fabricate, to photographing, to shipping in one room. I should say it is my heaven on earth! I must warn you, this is a LONG POST today....
It is in the basement - so no windows. So, I went with a VERY yellow wall and I LOVE it! I have always had one room in my house painted yellow - it is not a color that I can wear, but I relish basking in its glow every day!
The floor is concrete - it's my foundation! I was going to leave it "as is", but the builder told me to consider a paint treatment. My brother recently painted his garage floor...I fell in love with this shiny, abstract treatment. So, it's now on my floor, too! Makes clean up an absolute breeze, too.
Working from left to right around the room...this is my "admin area". I have had this color printer and this laser printer for years. The computer sits on my mother's old sewing table - it used to hold my metal supplies in my old basement studio.
Next to the computer is an old lateral file cabinet that also holds all my accounting. To the right of the file cabinet is a shelf with all of my packaging supplies and marketing materials. Not pretty, but it works.
The last shelf on this same wall holds all my show materials - I have black velvet for silver, and linen for my copper jewelry.
The next two shelving units were gifted to me from my old office. We used to use them to hold huge binders - they are phenomenal! They are on wheels - my sister painted them before gifting them to me - one end has chalk paint, and the other end is painted with magnetic paint. They hold a TON of beads on one side, and wire and tools on the other. Truly my favorite pieces here, as I can SEE everything on hand.
Artwork! :) The wall behind my "Big Girl's Jeweler's Bench" has pictures of my furbabies - past and present. The silver board on the left used to hang in my Laundry Room - it's a mini peg board with pins, and is also magnetic. I keep more pics of my favorite furbabies, and human babies, too, on this board!
In the photo above, the three "paintings" to the left were gifted to me from a dear, far away friend. She asked me to send her favorite pics of my dogs, which she in turn, had made into canvas prints - they look like real paintings! Abby Girl is on the top left - getting a massage; Sarge is on the bottom left scared out of his wits (only had him a month when this picture was taken!); and my baby boy forever Sam is in the middle. That picture was taken with my niece one day before he passed - he smiled until the end (though he is still with me every day smiling)!
Next up, one of only 2 purchases I had to make - a Big Girl Jeweler's Bench! I searched desperately for months for 1) a bench that did not require assembly; and, 2) a bench that did not charge tons of $$$ for shipping. I looked everywhere online - I wanted a much larger bench. However, delivery would only be to my driveway. Let's face it - I am 5' nothing - and these suckers are solid wood and heavy. So, weight of the bench was an issue. So, I bought the biggest "already assembled" bench I could LIFT! But, I purchased a "Bench Apron" and attached it to the left side of the bench - it swings in and out and holds my most used tools - love it! I also have a drafting stool with a cushy seat and back. I tend to stand more than I sit when I create, but it comes in quite handy.
My fire station! This table was the only other item I had to purchase. It is a 6' stainless steel table - it came unassembled, but I had no problems putting this together! I used to solder on a tiny plastic craft table, which I covered with ceramic tiles. No more tiles! My bench vice and block are easily attached to either the wooden jewelers bench or this table, depending upon where I want to make a mess of things!
This is where I take my pictures - I have to got to find a dress for Lolita to wear...
This plastic table and card table chair (ha - it's padded and really is comfortable!) is where I patinate my metals, buff, buff again, buff again...you get the picture.
Above this table is incredible artwork I purchased from Beth and Evie McCord (their shop on Etsy here) - Beth takes AWESOME photos. These images were taken from statues in a cemetery (!), and mounted on metal. They are spectacular!!!
Okay I lied - this last picture has my favorite item - a SINK!! No more running up and down basement stairs to rinse jewelry. I used to carry a bottle of water down the steps with me every day - spilling as I go - and the water obviously would cool down. I use hot water when I patinate and now, it is Right There. I feel so spoiled!
The white cabinet in the picture is also very special to me. My father and grandfather built that cabinet over 55 years ago. My parents did not have a closet for baby clothes, etc., so, together my Grandpa and Dad built one. When my mother moved up here from Florida almost 4 years ago, this was in their garage. She was going to leave it there to sell with the house - so glad we brought it with us! It's made of real wood - not particle board - imagine that?! It does need a fresh coat of paint, which I will get to one of these days!
Are you still here? What a long post today - hope I did not bore you! I am truly incredibly blessed to finally have a space that is 100% "My Own". Lots of mish-mash shelves and cabinets - but, it works perfectly for me.
Now that my studio is truly complete, I hope to not wait so long between blog posts! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great rest of the week!
xo
Patti
