That Was Fun...Part 3

Well here is the last installment of my office redo until I get my new workbench and last set of shelves. At that point I'll move our giant laser printer onto the shelves and transfer my jewelry making supplies to the new workbench, move my cork board above my reading area (see below), and then relax! Here are my shelves, totally organized! I was able to fit all of my jewelry books and magazines, business books, painting inspiration photos, frames, sewing machine, general office supplies and junk, board games and some of my favorite Etsy artists' artwork.
Here is my beautiful new desk! I got it from Ikea and it is fabulous! I was able to fit one of my filing cabinets right under the desk, with room for a storage box full of old computer stuff behind it (old hard drives, etc.). It is wide and deep enough to hold my laptop, stereo, water glass, to-do binder, scrap paper binder (I told you I'm into the 3 R's, lol), my pen pots (recycled from old tea-leaf cans covered in scrapbook paper), and my "freebie box" - all of my materials that go into making freebies for you when you order more than $10 from my shops. I like to keep it in front of me so that if I have a little extra time I can fill it by making gifties for you! Even better is that my desk is in front of my window so that I can see outside when it is light and be inspired by my forest. The desk is also over my heating vent, which has turned out to be quite handy in keeping my perennially cold toes nice and toasty!
Here is my temporary work desk. It is clean! I have my tools in the storage drawers to the left, with my vice and anvil in front. Then I have my 2 bead and finding storage drawer sets (they are overflowing, so the next time Canadian Tire has a sale on these "Parts Drawers", I'll be getting ANOTHER one, LOL! I also have room to work, which is great, as well as being able to store my various-sized plastic baggies (in the white boxes next to the bead storage) and my photography light is on top of a box to better light up my light box, which I now have room for! See the last photo for my new light box.
Here is what will be my reading corner. I have Arwen's bed so that we can be near each other, I have my tall bookshelves with some books, and many pieces of Etsy Artisans' art - from Epic Farms, Crazy Bliss, Art By Marilyn, Visual Smiles Gallery, Bunnies and Hares by Dragon House of Yuen (not pictured, but I now have them on my small bookshelf), and more! I'm going to put more of my books on the smaller shelf and eventually find a comfy armchair/reading chair to put right beside it that I can curl up in to read a good book for hours on end. I also had room for one of my yoga mats and light hand weights, so that I am able to get in a few good vinyasas or arm curls when waiting for things to load :)
Here is my fabulous light box! Constructed from a standard cardboard filing box, I lined it with plain white paper to bounce the light around in it. I have a white background for dark pieces, and for lighter pieces I have this grey background (it looks brown here, but that is from all of the different light sources hitting it in the photo). This allows me to have more even lighting and get more consistent photos of my jewelry. I finally have room for it, and room to store it when not in use, so I am very excited about this!

Well, that is all for now, I'll keep you updated on the new workbench and shelves as they become available. I'm also starting to (slowly) purchase metalsmithing equipment to expand my jewelry knowledge and techniques, so I will be sure to show you the new tools as I get them :)

For those interested, the heavy duty shelving units (Spacemaker Brand) are from Canadian Tire and cost $45.99 each. They are 36inches wide, 70inches tall and 16inches deep. The desk is from Ikea and is Mikael model in beech/white and was $69.99. It is approximately 55inches wide, 29inches deep and 29inches high. The filing cabinets were fromZellers, on sale for $39.99 each (I got 2) and are for standard, letter sized documents. The black storage boxes were also from Ikea and were the Kassett series, both the CD boxes and Magazine boxes. They came in sets of 2 per kind and were $6.99-$17.99. The parts drawers and storage drawers on my work desk are from Canadian Tire and ranged from $13.99-$29.99 at regular price, but I waited until they were on super-sale. The workbench (still to come) is a stainless steel-topped workbench from Canadian Tire and is regularly $199.99 but I got it on sale for $89.99. The total office overhaul (7 years overdue), cost about $550. Prices are in Canadian Dollars, not including taxes.

Have a great day, I am off to enjoy my nearly finished, and SO much better, art space!

That Was Fun, Let's Never Do That Again, Part 2

Putting Shelves Together

Continuing from yesterday's post, here are some more photos from my office refurbishing. Here I am putting together the shelves, which are great, but take a million tiny screws that need to be mainly hand tightened before being tightened with a screwdriver. The result is that I have beautiful shelves, and torn up fingers. They have healed on the outside, I don't know that I've healed on the inside. Well, actually, I have...

Starting to Get Organized

Just look at this! I LOVE my new shelves! All injuries are forgotten in my new joy at seeing my office finally start to get organized. On the right side on the floor is a Bateman Print (Limited edition, "Twilight Siberian Tiger") that I have to hang up, but until I do, it is staying safe right there :)

Assembling Storage Boxes

We got to Ikea on Friday (can I just tell you how in love I am with that store??) and I got some great storage boxes and a NEW desk! The storage boxes are cardboard, but also need screws to be put together. It was worth the work though, they look fabulous and hold all of my small, messy-looking items easily!

Interim Office From Door

Here is my office in the interim, until I get my workbench and one more set of shelves. I am so happy with how it is turning out, it is so easy to use my laptop on one desk and do my jewelry making on the other. I now have room for each and that is such a blessing. I am also able to now have a light box, which I made last night and will show you tomorrow, when I show you part 3 of this series. Of course, part 4 is waiting on the last bit of furniture, but we'll have that whenever it it comes in. While I am not fond of buying new furniture where old will suffice, I have been using the old furniture for about 8 years, and it was used when I got it! The old furniture is also going to its new home when friend takes my old desk and my parents take the old bookshelves, so no garbage dumps were added to in this redecoration. Reduce, reuse, recycle is my motto, I just needed specific items to make my workspace more efficient and workable for my business :)
Stay tuned, you don't want to miss the transformation :)

That Was Fun, Let's Never Do That Again, Part 1

Office Starting Point, View 1

I am not dead, though I am sorry I have been away for so long! I have, as I stated on Friday, been redoing my office and though I am still alive, I am wondering how that is, as I have been run over by tables, leaned against by heavy bookshelves, nicked by screws and just generally beaten up by stuff over the last few days. I did get out to see the new "A Christmas Carol" in IMAX 3D on Saturday, which was AMAZING! and so restful, but that will be a story for another day...

Office Starting Point, View 2

Although it looks okay in photos, my office did not have the storage or versatility I need to run my business effectively. Aside from the amount of dust collected in various nooks and crannies, the bookshelves were just that: bookshelves, and not meant to hold heavy amounts of books or equipment without bowing to their weight. It was also too cluttered and messy-looking - not conducive to my creativity at ALL!

Office Starting Point, View 3

Here, though roomy, the table was really just wasted space, and ended up holding junk. I needed a place to do photography, but it was too low to stand and take photos, and too high to sit and take them also. Frustrating! I also needed better organized storage, a better work surface for making jewelry and a surface just for my laptop and general paperwork.

Making Room

After 6 months of planning, whining, and general malcontent, I finally saw that the workbench I wanted was going on sale for 60% off and jumped. Of course, I jumped too late and by the time I got there (the day after the sale started) they were sold out and I now have a rain check for them to call me "Whenever it comes in", as the sales lady so helpfully told me. I did, however, get 2 sets of shelves, which I am very happy about. These are heavy duty shelves, and they are supposed to hold up to 200 lbs per shelf. Now, while I doubt they would hold that much, they are much stronger than my bookshelves and they have better depth. My only regret is that I only got 2 sets...I thought they would come in a huge box, being that they are 6 feet high, but no, the shelves bolt together and the uprights are 3 feet each, being bolted together in the middle to make a very strong join, and the total box only 3 feet long also. I am going to go and get 1 more set of those shelves. Here I am making room for them, with my ever-helpful snoopervisor, Arwen...

And I'll get more shelves...right after I finish dealing with my disaster! It doesn't look like this now, but I still shudder at the memory. With much-appreciated help from Brennan, I did manage to get the two massive old bookshelves downstairs (my parents are taking them in the spring when the weather is better and they have the insurance back on the truck), and I've moved some things around (many things, actually).
Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment...