Donna at Funky Junk Interiors blog hosts a weekly linkup, encouraging her followers/readers to share their recent projects. This past Friday, she suggested that we also share our favorite tips for getting organized at the start of a new year... which sent me to my hwf blog archives to find a post I knew would be what she was hoping for.
It took me awhile to find it in my archives, but I did, and linked it up to her party. The response to it in just two days is astounding! Now I feel motivated by Donna to share this helpful info that you can use by re-posting my original post from 2013 again - so I'm sharing it today as a 'Bonus Post' in addition to my regular content.
This info is the 'BTS' - Behind the Scenes - of how I created my absolute dream office / design studio... spending very little money, using reclaimed + thrifted items + what I already had. I've actually done this in every creative space I have designed for myself, since the very first one in 2004. (I shared that studio in another post, which is linked at the end of this post)
In January of 2011, I moved into my dream house on an island in the PNW, and enjoyed the opportunity to design a whole new studio/office for myself. I undertook this project exactly as I would one for a client: start with what you have and look at it in a fresh way.
continue reading to see how I get organized - on the cheap!
☺
My designs of retail spaces and vintage-style products entail having many resource materials at hand in my studio:
There are books, magazines, tear sheets, color fans, and paint charts.
There are files of completed projects and ‘in process’ designs.
There are design boards from huge to small.
Keeping it all under control is a daily challenge!
I use a lot of creative storage techniques, because although I can handle a certain amount of ‘creative clutter’, I do NOT like it when I can’t find what I am looking for.
Since my room had to have vintage style in my trademark neutral palette, I started with paint...
Since my room had to have vintage style in my trademark neutral palette, I started with paint...
First, I painted the room soft tan and the trim all gloss white.
I can't share the color because it isn't something you can buy.
We made our own paint color - 'Camano Sand' - by mixing many cans of brown, tan, gray, yellow, and white paint sourced from Craigslist and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. (It was 2011 - Craigslist was still a thing!)
* a funny observation: the wall color of our current home is almost identical! *
Instantly, the room was welcoming instead of cold, clinical white - and the soft neutral color wouldn’t interfere with my design work.
I also took down the ceiling fan, replacing it with a three-light ceiling fixture.
Combined with the existing can lights, this room is very well lit for working at two in the morning when my muses wake me up - as well as for combating the ever-present gray tones from the PNW sky outside.
Once the painting was completed, I moved on to placing the furniture:
Once the painting was completed, I moved on to placing the furniture:
Beginning with the large furnishings & fixtures that I already had on hand (ALL of them second hand or recycled or made by my late husband), I figured out how to fit them into this new space efficiently for the way I work - using the location of lighting to place my work surfaces, for example, and knowing how I move around when I am working on projects.
Next, I needed storage containers on those fixtures to hold smaller items.
I use wire locker baskets, wire plate racks, metal boxes & lunch pails, metal sliding drawers, vintage metal bread pans, large clear vases, and cardboard magazine sleeves.
Since all of these elements are visible all the time, I wanted them to have vintage style and visual appeal.
Some of the ‘hidden storage’ in the studio is in the low shelf units… They are very deep, intended to be vertical closet storage units. By laying them down, I gain double-depth space PLUS the top work surface.
Remember to think outside the box about HOW to use what you already have...
Remember to think outside the box about HOW to use what you already have...
Behind the visible rows of white cardboard magazine sleeves (IKEA), there are stacks of books, more sleeves full of tear sheets and catalogs, DVD’s, portfolios, magazines that have published my writing + projects, and project archive files. These are things I don’t need to access often, so having them located behind the magazines works for me.
Small labels on the shelf front tell me what’s behind. The magazines in front are arranged by name, month & season. On top, two units of small drawers (IKEA) hold biz cards and other office supplies.
The tall cube bookcase unit (IKEA) holds all of the books that I access regularly, sorted by subjects. Behind what you see is another six inches of space, holding books I don’t use very often. I kept the books on the lower two shelves, and placed the more visually interesting things to be up high, in the line of sight.
That’s where the baskets & boxes come in! Various materials are stored AND displayed in all of them. Even the white shopping bags on top of this unit hold project materials – but what you see is crisp, clean, and simple.
Tucked back in the corner is a plastic drawer unit – it holds all of my vintage papers and office supplies. You can’t see it, it fills in a dead corner, and each drawer can be pulled out when I need something.
The wire unit in front of it holds large-sized vintage papers and paper cutters - I place the tools near the supplies I need with them. A clear vase, wire basket, and boxes on top hold rolls of paper and small vintage paper elements.
Every business has a file cabinet. and usually, they are hideously ugly. Mine was!
I could have painted it white, but decided instead to cover it with vintage dictionary pages. Lots of glue & paper were involved, but not a lot of time & effort. It sits right out in the open and looks fabulous! (This was two years after I covered a baby grand piano in sheet music and I was on a roll! Rolls of player piano music, to be exact!)
Inside the lower drawer, I keep my printer/scanner, already plugged in (the cord goes out the back). I simply hook up my laptop cord to use them.
My worktable/desk is bar-height, because I work a lot while standing.
Think about HOW you work as you plan the layout and choose furnishings...
that's an important design tip for ANY space.
Under the table, I can store empty wire baskets - they will fill up with product supplies or small items to be priced and sold in our vintage booths at shows. The paper recycling container is an old wood pull-out laundry bin sourced at an estate sale in an old house. A rolling wire cart holds large pieces of fabric, and can be relocated easily. Or emptied if I am hitting a flea market! ;0)
Under the table, I can store empty wire baskets - they will fill up with product supplies or small items to be priced and sold in our vintage booths at shows. The paper recycling container is an old wood pull-out laundry bin sourced at an estate sale in an old house. A rolling wire cart holds large pieces of fabric, and can be relocated easily. Or emptied if I am hitting a flea market! ;0)
Because they are easily changeable and helpful in my processes, I use many ‘Inspiration Boards’... One is a fabulous vintage door, where a bulletin board replaces the former window. Behind it, I can store poster board for client project style boards.
Smaller pin boards across the room are simply made: Squares of rigid foam insulation panels, cut down and covered with fabrics. Each project I work on gets one of these pin boards while in-process, until I am ready to glue it all to a style board for my clients.
The final details...
Having beautiful inspiration around me is essential in my design process, so I included pieces that simply make me smile:
Mannequins dressed in vintage finery and jewelry, products I’ve designed, and gifts from friends all have a special place here, as do a floral chandelier and two favorite hemp chairs. (Rachel Ashwell called them ‘lovely’ when she saw them in my booth at an antique show, so I'm glad they didn't sell!)
By starting with the storage needs, I was able to make pretty quick work of this -
from beginning to (almost) end, this room came together in just one week.
What did I buy for this room?
Paint. From the Habitat ReStore and Craigslist. (we mix our own custom colors, using recycled paint)
The three-spot ceiling light. Thrift store, five bucks. Can of white spray paint, four bucks.
Everything else? Items that I had on hand already -
Some came from a former guest room, the laundry room, garage, and kitchen.
I 'shopped my house' (and storage), and re-purposed my own stuff!
Deb's Top Design Tips:
As I tell my clients, you really don’t have to spend money to redecorate -
re-imagine and re-design instead!
When designing an office space, think about the function needed for your specific work processes.
Move around as if you were working, and decide what storage & work surfaces are necessary - and where.
Remember that the ‘work triangle’ concept of kitchen design applies to offices & studios, too!
* Starting with the largest furnishings, assign each a place and use - considering light sources, access, and traffic flow.
* 'Shop your house' and garage for pieces that can be used in fresh new ways
to add style - think outside the box!
* Get creative with the colors, furnishings and details you select to express YOUR style and brand with every choice.
Soon, you’ll have a space that works as hard as you do!
___________________________________________
this article/post, images, and text copyright Debi Ward Kennedy 2011
and is now ensconced in the Vintage Indie files in the USA National Archive.
originally published here on homeward found decor in 2013
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