Easy Tips to Organize your Studio Space

When we moved from Maine to Vermont and rented a house I was faced with creating studio space to work in. The house has a 20X27 great room off the kitchen and what used to be the living room in front of the house.

We decided that the old living should be my studio due to the size and amount of natural light it has with the 2 good size windows. In the center of one wall there are shelves, although they are very shallow. In my house in Maine I used cork boards with all my gems and pearls and that worked very well. I have my seed beads in tubes in tin cans (I like to re-use when possible) and I liked that as well. I have them separated into colors and sizes. In a rental house I had to be careful with anything I did, making sure I could restore it when we leave. I also wanted to be able to hide the shelves and corkboards as it is the first room you come into.



The narrow shelves turned out to be perfect to line up my seed beads on and made it easy to separate them by size with the #15’s on one shelf, #11’s on the next, and so on. I hung my corkboards on either side of the shelves. I wanted to be able to hide that whole set up and protect the gems, beads form light as well. I went out and bought a large curtain rod and panels of curtains. Blue is not the color I would have chosen, but I had to work with the wallpaper that is already there because, like I said it is a rental. The white panels were to sheer.



For my workspace I had some challenges. In Maine my husband built me a table that I could use as a sit/stand and I have a drafting chair that was perfect. The thing about those chairs though is that they do not go low enough for a normal table height, missing by just a couple of inches. I had (2) 7 foot tables but they were too low to work one for hours at a time. To remedy this we went out and purchased some beautiful Birch plywood and I arranged the tables in a “U” shape. This enables me to have my computer nearby, my workspace in front of the window and my light tent just to the right of my workspace.

I purchased a bookcase and have all my crochet/knitting books, beading books and some other storage space. In the closet are my tubs full of yarn, my gift boxes and other miscellaneous items.

Under one table I have my shredder, file cabinet, storage for completed pieces and other supplies that I use often. A smaller bookcase at the end of that table houses tubs (plastic salad containers) full of other supplies such as lampwork, acrylic flowers and leaves, Swarovski crystals and pearls, etc…

On the table to my right I have my light tent, shipping station, paper cutter and other larger tools I use often. I do have some plants around just to keep things fresh and like I said there are 2 good size windows for sunlight and scenery.



I will be happy when the house in Maine sells and we can look into buying a home in Vermont. For now though, this works great and I did not change anything making it very easy to move it all without having to do any repairs to the rental.

Meanwhile, come hang out with me at Divella Delights!

Cold weather, Hot flashes and Beading

Cold weather, Hot flashes and Beading
Being comfortable and hassle free is important to me when I am working. I spend much of the day in my studio either working or learning new techniques and it is difficult to regulate my internal thermometer as I go through the trials of menopause.
As the temperature dips and we enter the cold weather season I am reminded of a handy little tip that I came up with last year while trying to bead with a flannel shirt on. The thread likes to grab the buttons and causes problems for me. I like to keep it a little cool in my studio but sometimes it gets just cool enough that I need another layer but not enough to turn up the heat.
Now, I could wear a sweater or sweatshirt but this poses a problem for me which a few of you will understand. There are times when I have to quickly take off the outer layer. All of you who are there, or have been know how hard it is to regulate our body temperature and how quickly it can change! I got angry one day and cut off all the buttons on one of my shirts and this works very well!
Now I keep this shirt in my studio to wear when there is a chill in the air. I can take it off quickly when my body turns up the heat and put it back on when I return to "normal" several minutes later. I actually have 2 shirts I have done this to, a flannel and a regular cotton denim shirt for times when I don’t need quite the warmth of a flannel. I just fold the sleeves up and I can continue beading without the interruptions.