Studio/Storage/Decor





Kevin and Amanda's Seriously well-organised scraproom HERE

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A mind-bogglingly massive, well-organised studio HERE

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An ingenious way to store your scrapbooking ribbons HERE

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My own Studio Transformation

From this {photos taken in 2009 before we moved in - previous owner's decor}
Below is a copy of the post I wrote about it when it was finally complete!



The hall of our new house, that lead into the dining room.



2.5m x 4.4m - not very big - but big enough for a little desk & a book cabinet.



With a lovely double french door leading out to the carport.



This was the only space possible to be converted into a scrapbook nook
 for myself, that would also have to double-up as a computer
 work-station for myself & the 2 younger kids. Could it be done?




It took weeks, which rolled into months, in preparatory work as I 
made appointment after appointment {most of which weren't kept initially,
 as is the Durban way...} until I had 6 quotes & chose the cheapest 
{who also happened to be the person I had the most faith in}, who 
could then only fit the units a month after quoting. Above, to the right, 
is the internal door that leads into the dining room. 

I had 2 fitted cupboards installed to keep all my clutter 
out of sight {albums/off-the-page blanks/ephemera/memorabilia/etc}.
There is space above the right-hand-side cupboard to store baskets of
 stuff/my wheelie tote {hadn't put it up there yet}, as I couldn't go any 
 higher with the cupboards due to the window/french-door lintel. 

 I did have to relocate the alarm "eye" as it wouldn't have been 
effective with items placed directly in front of it. 
{you can see it's been moved from the corner of the wall to the
 side of the door now}.



Above - the next cupboard {on the left-hand-side} with the 
air-conditioner above it {removed it from our last house &
 had it re-installed here} so nothing can be placed in front of it 
whilst it is operating {9 months of the year for me!}. 

Turning the corner to the window-side you can see the apple-green
 gingham blinds I had made, my sewing-machine & desk lamp 
& my work table. I had this installed at standing-height 
{90cm - same as kitchen work surfaces - as I always stand whilst working}.



A bit more of the work-surface on show here.
 All the tool/embellishment containers are going to have their own shelf 
to the left of the counter-top but I am still waiting for this to be installed. 
{A narrow - 12cm - shelf unit with 6 shelves - attached to the fitted
cupboard you're about to see in the next photo}.  So my work surface 
will be clear of all that to make way for projects in progress.



The left-hand-side of my work surface. 
That blank white wall you see is where all the containers
 around the edge of my counter top will be stacked.



The 3rd fitted cupboard. The first 2 are pretty narrow 
{dictated by the available space before the window} 
so I made this one the same depth as the work surface. 

The internal shelves are closer together than standard, 
so that all my baskets & containers fit in snugly &
I can fit more in that way. You can't see it at all but the units
 are foiled melamine with a wood-grain finish that is very nice. 
Standard melamine would have been cheaper but here it comes
 out a grey shade & I wanted pure white {I know because I
 had a couple of toiletry cabinets made for our main bathroom 
 & they are most definitely "newsprint" {off-white}, 
but look okay in there as it's all cream & white anyhoo...



I need to smarten up all that stuff on the top of
 the cupboard. {SOME of my mountainous collection
 of offcuts & some pre-prepared page-kits that I'm sure
 I'll want to change by now...}Yes, the beautiful french door 
has disappeared! It had to go unfortunately. 

With a lovely big window already I needed the space more 
than I needed the light, so I had a builder block up the
 door {from the inside only} with a "dry-wall" that can
 fairly easily be removed if future owners want to open the 
door up again. From the outside the door is still visible but 
you just see a solid white expanse behind it & I have made
 a trellis, painted it white & hung it over the door to 
 disguise it further. Now I just need to plant up some pretty
 pots with some climber plants for it.



Turning the corner we're looking at the corner opposite the wide
 fitted cupboard now {above}. This work surface is sitting 
height {76cm} in order to provide a work-station for the
 computer/phone/printer/scanner/silhouette {stored on top 
of the computer tower}. In the corner I have placed my spare 
cutting mat, a couple more tool/adhesive boxes & a perspex 
 paper rack {used to store my plain cardstock}. 

I had a couple of shelving units installed at kitchen top-unit
 height ABOVE the computer work surface in order to provide 
some open storage. {12 rectangular cubbies}.



To the right of the computer area I had 10 narrow drawers
 installed for keeping all my stickers, alphas, embellishments, 
etc sorted nicely. Each drawer houses exactly 2 fishing-tackle 
type divided embellishment containers perfectly {height-wise} 
with a space at the side for sticker sheets, etc. All the drawers 
are on runners with wide stainless steel handles so are easy to 
grip & pull-out like a dream!



On top of the shelving unit I have some magazine holders 
housing my folder files {containing sketches, etc}, some 
MORE baskets of off-cuts & my basket of rubber 
stamps. {My acrylic ones are in the drawers}. This is by no
 means final & as I start actually utilising the room on a
 regular basis so I'll shuffle things around to suit my purpose.



'Scuze the different light in all these photographs. I took all these 
shots at night. Despite it being school holidays here Chelsea has
 winter school {which starts at crack of dawn & ends slap
 bang in the middle of the morning} then extra Afrikaans lessons
 {compulsory for all her class} followed by extra maths lessons 
{she's in her final year so these 5 weeks are not really considered 
a holiday for them} nor me as I am still running her back & 
forth & the other kids also have plans that I need to 
accomodate, so taking photos during the day just doesn't seem
 to be happening much at the moment.



The units presently contain a mish-mash of different items. Computer 
 related stuff, phone-books, scrapbooking books, photography stuff, 
 disks, half my flower collection {that really needs to join the other half 
in the cupboard}, tubs of ribbon & tonnes of stationery 
{with the occasional duck thrown in for good measure}.



Below - my workstation under the window opposite the computer has
 another 12 drawers - plus 18 paper racks on each side {pretty much
 full already I'm ashamed to say...} I finally found a white "bucket"
 chair - at Boardmans - but couldn't find a white monitor {bar the 
Mac one at R10 000 here - about 5 - 10 times the price of all the 
others} but did manage a Mac keyboard & cordless mouse, 
so altogether things are looking pretty snazzy! Just waiting for the 
shelf to be installed & getting some quotes on wood laminate
 flooring. Have a tester pot of apple-green due to hit the walls any
 time now {only need a tiny bit as there is not much wall space
 left LOL} then I'm good to go!



There was a time {a long time - but pre-blog} where I was 
a scrapping machine & finished AT LEAST a layout 
a day. Now I feel like "The Retired Scrapper" would be a 
more appropriate name for my blog. Needless to say I am
 sooooooooo behind... but I am not discouraged. This year
 I have had to take control of our house-hunt, move & 
renovation & now that that's mostly completed {well the 
decor is a work in progress} I am looking forward to stepping
 back into scrapbooking - expect a come-back soon!



Monday, May 14, 2012


The Last Instalment of my Studio Tour!






Hello there!
Time to wrap up my STUDIO TOUR series!

These drawers are a mess and need a good sort out.
Next to them you can see my tripod and spare desk light. 
{which I use when I have to take night photographs of my
layouts - a last resort but it has been known to happen}.


The area above the double cupboards (as you walk into 
my studio on the right-hand side).  We have now come
full circle around my small, rectangular room.  Not great 
as you can see.  Reason being that it's not easy for me to
get up here to tidy this space up.  Various bits up there,
mainly photo albums, picture frames that are too big to
fit inside cupboards, postal boxes I use for sending out
RAKS, my smaller shoulder tote & my aircon to the left.


I have to keep the area in front of the aircon 
unobscured -  I have my aircon on almost 
constantly, even now it's on 24 degrees as I type
 LOL.  Our climate is really hot and humid here.


Isn't that pretty?
I found these decals really cheaply at our local CNA
{stationers} and bought 2 packs to create this effect.
I'm really considering removing these doors altogether
& only returning them when we eventually sell our home.
I think open shelves and baskets would work better
for me in this small space.


A view from a bit further back in the room so you can see
 how everything fits together.  I wish I had some nice WRMK
 pink mats instead of my dark green ones - they are on my wish
 list but as you can imagine - they are LARGE to ship so I'm 
hoping I can find a supplier in the UK so hubby can bring them
home to me - lining his suitcase - yup, he loves me THAT much...


Here's a view from the other side.  Yup there is only about
 2.5 feet between my 2 counters - not even enough space for
 2 people but I don't mind as my studio is right next to the
 dining-room, where my kids do their homework so I don't feel
 left out at all & I like zoning out a little with my media player :) 


I'm planning on getting a pigeon-holing system custom-made
to fit up on top of my cupboards to look nicer & more uniform
as I've given up finding anything more suitable than that ugly thing!


My laptop bag that my gorgeous friend Mitra  shipped to me
from the States as the Amazon seller wouldn't send it here. I
am always transferring information between my laptop and my
computer.  I've attached a couple of little bags that hold my
headphones, BlackBerry to pc cords, etc, all in their own bags.


Next to the door and my computer - I've managed to
squash in another metal wheelie rack.  How cute is my
bin?  It's really tiny, which is rather impractical, but I 
don't have space for a bigger one and it is a miniature 
version of a real garbage can - {{{love!!!}}}.

On the top shelf I have a couple of "dumping" baskets
that are the equivalent of my "intrays" where I put
things that need to be put away, etc...

2nd shelf - kids school books that I constantly sort
through and tear out funny stories, etc, to keep for
their "special boxes" full of all their memorabilia.

3rd shelf - CD player & disks for when the sound on
my pc was inexplicably broken for months
(fixed now fortunately).

Bottom Shelf - various different sizes of envelopes
from overseas parcels that I've received over the years
- to give me an indication of what postage costs I can
expect to pay when I am buying online.


A view down my "computer side" from my door.


Another view of the central area.


My pretty "back cushion" from Woolworths,
love that it matches my space so well!


My computer space.  I love my Samsung monitor.
Everything is crystal clear on it.  Would love a Mac
Screen but here they are outrageously priced.  I do
have a little Mac keyboard.  I couldn't revert back now!

Behind my computer I have some framed whiteboards
that are forever falling off the wall despite using 
"No More Nails" tape - I think its' going to have to be
NAILS soon LOL.  I have an external hard-drive that
I back all my photo files onto regularly.  Can't sleep at
night otherwise.  

So there you have it.  
You can see my other studio tours here.

When I eventually make the changes I have in mind to
improve my space further I will do an UPDATED tour.

I have 3 double built-in cupboards and twenty-two
drawers that are STILL UNSEEN !! and I will do
a tour of those too - when I have the time!

I hope you have enjoyed taking a peek into my space.

I know it's not perfect but I've done the best I can to
make it as attractive as possible, although my first 
consideration has been the practicality of it all.  

If you take a look HERE you can see how my studio
looked before I had my units fitted and how it looked
just over a year ago when I first moved in to it.  It only
measures 2.5m x 4.5m so I am pretty stoked over
how much I have managed to fit in to such a tiny space!


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