As mentioned in my previous post, my workroom/studio was left at the end of 2006 looking as if a war had been conducted in it. I was so incredibly busy during the final months of the year and it quickly dawned on me that the workroom just wasn’t cutting it in terms of the way it was set up and organised.
There were many issues, including simply not having appropriate places to put things or to undertake certain tasks. I kept losing things, wasting time trying to find things, my work spread out across my entire apartment as I kept looking for more working spaces and generally everything ended up in a mess.
So my very first task for 2007 was to entirely dismantle the room and start again. And I am pleased to report that I have pretty much finished, after many days of very hard work and after spending a rather vast sum of money at Ikea!
My workroom needs to fulfill a lot of needs – it’s my office for work as I work from home, it’s the place where I run my business and, of course, it’s my jewellery studio – so I thought long and hard and came up with a plan to reorganise it, which I’ve pretty much stuck to.
I was going to post ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots here to show you the rather remarkable difference … but I accidentally deleted the ‘before’s! So instead I’ll just share the ‘after’s.
Above is my brand new desk, which replaces a wobbly old one which used to be my rather dodgy jewellery bench – so it was covered in burn marks, dents, scratches and more – not very nice to do general work on. Soon there will be a brand new Mac on my new desk … but for now there’s my trusty old one.
Behind the still to be properly hung curtain is some metal shelving containing relatively big pieces jewellery equipment, materials and more – with lots of chemicals in the boxes at the top. The table in the foreground will be where I keep my pickle for cleaning metal – saving me from running back and forth between rooms with very hot or wet pieces of metal! I will also use it for polishing. In the background are my new bookshelves, all neatly arranged as of today.
One thing I realised I desperately needed in the last few months was simply a place to pack parcels which would also be the place where my packing materials are kept. And finally here it is!
I’ve already put it to good use – and there is another order sitting on it in this photo waiting for me to pack up.
I’m pleased to report that it’s most excellent!
And finally … my lovely jewellery bench, now complete with far better organised storage and lots of surfaces nearby for storing things on.
I’ve moved it to the other end of the room so that the place where I solder is near the window rather than cooped up in a corner – I decided that the fumes were getting to me!
So … what next? Well, I won’t bore you further with descriptions of my newly reorganised kitchen, nice new fridge and speccy new vacuum cleaner … or the rather chunky amount of sorting out that still needs to happen in my bedroom.
But I will share my in tray with you. Yes, it’s a nightmare. And it needs attending to very soon! There’s also another pile of random paper hidden in a drawer that needs sorting too.
Once I feel a bit more on top of those things I shall be back at my bench making new stuff. Can’t wait!
Hi Simone,
Your work space looks great. Mine looks more like your “in” tray! Anyway, just wanted to pop over and say thank you! You are soooo sweet! Thanks so much for nominating my blog on Delightful Blogs! It’s so exciting to be on the front page! Keep up the gorgeous work on that jewelry bench!!
by Brandy on 9 January 2007 at 6:03 am |
Oooh I recognise those shelves from Ikea, I think it is called flava or something like that. My house also has many billy’s from ikea also. I should be inspired to clean up my work room, yours is looking great.
by Anna on 9 January 2007 at 1:23 pm |
very inspiring! having everything in its place must make filling orders a ton easier. i know that my coffee and dining table haven’t been used for entertaining or dining since i opened shop.
what types of containers do you use to store your chain, findings, etc?
(great to find another jewelry artist!)
by urban_bloom on 11 January 2007 at 6:47 am |
Re containers … up until recently I used those flat plastic boxes with lots of divided up areas inside them and a hinged lid that fitted tightly so things couldn’t get mixed up. They’re great, but they take up a fair bit of bench space and all you have to do is knock one over while it’s open to have hundreds of tiny components all mixed up on the floor! Which, trust me, is no fun at all.
So I’ve now started getting round, clear plastic pots which all screw together to form a kind of tower, with the top one having a screw on lid. This means you only need to have one open at a time, can see everything clearly without opening anything and they take up a lot less space. They’re highly recommended and come in different sizes.
by Simone on 11 January 2007 at 3:36 pm |
Good job! You’ve inspired me a little – I’m feeling a rearanging urge hit me as I type.
It looks like a totally functional work space. My own workspace is a bit of a nightmare in terms of efficiency and practicality – eeek! But I’ve never been a terribly organised person.
I really dig your packaging table – great idea!
by Shell on 12 January 2007 at 9:20 am |
im so in love with your organized space simone!! come look at mine on my blog… it may be worse than your in tray! ‘-’
by its your life on 4 February 2007 at 9:02 pm |
I wondered if you could let me know where did you get your new jewellry bench from. I am looking for one just like it for my daughter.
by Rose on 6 December 2007 at 3:51 am |
Can you let me know what height the top surface of your bench is at? I’m fitting out a workshop myself and will build a bench which can be at any height I choose, but I also need to fit in a window. I’m interested to know what you think a good height would be – I’ve seen anything from 840cm to over a metre quoted. Once I know the height of the bench I can work out the sill height for the window to give max light (and a view), and hopefully a row of sockets between the sill and the bench.
Any clues?
by John on 8 April 2008 at 12:32 am |