New Jewelry Studio

My husband got the idea that if we moved our furniture around a bit, I could have a room all to myself for my jewelry work and an office.  So we moved his stuff out of the future bead room.

Moving the printer out of the new bead room.

Then we moved my things into the room, including the drawers from my antique Hamilton printers cabinet.

Drawers from my antique Hamilton printers cabinet.

Our dog, Chochi, supervised the move.

Chochi

The walls were a dull, light brown, so I decided they needed a fresh, light color that would make me feel cheery and peaceful.  I scooted the furniture to the middle of the room, out in the hallway and into the master bedroom.  Then I painted two of the walls a light turquoise blue.

It is hard to photograph yourself painting!

The next day my friend, who loves to paint rooms, came over and we finished the other two walls.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

Now I am slowly bringing my furniture back into the studio from the bedroom and hall.  I’m organizing everything as I put it away.  On one side of the room I have my bead table and it is pretty well organized now.  The other side has my computer desk and some book shelves.  That side still needs working on.  But I think I’m far enough along to share some pictures with you.

Here’s my work table.  The “parking” sign was a gift from my husband for Christmas!

All the art on the walls was done by family members or friends.  It fills me with joy to be surrounded by their creativity.  I haven’t hung everything yet.  There are more photos by my husband, screen prints by my daughter and paintings by my brother. The painting on the right is by Angela Pierce.

The wooden boxes on the right are from IKEA.  I plan to paint them white (furniture and storage painting is phase two of this project).  I also plan to paint my bead table white.

My jewelry work table.

As you can see, I have labeled all the drawers.  Can’t live without my label machine!  The handmade vase above the boxes is filled with pussy willows and was a gift from the friend who helped me with the painting.

Wooden boxes from IKEA

The white shelves on my work table are actually shoe shelves from Fred Meyers (I think that is just an west coast store).  They assemble easily and I use them all over the place.  You’ll see them in my closet, as well.

Shelving on the work table.

The closet holds some of my other crafty interests:  paper crafts, basketry, silk painting (dyeing) supplies.  I used the shoe shelves to extend the storage on the shelf above the clothes railing.  Two of my hand dyed silks are hanging to the right in the closet.  If I have space, I’d like to hang them up on the studio walls.

The closet in my new studio.

My beloved Hamilton printers cabinet is to the left of my work table.  I store all my art beads, pearls, gemstones, seed beads and crystals here. The painting above the cabinet is by Susan England.  It is from our favorite get-away in Costa Rica.  One of my silks hangs to the right of the cabinet and I wove the basket that sits on the floor.

My Hamilton printers cabinet.

The last picture I’m going to share is the light box where I photograph my jewelry for posting in my online shop.  This light box is just the greatest thing!  I can now take pictures in all light conditions!

My desk and computer area are still a mess.  I’ll share pictures of that side of the studio when I’ve got it all organized and clean.

Photo light box.

I hope you enjoyed this little studio tour.  I welcome your comments, suggestions or questions!