Custom Stationary Holder
Wow - I love Col's work - I mentioned him and his online business 'ColCraft' before when I had my wall mounted spray storage created and here I am again with another ColCraft creation. Now this one isn't entirely finished as I'm still mulling over it all - but couldn't wait to show you how it looks and what I'm doing with it.
I've learned a great deal from this Craft Room Cleanse and one of the most important things has been NEVER ASSUME! Don't assume where something is now, is where it will always be, don't assume what's in that draw will always be in there, don't buy or make storage items which are too specific! I've been trying very hard to create and use things which can store multiple items, be used in different ways and are really versatile in case I change my mind at some point in the future. In keeping with this new found knowledge I decided my stationary organiser needed to be versatile. I knew I wanted to use it to store my most used pens, stickles, markers (non-copic) and ideally some tapes. I actually measured the space my markers took by volume, measured my ink pads, punches, stickles, tapes, and a whole bunch of other stuff and came up with the following design:
I've designed this so I can change my mind at any time, without needing a whole new unit - neat huh. The sections on the top and bottom are the same height, width and depth as are the internal columns - this way I can turn the unit over if I ever need to. The top/bottom sections can fit tapes, ink pads, stickles, punches, or my small keyboard and mouse. The internal sections can fit pens, markers, ink pads, tapes, sprays (small bottles), and so many more items as I had this made with removable internal shelves - item too big - just remove one of the shelves!
First things first, even though I'm not certain how I'm decorating this (it might not be entirely practical) it needed a coat of paint, so all over with the last of my white wash paint mix.
I left it to dry overnight as I didn't want any accidental paint on my nice new table and it was then ready to go. I haven't painted the dividers yet, I think I want them black but will need to decide what I'm doing with the ends first.
Now to begin filling it up, first in went the Stickles and I was very happy with my measuring as it allows 2 rows of Stickles to be stored without any rolling about. I had thought about one of the special Stickles holders with little round holes for each bottle, but I would then be locked into ONLY having Stickles in there and that sounds like 'specific' storage, so I chose this option instead. I'm planning to put a coloured dot on either the top or base of each bottle so I can easily find the colour I'm after. I think perhaps on the top, with the lid will facing towards me, making them easier to grab hold of.
Next the pens and markers - now I know this isn't full just yet - I made sure there was room to grow :O)
And because I'm being space conscious, I designed this to fit right under my Copic marker units and I made sure I could reach right to the top of my markers while still sitting in my chair - lazy, energy conscious or organised - I don't care - it's perfect!
So happy I may have done a little dancing! Now all I need to do is decide if I want to decorate the ends, if I want to add hooks to hold tapes, or just leave it as is.