In the Studio: Re-Organization and Re-Model

It's begun!  My husband gave me cabinets for my studio for Christmas and the countertop we ordered arrived yesterday!  The actual cabinets are supposed to be here by the 31st then the fun really begins. 

This set of cabinets is for the "office" area and will hold my computer and peripherals.  There will be cabinet storage both below and above the work surface.  We started with the office wall because I'll need to get the desk and tables out that currently hold my computer stuff.  Once that's done, we'll be able to get the cabinets for the other walls.

We haven't ordered them yet as I'm not sure exactly what I want and they're too expensive to get something I don't like.  I don't think I want any wall cabinets for the other walls.  I do want the counter space and cabinets beneath the countertops would be ideal.  I'm not crazy about wall cabinets because I'm so short that the shelves above the lowest ones would probably go to waste!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Let's Make Art Members

I have to brag on the members at Let's Make Art as I got a plethora of great ideas for storing my art papers and protecting the top of the Monster from a couple of them. My thanks go out to Joanie and to Christine of the Creative Life Studio blogspot as they both had some very workable ideas. Christine even provided some links to places where I could obtain some items. Thanks so much to both of you!

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Today I think I'm going to finish the top of the Monster and hopefully get to do a little painting later today or tomorrow if at all possible. I'm really looking for the USB data cable for the phone/PC internet tether to arrive either tomorrow or by at least Saturday and if it does arrive, I'm sure I'll end up messing with it. I haven't done any painting in a while so I definitely hope to work in some doodles at least even if the cable arrives. With the high speed of that internet connection, I figure I can get all of the usual online stuff done quickly so I can still play and have time to paint!

I love having the best of both worlds! lol

The Monster Table!

Sorry not to have posted in a while but I've been working on getting more coats of paint on my monster art table. My husband was good enough to get the primer coat plus one coat of the paint onto it but it needed more. Anyway, I thought I'd share some pictures of the Monster. I really think it will be great to use as it has all that storage beneath the split table top. However, I want to store paper there and wondered if the paint is enough of a barrier to keep acid from harming the art paper. If not, what can I do to protect the paper during long-term storage? I'm a bit of an art supply collector and sometimes it's quite a while before I use some things. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the Monster!


As you can see, there is a storage area under the table top that's about five and a half inches deep at nearly the entire width and length of the table. The drafting hinge mechanisms have not been attached yet but will support each half of the split top. The table has been designed so that I can work from either side and have access to the storage area no matter which side of the table I'm on.

I'll probably work from the left side/left drawing area most often so my husband installed a pull-out wire basket for more supplies on the right side under the table. I have some plastic shoe boxes and can fit three of them perfectly into the basket. This type of storage box will also fit under the table top.

I still need to find some kind of protection for the top - I'd thought of a self-healing mat material to cover each half of the top but that doesn't feel like the right solution to me. I also looked at some smooth, 1/8 inch wall board but decided that would not stand up. My husband suggested linoleum/vinyl flooring but we couldn't find anything that wasn't textured. The tops are painted and I may just put on several coats of polyurethane or something and make sure to use large sheets of newsprint under my art work. Again, if anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know!