My Studio Storage Story

Happy April!  OK, so it's already a week in, and those looking for the monthly challenge, I apologize, but I have decided to take a month off of monthly challenges to focus on a lot of projects that we have had waiting in the wings here at the Jones casa.  But no worries, monthly challenges will start back up next month!

And when I say projects.... wow do we have a long wish list to tackle.  Winter slows us down here in Wisconsin because even DIY projects as simple as spray painting something, are next to impossible.  We lose our workspace {the garage is basically a giant walk-in freezer}, and paint/stain really doesn't do well in our uber cold climate.  So, we wait and wait and wait some more, for things to warm up so we can get our hands dirty again.  Although a little snow remains {and more is in the forecast - seriously, boo}, temps are slowly rising and we are taking this month to accomplish some of the things that have been accumulating on our list over the last 6 months.  I seriously can't wait!

One of the spaces we already started on, is my studio.  I shared last week how we DIY'd a new little console table/workstation, which I am over the moon in love with.  But in order to put the workspace in, I did say goodbye to some storage.  I am sure it was confusing, but if only I had shown you the rest of the room, you would begin to understand, that storage is in abundance within the studio.

Back in June of last year, we did a little secret studio project.  I wanted to put in a corner workstation that was counter height for crafting {you can see it one our project wish list here}.  Full on crafting.  You know, gluing, label making, binder making, Silhouette using, sewing {wishful thinking} and laminating.  My love for all of the above, were really deserving of a workstation, so that I could use my dining table for.... well, eating dinner with my family.

After a lot of measuring and researching prices of cabinets corner units and counter tops, I decided that I needed to say goodbye to the corner storage dream.  It just was not cost effective for the space that I had available.  Instead, we would just use the back wall of the studio to put in a wall of upper and lower cabinets, which not only would give me oodles of storage, but that long awaited crafting space.

So, we went to our local home improvement store and picked up some off the shelf, unfinished cabinets.  After pricing out pretty finished cabinets at multiple home improvement sites and even IKEA, I couldn't pocket the splurge when I knew I was perfectly able to add the paint myself for a huge fraction of the cost.

My hubby was determined to get them installed ourselves {again, to save money}, and he consulted his handy dad for some advice.

The plan was to do two cabinets on the bottom, with a space in-between to tuck a stool in case I wanted to sit.  And three upper cabinets for all of my desired storage.

Installation was actually pretty quick {yahoo, that rarely happens around these parts}.  And went a little something like this.

First, we screwed the lower cabinets in the desired location after measuring multiple times to be sure we got it just right.  The counter top we found {from IKEA}, just happened to be the perfect length as the three cabinets, which was six feet of workspace!

Next, my hubby used a scrap piece of wood to act as a temporary support to hold the upper cabinets for him, as he measured, leveled and screwed them into place {he screwed the cabinets into studs with wood screws}.

In-between the cabinets, he placed shims, to ensure they were going to hang flush and to give the screws extra wood to grab into when screwing the cabinets together.

He followed the same steps for each of the upper cabinets and ta-da!  The power of the Internet shows that it was easy as can be!

When we measured the distance between the counter and upper cabinet, we used the same standard distance that our builder did when installing our kitchen cabinets, which was about 18".  The cabinets were looking a little dull, and you can see above that I was exploring a variety of colors to paint them to have them really add some life to the studio....

But before I could paint, the hubby installed some wainscoting to the unfinished cabinet ends, using some strong construction adhesive and his brad nailer.

That finished up the ends, but I also needed to cap off the top, because it really looked unfinished visually.  Plus, we crowned my office desk area, so it really just felt like crowning the cabinets would be a unifier that the space needed.

Setting his miter saw at a 45 degree angle, the crown was cut, and attached to the top of the cabinets with his brad nailer.

His work was done.  It was my turn to take over, and whip out the primer....

I primed the insides and outsides and every nook and cranny of the cabinets and drawers.  And then decided to just paint them white {which was a white I had color matched to our trim}.... three coats later....

Pretty eh?  Why white?  Because this area of our home is a deep dark pit.  No natural light, and heavy, painted cabinets just seemed like they would be too much.  In fact, we initially went with a dark brown counter to match the floors, but it was such a light sucker, we exchanged it for the pure white option {this one from IKEA}.  That alone made a world of difference.

And that is how the studio has lived, no joke, for the last nine months.  Haha!  Here is what happened and why I hadn't shared this secret little nook until now:

• I wasn't in love.  Sometimes, I love a project instantly, other times, it has to grow on me. 
• When I work on my own spaces, I can get design paralyzed.  It is weird that 99% of the time I can look at another person's space and come up with visions right away, but when it came to this space, that just couldn't happen.
• I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and on this space, to make it AMAZING.  And I need to.  It is where I am planning on spending majority of my time and days, so it has to make me happy, make me feel inspired, suit all of my storage needs, function function function, and reflect my personal style.  I left myself with this blank slate, and went through 101 ideas on ways I could personalize it.
• Storage still needs to be addressed.  I have a great shell to work with, but how to really maximize the inside of the cabinets, the wall, etc... was something that needed a lot of thinking and planning.
• My visions for how the space will be used are constantly evolving.  
• The space is open to our lower level family room, so it is important to keep in mind the flow of our home.
• I really like crafty spaces that maximize wall storage through peg boards, wall systems, etc... however, I also like the idea of keeping everything nice, neat and concealed.  I am split decision on this, which way will I go?

What I do know, is that sitting on this for months, will be good in my overall execution since I have thought about the space daily.  I also know, however, that I am not benefiting myself by leaving it empty, something must be done, and I just need to do it!  I am all about making things happen in this space, and it's time to do just that.

Again, here is the vision.... time to bring it to life!

Anyone feel the same way?  Get so far on a space and just pause like a deer in headlights?  I would love to hear your stories, and find out how it turned out in the end for you!