Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Small triumph. Shelves.




I've been spending a lot of time in my design studio. I'm transitioning into sewing full time. One thing keeping me from my highest level of productivity is disorganization. Half of my closet with big mirrored sliding doors is my personal closet for my clothes (renting half the house and living+working in the other half, remember?) The half of the closet where I store sewing room stuff had few shelves and lots of wasted place where things would pile up. So I decided to put in shelves. I'd already put one new shelf in but it wasn't helping much. Here a pic. Don't be scared!





I cleared it all out including the plastic set of drawers and took measurements. The thing about making shelves is that all the walls aren't level so you have to measure each shelf in it's position. There was a 3/4" difference between the top and bottom shelf's length. My plan was to screw a 3/4" wide and 11" long piece of decorative trim (the kind you usually put around a window or door) onto the wall on each side of the shelf to support it, using scraps left from doing the same thing in the kitchen This gives me some leeway with the length of the shelves. As long as they're long enough to rest on my supports we're good.
You can see how it works in the upper right corner of this pic.




Now, measurements and plan ready, it's off to the lumber department. I always try to look like a hot construction worker when I go in. A bit rugged and casual so I look somewhat capable and definitely not a potential winey helpless girl, but still cleaned up enough that they want to try and impress me with helpfulness and might try to get my number. This is how you get perfect cuts of wood (they're not supposed to do measured cuts) at half price and get out in half the time.




Getting my shelves cut to the right size from a 12' plank.

I ended up with 2 helpers this time and got a full tutorial on putting in tile (tiling the sink is next on the house to do list) and got all the supplies to do it. Now I just need to borrow a jig saw to cut the cement board so I can start. Anyway...two helpers.




Pushing the lumber cart while being led to the tile aisle to get grout and supplies.

The next critical part of putting in shelves is using a level. My huge level wouldn't fit in the tiny closet so I downloaded an ilevel app on my iPhone.




A lot of measuring, leveling, and use of the cordless drill later, I have an organized supply closet for less than $15.




Toby helped too. He sat on the wood I was using, demanded that I throw his tennis ball, and fell asleep near by me like he always does. A good sidekick is critical for any project however small.






Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone


No comments:

Post a Comment