Urban Nest

{After the slightest bit of computer rage this afternoon, here is our Friday post.}

When my husband and I bought this house, we agreed that he could have one of the spare bedrooms for his music studio. Well, since I started working from home over a year ago, I’ve been inching my way into every corner of the so-called “music room.” For a while during this transition I started to refer to it as the “yellow room” – as in, not so much your music room any more, but I’m feeling a little guilty about that.

Well, it’s time to call a spade a spade. I concede that the yellow (and now, pink) room with the recording equipment in one corner and shelves of fabric, magazines and flourishes of ribbon and flowers everywhere else is, in fact, “my office.”

Over the past year, I’ve acquired various different shelving and storage units to corral all of my stuff. Maybe because metal is cheaper than wood, or maybe because I’m trying to create that urban loft effect by using more industrial materials, I’ve ended up with a stainless steel work table (Vika Hyttan tabletop & Vika Moliden underframe), galvanized steel book shelves (Hyllis shelving unit) and two metal lockers – all from Ikea.

As I’ve settled into my new space, I’ve discovered how useful metal materials can be for their magnetic quality. Not only am I able to maximize the interior space of the cabinets, but I can use the exterior panels as my mood board. Beautiful business cards, fabric swatches and tear sheets are always in rotation. I use magnetic hooks to hang cutting boards and scissors that I need to reach easily and are otherwise cumbersome to store.

Speaking of my desk, the entire thing is stainless steel. I love the look and it’s very functional. I do a lot of sewing and when I’m measuring and cutting I clip the edges of my fabric with magnetic clips to hold it in place. I also glued some magnetic disks to the back of a yard stick so I could always have it at my fingertips. When I’m not using it, it fits perfectly along the edge of my table, mostly out of site. When I am using it, I can position it on the top of the table like you see at the fabric store – so much easier to move the fabric along the table than to move the yardstick from point to point. And, it’s great to do a quick measurement of anything while I’m at my desk – a note card, a photograph or a scrap of fabric.

I’m always discovering new ways to organize myself. Right now, I’m hooked on magnets! By the way, my favorite magnets are these tiny little metal dots. They are so strong, but so unassuming. I’m not big on decorative magnets, especially when they detract from whatever I’m posting. No pink flamingos from Florida on my mood board, please!

What are your tricks for staying organized in creatively messy places?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Inspired Nest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.