What is there about a new year that makes a person want to hang out at Ikea and long for things that help to reorganize your life, like neat stacking boxes with matching lids, labels and nifty cabinets with drawers to hold all your crafty things? Do you know what I mean? Well, that's what has been on my mind for the last few weeks. I'm on a roll cleaning out drawers and rethinking what to keep, what to let go of. Most of all what kind of new cabinets or shelves should I get to hold all my things?

For more years than I want to think of much of my work space furniture has consisted of folding tables which are meant to be temporary and are of the wrong height for creative projects. I work best at a height about the same as a kitchen counter which makes working on a project much easier on the back.

The other day I found a few perfect pieces at Ikea that are actually freestanding kitchen counters. The Varde Series drawer units, are just what I need for storing art supplies, plus they're the right heightfor working on too.

Ikea furniture comes in pieces in a box. So if you are handy and like to save a few bucks you can assemble it yourself. It's not that hard to do. Being an impatient girl who couldn't wait for Joe to help me, one afternoon I sat down on the floor with all the screws and cabinet pieces and figured the whole thing out myself! Hoorah!

After the two counters were assembled Joe did the really hard part, built a closet the right size for holding brooms and folding things like chairs and tables.

Then we added a new fresh new coat of paint to the floor. Now about I'm ready to get going, get inspired and create more beautiful art!

P.S Later on I'll show you a few finished shots of my studio.

Reorganizing the Workspace