After a few false starts we finally have the furniture configured - who knew it would be so complicated to expand into twice the space? Not me for sure...
It hasn't helped any that I have a compressed nerve in my left arm and have pulled a large muscle on my right side shoulder...so things have slowed somewhat and we are surrounded by boxes that seem to be multiplying...
So today we went to Ikea...
I was really disappointed to find they have discontinued the oak colour Ribba picture ledges - I wanted more to match those I already have...now they only do black or white and only the larger sizes, not the small ones. Boo to that!
But a person cannot stay disappointed in Ikea for too long and in the kitchen dept I found some really cool drawer inserts that will fit the narrow drawers of the Alex drawer units....and they were just £1.50 each. These will be perfect to keeping small things tidy inside those drawers. I bought four to begin with ...I may get more later.
I also picked up four fabric bins for my expedit unit...and I chose these because 12x12 paper and card will fit inside these easily...and I took some 12x12 with me in a 13x13 poly bag to double check. Yes I really did walk around the entire Ikea store clutching a poly bag containing 12x12 textured cardstock...I believe it was tangerine tango in colour. It was a case of
lesson learned because the boxes I bought previously, while designed specifically for the expedit cubes,are too small because the joints of the box reduce the internal dimensions... Something I had not considered when I bought them. Anyhow these were only £2.50 each and I bought four...two black and two in a turquoise blue colour. They had some pink florals and a navy paisley pattern option too but for extra money...and since they are storage and not a design feature I chose to spend the extra elsewhere...
Like on this really cute little pot ...these were just £2 each and are made from metal so won't break if they get knocked off the counter top and they are definitely wipe clean. As we were leaving I spotted them in some other pastel colours too and I may go back for some more at a later date.
The other main things we bought today were a couple more tall Benno units. Designed as media storage and boasting to hold 88 dvds each unit, these are perfect for dies and stamps. I already have four of these but they are all filled already...The beauty of these is that you get loads of shelves and fixings and so they are completely adjustable to make cubbies whatever size you need...which means I can fit the extra long dies in their original packing as well as the thin metals dies in cd cases and stamp sets in dvd or video style boxes alongside stamp sets in clam shell cases. They are brilliant. And they are not too deep so don't protrude out into the room too much. They will be going up tonight and will be filled tomorrow.
It has been a far slower process even getting this far, but it does feel like things are finally coming together. There are still lots of little things to sort out...like power extensions and some extra lighting in key work areas, but it is starting to look and feel like a craftroom now and I can't wait until it is done and fully operational.
Watch this space....
Now it may be just us being super dense, and anyone reading this may roll their eyes at our lack of planning...but if we cannot be a shining example we may as well be a horrible warning...If our mistakes help someone else in future than great.... But next time I mention doing anything remotely like this again, please remind me I need to get the professionals in because this is way above our pay grade!
