Studio Pre-do

I'm a fairly organized person and I like to keep things in order so I think I can say with an amount of experience that organization is a journey not a destination.  Anyone who says differently is probably selling something, like a really expensive organization system.  Things don't tend to stay organized for long especially in a space that is used for creative purposes because a person's skill level and interests change as they advance.  So, yes, I'm re-doing my studio again this Fall.  Last year really doesn't count.  I reorganized the closet but mostly I just cleaned. 

I have finally had it with the floor in my studio.  When I first converted the spare bedroom into a studio, I tore out the carpet and painted the concrete.  This might not have been bad but I added no-slip silica to the paint.  Let me recommend that, before you choose flooring, you give more than a passing thought as to how you are going to clean it.  For instance, a painted floor with silica mixed in is going to be impossible to mop since it will shred any kind of mop like sandpaper.  Vacuuming only goes so far especially if you forget to blow the bead release out of your hollow mandrels over the bottle and instead leave aboriginal foot outlines everywhere.

So, new flooring (lineolum) is going in and that means everything has to come out.  Since everything has to come out, why not make a few other changes too.  I need a second tower for glass, specifically Bullseye.  I caught a great sale on it earlier this year and 20lbs of it has been sitting in the box since then. 

The potting benches I've used for jewelry work have, well, never really worked.  They're too high to sit at and too delicate for hammering so I will be taking those two out and replacing them with one solid workbench.  This is also time to separate the bead stringing from the wirework.  Wire tools and stuff will stay but the stringing has been moved out into the new desk (above) in the livingroom.  Ann (Mom) is getting into seed bead work and really needs a better place to store her supplies and projects.  Yeah, if you want to look at it that way, I'm kicking her out.

I will post pictures as soon as everything is finished but for now I need to focus on BeadFest in Philadelphia.  We're leaving before the crack of dawn on Thursday.  If you are attending, please visit me at booth 1237.  If not, wish me luck!