EtsyMetal Blog Carnival: Organization

The theme for the current EtsyMetal Blog Carnival is "ORGANIZATION".  So I'm going to show you a wee bit of how I organize some of the things in my workshop.

After watching Hellen Buttigieg’s show a few times (Hellen is a personal organizer with a tv show called “Neat”), I began to understand that not everyone can organize the same way.

For years I never understood how I could get these great organizing systems (filing cabinets, storage boxes, shelved closets, etc) and still end up with piles and heaps of things everywhere.

Then one day Hellen was analyzing one her customers and assessed her as a “piler”. One who needs everything in plain site and within easy reach… and the normal way that comes in to being is by making piles.

Piles of papers to be filed, to be sorted, to be dealt with. Piles of books to read, piles of supplies to put away, piles of pieces to be polished, etc.

And so I’ve adopted for my workshop the same system Hellen used in that episode so that the woman no longer had “piles” as her filing system. Everything is organized but it’s all out in the open and within easy reach.

I think this is also explains why I prefer open-concept loft living rather than compartmentalized housing. I want everything around me, visible and available.

The first thing I ordered after this revelation was the kind of paper organizer you see in school office's.  Here's mine.  The overflowing cubby is business receipts (yes, I spend too much).  I love storing my sandpaper in here.  It's at my fingertips within seconds.  I also store my photography backgrounds here.

So to answer some of the questions for the blog carnival:

1) How do you organize your tools…

I have lots of different places for my tools, but they’re all group into logical places (as far as I’m concerned)

Some of my smaller items are in pencil holders and other jar-type containers. They’re grouped by things like: brushes, tweezers, hammers, etc. 

I made a spur of the moment purchase at Joann’s once when I saw this carousel on sale. It’s been one of my best workroom purchases. It spins (of course) and has three drawers at the bottom. One of those drawers is marked with an “x” and is dedicated for silver scrap. So when I’m working on a project and have a bit of silver for the recycling drawer, I just slide it open and dump. SOOOOO much easier than when I had to open a twist top box that was inside another box that was stored in a drawer. See, with that much work, I just won’t do what I’m supposed to do when I’m supposed to do it. With everything out in the open and within easy reach, things get put into their proper places immediately (which means “to do” piles don’t build up). 

My most recent acquisition was a couple of magnetic strips. I love these! It’s so great to have my tools right there, not in a pile, not in a bowl or box. Just right there… and so easy for me to put them away when I’m done too. I love my magnetic strips!!! 

I have a hanging shoe storage thing that houses cables, goggles, rags, and other things that I need in plain sight.

I’ve got other tools (not shown) in various places about the workroom that makes sense to me. The only thing I’m still lacking is a decent stand for my flexshaft.

2) How do you organize your shop…

My shop is one work table in the center and then tons of storage items against every square inch of wall space. I use a large dining room table that I put a piece of plywood on top of. When I do hot work, I add steel sheet over that.

Over the years I’ve discovered the joy of skinny drawers. I was putting things away one day into a drawered cabinet and realized that some drawers were so tall that unless I piled things one on top of another in a totally inconvenient way, I was wasting a lot of drawer space, which meant in turn a lot of room space.

My first “skinny drawer” purchase was two tall plastic cabinets.

My most recent skinny drawer purchase is these awesome half-size wooden cabinets on wheels that just happen to fit right under my work table. As you can see, they hold the same trays I’ve been working with for years… those ½ inch jewelry display trays… with and without compartments.  These are so convenient for keeping my ongoing projects in order.  Also, I don't skip things when it's time to tumble, patina, or solder.

I love my label-maker, btw.

3) How do you organize your finished work…

Because most of my work includes metal, I keep all finished work in airtight plastic bags and then in drawers based on what it is (earrings, bracelets, etc).

I do seem to keep a few pieces on necklace busts distributed about the room, but most of my finished work is sealed and drawered.

4) How do you inventory it?

I use a database (in Access). I created a file about 12 years ago and add a tweak here and there every so often, but otherwise it’s still the same file. I create a new section for each year. I can run reports on anything I want and filter the info in a bazillion different ways. I’d be lost without my Access file. 


So it may not be pretty, but that's my workroom.  Not going to end up in House Beautiful, but very functional and practical for me.  A place for everything and everything in its place.

Check out the other EtsyMetal Blog Challenge Entries:

Nodeform: http://nodeform.com/blogs/news/15270861-etsymetal-blog-carnival-organization
Debbie Ritchie: http://www.fentondesign.ca/whats-happening/organization