Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Trash to Treasure



A couple of months ago my husband and I came upon a garage sale where most items were tools and machinery. I usually turn my nose up at men's garage sales but when I stumbled across this steel bin shelf I saw a diamond in the rough. I should have taken photos before I started sanding and washing the pieces. The only photo I have is a portion of it. It was the early 80's country blue. The unit consisted of 50 bins but is missing five so I can use one shelf to store a large tin of colored pencils.
The ceiling fan in my studio is a color wheel, so why not create a matching storage unit?! My studio space is small and I needed to find some way of organizing additional pencils and other odds and ends. I will be finishing off the bins and shelf with a clear gloss coat within the next few days and put it together by the beginning of next week. My studio should be complete by then and I'll post it after that.


I'm hoping to get back to drawing in September after the kids get back to school and I can develop a regular routine. I usually find time after work in the evenings to sit at the drawing table but the summer weather just calls me outdoors to do my walking or any other activity excuse my mind can bring up.
The cooler weather seemed to whisper in this morning and it reminded me of the mornings that we will once again greet in a few weeks while getting the children on the morning buses. We complain about the blasted intense heat of the summers but yet our faces become still and saddened when the cool, crisp air comes knocking at our windows because we know that soon after that the nights become long and cold. This is when I can be found in front of my drawing table and heater at my feet and a warm cup of coffee in the morning or tea in the evening.
So, as I wind up my organizing of my studio (or some may call it nesting or harvesting before the seasons) I wish all my readers to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and embrace the upcoming crispness of autumn, the beautiful colors of the turning leaves and the smiles of the parents whose children are returning to school.
As always, thank you for reading!


2 comments:

Teresa Mallen said...

Wow, this is definitely turning into a treasure- a studio can always use better storage options! Great job on the restoration, the colour wheel idea looks great.

Kendra said...

Dianna, those are some great storage bins for your studio! You have really made them colorful and fun. When my kids were younger, i always looked forward to school starting and getting back into a routine, even though summer goes by so fast.