Wednesday, January 14, 2009

January makeover

The weather is frightful in this neck of the woods (-30C) and I miss my summer art shack.
So I decided to convert my smallish mudroom/laundry into a wet studio. The room is only 8' x 14' so it was a bit like organizing the inside of a boat - every square inch had to serve...

I work with largish lengths of cloth (2 metres on average ). In December I found a craft table at Joannes (in Og, NY) with drawers & shelves for $129. Collapsed, it's footprint is only 21''x 31'', but opened up it does the trick - see below.



Reorganizing the cupboards above the sinks took a lot of reconfiguration to make them really efficient. The one on the left stores auxiliary chemicals, discharge pastes and resists.

This is the MX dye cupboard - the pure dyes that I use most often are on the two bottom shelves with mixed dyes on the top shelf. Stacks of pre-washed fabric sit on top (every square inch...)

This is where I store all my fabric paints. I found this railing (above the sink) at Ikea. It saves my sanity as the myriad of utensils I need when gloved and masked are visible and easy to reach.

Oh, and even the door to the garage does double duty. It is metal! So, I bought a stack of magnets. Now whenever we enter or leave our home, we are greeted with my latest silk creation that billows in the cold air.


OK, here is a less than glamorous picture of this space in use, but it works, that what counts. It is also a snap to clean up. Its not as spacious as my shack, but its closer to the coffee maker in my kitchen:-)


Cheers all -- time to get back to work!

4 comments:

Grace said...

Well done Kit....I was just lamenting to a friend how I wish I had a wet studio adjacent to my sewing studios upstairs. In the winter I don't dye fabrics because it is way toooooo cold in the garage to get any work done.

BTW, love the magnetic design wall/door!

Kit said...

Thanks Grace,

It was a wonderful discovery.
BTW, I should have mentioned that the magnets I use are # 3707 rare earth magnets, bought on line.
Fridge magnets can't carry the weight.

Kit

Andrée Fredette said...

What a cheerful place to be... during frreeeezing weather!

How is Lola the winter dog? Does she have booties to go out in the snow?

Seriously: your laundry room has turned into a very nice winter annex for the studio.

Kit said...

Thanks Andree,
I agree, not bad for an annex.

Lola (my husky) is hoping that her auntie Andree is knitting winter booties for her. Perhaps even felted...and with a little 3D shibori appreciated even more.

That said, she can't guarantee that she will be able to them on her tootsies as she likes to FLY through the snow these days:-)


Kit