Storage

I have a lot of stuff. I like stuff. I don’t like getting rid of stuff and I rarely tidy up. So mostly I live in chaos, which is fine by me. But I do have an odd fascination with storage. I have watched almost every episode of this programme on Channel 4 online – it’s just a woman who tells people how to tidy up. She thinks it involves throwing things out, whereas I think the more storage you have, the more stuff you can have.

Anyway, this week, I have been doing a bit of organisation. It began with a trip to IKEA, of course. I realise that many people think of IKEA as a furniture shop. I tend to view it as a craft shop, full of things to be decorated or altered or improved. So now I have this:

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You may remember the Thing. I have upgraded it so that it is less dangerous and more secure – I replaced the nails with screws and reinforced the back with a piece of MDF I had lying around. I added more pegs, too. Now it comfortably holds all my scissors, tape measures, cottons and so on. I’ve added the little shelves (from TK Maxx, not IKEA) which hold my pen pots, glues and sellotapes. And there’s a desk tidy which holds sewing machine bits and pieces, some cables, spare batteries and so on.

I was really pleased to find these tins at IKEA:

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I have been using my alcohol-based felt tips to colour them in:

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I’ve also put up a new paper tidy, which was boring white when I bought it:

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My wool tower has been improved by the addition of little drawers which I’ve covered with fabric:

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I’ve got some cushions to be covered which will go on my new garden furniture, and the thing I’m most excited about is that this deck chair was back in stock. I wanted one last summer but it was sold out everywhere so as soon as I saw it this year, I snapped it up. Of course, I am not going to leave it in boring black. It’s crying out to be woven with something bright and beautiful. That will be a nice summer project.[image error]