Off the hook

On one of our trips to the blue ..or was it the orange? ...box we discovered and fell in love with a simple organizing system we envisioned for our former porch turned enclosed shed.

You see, without an organizing tool you're headed face first for failure to keep a storage place tidy and fucnctional. no hook to hang this gadget? Ahh, we'll put it here in the corner ...for now. Need a spot for this gizmo ...ahh, over here on the floor seems to be a good place ...for now. And at some point you notice that "for now" has turned into "forever" and that you can't set a foot into the space anymore because gizmo and gadget and their extended family have taken over the space. Or blocked the door. From the inside. Or both.

Anyways, for just $12 we decided to toss it into the cart and take it home

[Inexpensive and easy to install storage system]

So one early afternoon, left to my own devices what with husband being at work and the little man still at summer camp, I decided that a quick project was in order. Something that doesn't involve white semi-gloss paint. The instructions declare that installing this system takes about 30 minutes so it very much fit the bill.

Armed with pencil, level, drill, screwdriver and the box I unlocked the shed and set to work.
First order of business: locating the studs! That was easy peasy (not like in the library) because in the shed, they're all nicely exposed (and right now this statement has me wondering if blogger will censor this post ...)

[Before: Bare wall and easy to locate studs]

I decided to split the system up into two medium lengths consisting of 2 pieces each, rather than using the full length because one end would have ended up behind the furnace in a hard to reach corner.

I leveled the pieces, then marked the drill holes. Drilling was fun since the studs are rock hard pine but in the end I succeeded creating 4 sweet-smelling drill holes.

[In-progress: Ready for screws]

After screwing the pieces into place and adding end caps for a more finished look, I decided to just use the big cushioned S-hooks on the organizer on the big wall and a combination of S-Hooks and short nubby pins on the wall that has the cabinet. That way I can hang the larger gardening tools like hoe and rake and shovel out of the way on one side of the shed, and the smaller ones like snips and shears on the wall with the cabinet.

[S-hooks in place - the organizer system is ready for some serious organizing]

It really was a 30 minute project, and one that left me feeling very satisfied. The gardening tools are no longer underfoot and getting in and out of the shed is no longer an acrobatic feat!

[The garden gang - back against the wall, lined up and ready for duty]

Oh, by the way, even without each piece being screwed into the wall at mid-point on top of being screwed into the studs (there's no inside wall, obviously, just the siding from the outside) this system is plenty stable and even bears the weight of the weedwhacker easily. Thought I'd mention that.

Slimming it

Here at the Darling Duckling, post-moving chaos still reigns supreme. However, we're working hard on remedying this shortcoming. We've installed wall cabinets in the laundry room (here) and are well on our way to an actual dressing room for our clothes (here and here). Another project on our ever-growing list of things to do and projects to tackle is additional storage for our library/study/man cave.

Since the room we delegated to this task isn't the largest (but it's beautifully light and bright) we shelved our books high and wide and discovered a sliver of room for a buffet or dresser. However, most of those were too deep and visually cramped the room's lightness making ti feel tight and chockful with furniture.

That's when we discovered the versatility of wall cabinets. Browsing the local reStore we found a wall cabinet excatly 60 inches wide that would fit our space perfectly, offering storage space whithout hogging all the space.

We strapped it to the top of the Jeep and brought it home. We attached feet (read about that here), then flipped it over and admired our handiwork.

[It really fits like a glove - in this picture it's pulled away from the wall and it's trying to fool you into thinking that it's about 10 inches too long]

Since none of the boards at the store were the right width, we grabbed the widest we could get (12 inch) and added a narrower board (6 inch) to make up the difference. We attached them to each other with metal brackets screwed in from underneath and a dab of wood glue for extra strength. The seam was minimal and after some wood filler and some sanding almost invisible.

We replicated the shape of the shelves above it and used the same stain on it for a cohesive look. It's Minwax's "Provincial" which is a beautiful dark brown with a hint of warm red. Husband initially tried "English Chestnut" and boy, did that turn out orange. "Orange you glad" we only bought a small tin and changed plans after the first try :o)

In order to set it apart from the shelves and to protect it from the inevitable water ring from a drink (and other smaller catastrophes) we decided to seal it with the same waterbased sealant we are going to be using for the floor in the dressing room. Husband's been really good about applying coat after coast with a bit of sanding thrown in for a silky smooth finish.

Today I'll re-attach the door that came loose and attach handles and we're all set to move in our board games and get rid of another stack of boxes. Hurray!

One (wall) down, three more to go

No, no! No more demolition! I swear!

Husband and his sidekick Little Man who is now a self-professed "Master" at power sanding finished the first wall of open shelving in our library.

While I'm not the greatest fan of this shelf solution preferring chunky built-ins all trimmed out and of glamorous old world charm (which would have left enough room for the beautiful wallpaper border ...alas, it wasn't meant to be), this is starting to grow on me.

[After: Wall o'shelves and cabinet in place]

We opted to use the studs in the center for the shelf brackets rather than spreading them out; this way they look actually centered on the wall whereas following them to the outside of the shelves would have made them look out of balance in relation to the shelves.

Husband insists on using the Dewy-Decimal system to sort our books thus (and since we have a metric ton of books to begin with) they are lined up neat and tight with no spare room for neat decorative touches. It's a man's world, baby! No room for frills!

Thanks to the double feature of the wall you are also getting a sneak peek of tomorrow's post on the wall cabinet turned dresser! Wheee!