alex
my studio is my dining room. it’s where i hold the occasional pARTy, and do all of my projects. about 8 months ago i just stopped moving my supplies back to their hiding places, and let them take over. it’s the best place to work in my house: lots of natural light, big table (that i can drill holes into, paint on, and not freak out), close access to a sink, and sadly, near a tv. (i like to work with the tv on, i hope that does not make me less cool.) so this is what my studio/dining room has looked like for months:
organization was definitely in order. after seeing an ikea alex drawer unit covered with decorative paper, i knew i needed to get one for myself. once i got my economic stimulus package check, i ran to ikea and picked one up (thanks, w!).
rather than covering alex with decorative paper, i decided to use a dutch newspaper that i brought home with me from amsterdam. i used pva to glue down text columns on the cube, and picture cut-outs on the drawer fronts. i then slathered layers of gel matte medium over the newsprint. yeah, i guess you could say i découpaged my alex, but please don’t: i hate that word, along with macramé and batik. blech! i’d prefer to call it one giant assemblage.
it feels so good to have everything organized, and now i can start dragging more supplies from other rooms into my alex. and if i ever have a non-pARTy dinner event, i can just roll my alex out of the way, and reclaim my dining room.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Your art supplies look neat. Or did you do a bit of a tidy up before the reveal? Or are you really that neat?? Loving alex, and inspired to try for myself. Maybe something smaller and fabric???
June 26th, 2008 at 7:26 am
My place is a bit like that too. One big art studio. I used to think that I needed my own art space where I could spread my stuff out and leave it where I left it. Then I realized that my home could be the studio. And so it is! My partner is very understanding, and is happy stepping over my drawings, canvases and paints… as long as I do the occasional clean up.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Your Alex is stupendous! The images are great! And thank you for not using the word decoupage. Assemblage, now I like that word. You’ve totally protected your “cool” with that word. And I guess it depends on what you watch on that tv as to whether that makes you less cool or not.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:49 am
love this…great idea for my “someday” studio…
June 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
My dining room does double duty as crafty space, too. Something that rolls away would be really nice. For now all my supplies is stored in a closet on our front porch on a baby changing table. Not what you would call ideal.
I love your solution! Tne newspaper especially.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
It’s beautiful, and I love that you just wrote ‘pARTy.’ Hilarious.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Well my dining room is my art space too but it sure doesn’t look like that! Very tidy. The cabinet looks great, I can’t wait to see it in person tomorrow.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Love you’re Alex, very nicely done.
Oh and don’t worry I still think you’re cool! : )
CX
June 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
oh my, i love it! and not just because it’s named after me.
my studio is also the dining table, so an alex would be perfect, and stop me from having to cart all my things around. alas, i live in a country WITHOUT IKEA. i know, you’re astounded such a place exists.
but the idea is marvelous, and i am now on the lookout for something similar. fantastic selection of images on the drawers.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Oh. My. Lord. I love, love, love the alex drawer that you improved by making it your own. I am seriously in awe.
I pretty much look up to you. I hope you know.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
The drawer unit is fabulous!!!!