Studio Storage (finally!)

Now that we had our beadboard wall up and finished, it was time to move the printer to its permanent location:

Mission accomplished!

Next it was time to finally address the boxes and supplies without a home, scattered across the house.

Here was my setup in the old office (the first phase, at least):

The wall cabinet and shelf ledges (both from Ikea) were super useful and needed to be reinstalled. They were both going on the back wall (over the desks).

Before getting started, we pushed everything back from the wall, spackled some old holes, sanded them smooth and painted (hence the sheets covering everything for protection).

Then it was time to hang the cabinet.

Things went pretty smoothly this time because I now have a giant ruler which makes leveling much easier.

We made our holes, used anchors, and hoisted it up to secure it (a few fingers were crushed in the process from the sliding doors, ouch)

Once it was up, Brad reinforced it by drilling extra holes in the brackets and using wall dogs to secure it to the drywall (unfortunately none of our screws hit a stud), but we are confident it's in there good.

On the opposite side of the desk is where I set up my ledges.

This was a similar process, except we could get away with just wall dogs since they were so light and won't have a lot of weight.

And there you go.

I still need to finish organizing and add a couple things in the middle—then this wall should be good to go.

Next it was time for all the major storage.

With the printer relocated, we had this decent sized wall open up:

A few months ago when I was formulating a plan for layout/storage, I found these Vittsjo shelves from Ikea:

Three of them would fit up against the wall perfectly, and I liked that they were on the shallow side (14" deep) so they wouldn't stick too far out and crowd my limited work space.

I wasn't sold on the dark metal look for this particular space, so after weighing my options, I picked up a few cans of brushed nickel spray paint:

The surface was already smooth and ready to go, so I started with a light coat...

After a couple coats, I ran out of spray paint and had to grab two more cans (I ended up using just over one can per shelf). 

I really love the results.

I considered swapping the glass shelves for plywood (like Kate did) but after staring at it for a while, I decided the glass wasn't so bad and I'd keep them for now. If it didn't work for me later, I can always swap it out.

Now I will say, just like with anything else I've spray painted (door handles included), the finish will scratch off if you rub it against something abrasive with force. Rub it with your fingers—you're totally fine. Scratch it with your fingernail or another sharp/metal object, it stands no chance. 

This has always been the case, in my experience, whether you sand or use primer or not—the spray paint just sits on the surface and does not bond to metal like say, latex paint does to wood. I feel like the only thing that can help protect it is a thick coating of poly sealer. Just my two cents on durability if anyone is wanting to try this at home.

With that said, I don't plan on storing any metal or hard objects on these shelves so I feel they have a good chance of surviving my day-to-day usage. 

See how nicely they fit?

We still have to get our final storage arrangement down, but next time you see them they'll be stocked with supplies.

I love the subtle metallic finish... looks like they were made of steel from the factory!

I also got a special delivery from Rugs USA...

Hardly the same color as shown online (they are notorious for this), but I still love the pattern. Hoping the colors will work together once everything is complete!

That's all I've got for right now. My next project is currently drying in the garage, and I'm quite excited about this one. I'll tell you all about it soon!