Is anyone else out there obsessed by storage? Wherever this obsession comes from, it must be the same place that makes me go mad in Lakeland (read more here). If I’m honest I’d go so far as to say that I think there is something rather beautiful about a really good storage solution.
The cupboard pictured here is one such example. Doesn’t look much does it? And that’s exactly its charm! When it’s not in use it blends into the background. You would hardly give it a second thought. But behind those closed doors is my illustration world.
It’s new, which is why I’m all excited and going on about it. For ages I’ve wrestled with my Nan’s lovely but rapidly disintegrating old bureau. Being freelance I work from home and we don’t have a lot of space so my ‘office’ is also our front room, complete with meddling children (not a brilliant combination with a stray lino-cutting tool). But now we’ve invested in this. Go on, let me tell you about it…
Okay, so behind the top two doors are two big shelves. The top one is full of inks, paints, pens, and that sort of thing. The next one is home to my sketchbooks and other more boring books like duplicate receipt books (which I do actually find strangely exciting…how cool is the blue duplicating paper?). The next pair of doors house my computer and its associated paraphernalia. This bit of the cupboard also has a pull-out desktop that slides underneath the computer so no need to clear away my latest bit of work in progress…just slide and shut! The bottom two doors are home to my printer, some bits of stock, and big folders of work. Finally I have some boxes that sit on the very top where I store interesting bits of paper (it’s an arty thing), amongst other stuff. I even have one box which is totally empty. That’s the most exciting box of all. I have an empty box full of potential. I’m unlikely to ever store anything in it but just think of all the wonderful things I might store in it. That’s the best storage solution of all!
