Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Wine Crate Studio Shelving

Artists are always repurposing things as an economical and stylish way to furnish their studios.  A favorite storage solution that I use in my studio are wooden wine crates.  
The first ones I got were from a classmate in college that worked in the wine cellar of an expensive steakhouse in Tampa.  He would bring them in to the art department for anyone that wanted them.  I grabbed several of them which I still use to store wood blocks, and on the wall for shelving.  
My husband and I were in our local liquor store recently where I saw a few crates stacked by the register.  I picked one out for a mere $3, and immediately turned it into much needed shelving for my cans of printing ink.
My new wine crate - I love the mermaid on the side 

I measured and cut 1" square stock for supports, and cut some scraps of wood for the shelves.  The cans of ink fit perfectly!

Do you have a favorite, creative way of repurposing things for use in your studio?  Tell me about how you organize your space.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I really like the last wine crate picture, which was the one where you had added 2 wood brackets in the middle. I'm guessing that you measured the items you had wanted to put in there first, and then added the brackets. It looks great. Thank you for sharing. Have you considered sanding the crates to remove the marker and smooth it out a little, or do you like the distressed look instead?

Theresa Haberkorn said...

Hi WInepine, My husband is from Rye, what a small world. It would be fun to stop by and visit next time we're there. I enjoyed looking at your blog and what your company does. I see why you ask about the marker on the wine crates, but no, it doesn't bother me since it's for my studio and adds character and the distressed look. All I did was sand down any rough spots, and add the shelving. My first wine crates were from Bern's Steakhouse, the newer ones I got at my local Liquor Mart.