Douglas Witmer
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Friday, November 18, 2005
studio progress
Finally some order is being implemented and I'm able to think about beginning work in my new space, which I love, of course.
For you painters out there, may I pass along a little tip? ...
A trip to IKEA coupled with a little brainstorm and for about $50 and very little labor I have myself a nice little painting rack/storage area. This is IKEA's most basic shelving system called "Gorm." They're intended to be connected end to end, but I discovered that you can also connect them side by side to make narrow vertical bays with frequent uprights. The sets come with four shelves and four uprights, and in two shelf sizes. You need one set to start, but after that, if you only need two shelves per bay you can get two bays out of one set. You can see on the right side the bay is wider--this was my first set with the bigger shelves, which I happened to already have (this one is $30). The bays to the left are narrower and made from a single $20 set. If I were to start over, I'd likely do it all narrower, with more uprights, but having varied widths and shelf heights also adds flexibility. You can buy single shelves to pop in and customize your system as needed, and there is also an extension system by which you can add height to this system. The canvases in the far left bay are 50" high by 44" wide...they overhang the system by about 10 inches. One other tip...invest in a socket bit for your drill...the shelves are held by screws with a metric size hex head and assembly goes super-quick with a socket bit. Here in Philadelphia, IKEA is beside Lowes, so I took the screws and went right over and got the proper size bit. Otherwise, without this or a socket set, your task quickly becomes challenging and time consuming. Also, don't try building them right in the corner of the room like I did...give yourself space and then move them into place...they aren't heavy.
18.11.05 
1 Comments:
What a cool idea! I am using Gorm shelves in my basement storage area but wasn't sure what to do with some paintings that I have no room for right now. This is a great way to keep them organized and stop them from getting damaged. Thanks for the tip!
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3/19/2006