Thinking aloud.........

This post is purely by way of organising my thoughts into a coherent pattern, so if you're not interested in the intricacies of craft storage then I'd advise you to just pass on by.

Move along, nothing to see here.

For the rest of you storage junkies I have been mulling over A Plan for the past few months, which I have now decided to put into action.

The recently advertised 'major downsizing' is well underway. I've cleared shelves and shelves of books all over the house and the big storage unit in the workroom is beginning to look echoingly hollow and empty. I'm determined to whittle down the contents of the workroom to the bare bones of what I will need to move forward to a new phase of the business, away from character dollmaking and into the brave new world of tiny toymaking.

Currently I have a foot in both camps as an interim arrangement, but very soon I will be casting off the last of my ties to the shores of miniature dollmaking and setting sail for the wonderland of miniature toys.

See? Allusion and everything.

Anyways, my vision is to have everything work-related fitting into a stylish storage armoire. Initially I was smitten with the Original Scrapbox, as seen here........



However, on reflection, there is much about it I don't like.

• The price. It weighs in at an eye-watering £1000 plus £70 delivery from the UK supplier.

• The size. It's 3 feet wide by 3 feet deep so it sticks out like a sore thumb. Yes it has masses of storage, but much of it wouldn't really be what I need. It's designed for scrapbookers, so the folding trays are quite flimsy and the sizes aren't quite right for my purposes.

• The configuration. Opened right out it measures over 9 feet wide. If I had that much space to play with I would just shelve it and be done with it. OK so you can sort of fold the doors into a U-shape around you as you work but I don't want too feel like I'm sitting in the Black Hole of Calcutta every day.
• The construction. It comes as a flat-pack in about a zillion pieces. This is a time lapse video of a couple putting it together. It took around 10 hours with breaks. He looks like quite a handy chap (if a little long-suffering) and he has all the right tools. I'm no stranger to flat-pack but I'd hazard a guess it should take longer than 10 hours. Not to mention the inevitable time out for bandaging cuts and flesh wounds, relationship counselling and trying to find Small Dog who will have left home with all her wordly goods tied in in a spotted handkerchief.
  

• The construction #2 - Its made of chipboard. Lots and lots of bits of chipboard. Not sure what the inside sections are made from but they look quite thin and flimsy. In the promotional video on the website when the chap sits on the desk the whole thing shakes and shimmies. £1000 is an awful lot of money to pay for something which is made of compressed sawdust and glue and takes over a day to assemble yourself.

So.

In thinking all this through, I decided to see if I could have something similar built, but better, in that it would be to my specifications.

There are some good design points to the Workbox, and it's younger sibling, the Craftbox which is more streamlined but only because it has no storage inside the doors.

I also came across THIS on t'internet, which also has lots of good design ideas to incorporate into the project.....

The ideal would be to take the best bits from all the available options and combine them into one stylish piece of furniture, with a shabby chic facade.

Inside it would be a veritable Alladin's Cave of 'stuff'. Proper-sized cubby holes for stripwood, hooks for hanging tools, shelves for my mini power tools, containers in perfect sizes to hold tiny wee dolls, fabrics, silk ribbons, viscose, paints,.... all my miniature toymaking paraphernalia within arm's reach.

If it's being built from scratch it can incorporate lighting, access holes in the back for integral electric socket strips. The more I think about it, the better it gets.

Now all I have to do is find the woodworking magician to turn my dream into reality. Feelers have already been put out on the Hastings grapevine and suggestions have been rolling in.

And out there in the blogosphere, if any of you have any ideas or suggestions to add to the melting pot do please feel free.