Even though Kermit said “It’s not easy being green,” being a shade, a tint, or a tone of green isn’t too hard. When my quilting studio at home was built, we couldn’t go all green, but taking a cue from the green effort at C&T, here’s what we did do:
We used cork tile for the floors. Cork comes from cork oak trees and the bark is harvested every 9–15 years, so the trees are not cut down. Cork flooring is made from the waste left over from the making of cork bottle stoppers, so it’s a very ecologically friendly material.
The lights in the studio are full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs. These lights duplicate sunlight so you’re able to see colors accurately. Because the bulbs are fluorescent they are very efficient and long lasting. I’ve had mine for over six years and haven’t had to replace them yet. The studio gets lots of natural light, so I only need to turn on the lights at night or when it’s overcast during the day.
I store my thread and small notions in a recycled card catalog. When libraries replaced their old card catalogs with computers, all the old wooden file drawers and cabinets were removed. Often made of oak, the cabinets and drawers are not only very handy, but remind me of happy hours spent in public libraries. My unit was cut in half so that it could also be a window seat—that is if it wasn’t always covered with stuff.
I store rulers, papers, drawings and other flat things in a recycled flat file. These drawers are often found in architect’s offices. Along with the card catalog, we found these drawers at an architectural salvage yard. My DH built the files into a worktable. The top of the unit is half light table and half cork-topped. The bottom has cubby holes for miscellaneous storage (they also double as a convenient kitty hiding place).
When it came time to find handles and knobs for some of the drawers and cabinet doors, I used old wooden spools. The spools still had some thread on them and I liked the color so I coated them with a water-based sealer to protect them.
How are you being green? Let us know.
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9 Comments
Wow Lynn, thanks for the tour of your studio. This proves my theory that you are one creative woman!
I am lusting after your old library card cabinet! The disappearance of the card catalog at my local library was a sad, sad day for me, not only because I loved flipping through those cards but because they just disappeared, leaving no trace for me to find them. I have looked for years for an old card catalog. They look great in your studio.
Remember when you were finally old (and responsible) enough to get into the card catalog? I waited and waited for our librarian to give the go-ahead and remember that day even now!
Sincerely (and enviously), Suzanne G in NC
ps. I do have a ?: Do the full-spectrum flourescents flicker or hum like the old-fashioned kind? (My family swears I have “dog ears” b/c I can hear the hum of those lights! )
I agree – I loved flipping through those old card catalogs.
And no, the full-spectrum lights don’t flicker or hum – at least I can’t hear them. I think when flourescent lights hum it’s because of the ballast in the fixture, not the lights themselves. Newer fixtures seem to have different & better ballasts.
-Lynn
Lynn you’ve inspired me. We recently enclosed our garage. It is suppose to be my art studio. Right now it is my storage unit. Just thinking about how to organize it is overwhelming and I try not to go in there. I think I’ll start with those cork tiles. Did you or DH install them yourself?
We didn’t install them ourselves, but it would be like installing any other tile floor – not too difficult. You just need a good even subfloor to install them on.
Wow! I’ve never heard of cork tile–how cool!! Everything about that studio is so cool! Spools for knobs!? Genious!
I think the only green thing I do with my crafting is saving (i.e. hoarding). :P I save all the jeans that get holes in them for a future quilt and rug. I’m starting to save my daughter’s favorite clothing that she’s outgrown. Not sure what I’ll do with that, but I’m sure there are hundreds of ideas out there. I save packaging and junk mail if it inspires me or I can reuse it in my crafting. Anything to keep it out of the landfill. I don’t have a good way of storing that stuff. I have my papers in their places, but these odd things from packaging…not sure yet how to store them. I always know they’ll add interesting texture. The downfall of being tactile! ;)
@ctpublishing concord mom needs help. http://expressoguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/...
Love your space. I can tell you I hate to throw good things out and I am consistently taking in orphan items from other people and looking for a new way to use them. One of my favourite re-purposed things in my design wall. We had some pannels of rigid insulation left over from some renovations. I took three of these very large pannels, attached them to the wall with screws topped with washers (to keep the screw from puncturing into the insulation board). Once up I covered them with felt. I now have a design board that covers one whole wall of my room (approx. 6 ft x 9 ft).
If you do any surface design (painting, stamping, etc) a foam panel makes a great work surface. Cover it with plastic and you can just wipe it off, or cover it with canvas and you can pin things to it.