barn storage

If you own a lot of stuff, good storage is a necessity. Making it fun is what my mother's barn is all about. Some day I will spend the afternoon snapping photos of opened cabinets and drawers... the incredible supplies filling them still makes my jaw drop! So much more than just the haberdashery of yesterday's post. Remember... my mother rarely buys new, she just knows where to look and what is worth rescuing. These skills are the reason a single parent/nursery school teacher found a way to buy her first home/barn. It's also why she's able to fill it up with such treasures. It doesn't have to take a lot of money to make dreams come true... just resourcefulness, creativity and a vision. All right, you all know how much I love her!

Let's move on to what you see when you walk up the barn stairs to the studio. To the left, you see yesterday's post. To the right you see this:

Remember to click on any photo to see more details. The steel bookshelf was a score at Salvation Army on the first day that my mother arrived for her winter trip. No one who worked there had any idea what it was or how it worked. We did and we were absolutely giddy! It's almost identical to the Sapien Bookcase from Design Within Reach, which ranges in price from $200-400. We carted it right out of there to create our favorite blend of modern and vintage for only $15 and two sore backs (quite heavy for the two of us to carry it through the snow and up the stairs, but we did it!). The armoire is from this post about moving in (look at how empty those wire racks looked back in July).


It's now filled with very special fabric... she has tubs of every kind of cloth, but these are her favorites! Some of mine, too.


To give it a little more impact, my mother lined the shelves with Chinese newspaper from our local Asian market. She wanted some inexpensive graphic interest next to the great textures of the Barkcloth. See how she used the fold of the paper to create the edge. Then she used pinking shears to make it look like little pennants. It reminds me a tiny bit of my newspaper bunting.

Now you can see where I get my love for newspaper! If you'd like some more unique storage ideas, check out this post on upcycled ladders from Grace at Poetic Home. The barn ladder shelf is featured along with some amazing other ladders. If you enjoy the barn, you'll love Grace's aesthetic. She's incredible!

Now, have any of you wondered what my mother's first project was in her new sewing corner, with all of her supplies at her fingertips? It couldn't have been more perfect... after all, she was here just in time to celebrate her youngest grandchild's fourth birthday. That's my only clue. I'll be back tomorrow to introduce my mother's first little sewing project at the barn. Have a beautiful day!