Studio Storage Solutions

I admit that my studio is not a neat and tidy place.  In fact, I've never really been a neat and tidy person.  This I admit but at least partially attribute to the influence of my wife Sandra - we are much alike in this respect and so feed off each others lack of the tidiness gene.  There just is no incentive if someone (typically a parent) isn't constantly nagging you to pick things up.  This doesn't mean the studio is dirty, with the exception of some dust accumulation, it is mainly just not tidy.
I have come across some useful studio organizers that do help with the storage problem and remove some of the clutter. My greatest find for organizing all of my painting materials is a candy and gum rack which I liberated from the yard sale of a village general store that was closing shop. The rack is all metal, came in two pieces with casters on the feet so it can be moved about and has a range of shelf sizes for different materials. Total asking price was $10, a major bargain unlikely to be repeated. I've attached a photo in case you ever get a chance at one of these - it is complete with candy and gum labels.  It holds all of my watercolour tubes, liquid and opaque acrylics and mediums, my pastel collection and various drawing materials.

Another useful item I picked up recently, at a much higher cost, is a very solid storage cart, again on casters.  The trays have been designed to hold paper as large as full sheet watercolour paper (22" x 30") and so will also hold most pastel papers which often come a bit smaller.  It also has handy detachable metal shelves on both sides in which I store jars of acrylic paint.  Of lately I've been using the top shelf as my painting surface when working on watercolours.  The cart is called "Space Rover 2" and is billed as a paper, board and utility cart.  I highly recommend it for flat storage of art papers.  Here's a photo of the cart.

Finally, the other major components are an old style wooden drafting table with a tilt-able top, and a full size painting easel.  The drafting table has a lower shelf in which I store mostly sketch books, paint rags and various flotsam and jetsam, while the drawers hold various painting implements.  You will also see in the photo below at bottom left part of an air purifier which I leave running beside my easel when I'm painting with pastel.  This effectively reduces any dust to a minimum.  I have allergies to dust and pollen and would not be able to paint pastels in a closed room without the purifier.

So that's the major storage areas in my studio.  If you have some interesting solutions I'd like to hear about them so please share your ideas by posting a comment.  In the next posting I'll talk a bit about lighting and show you the view out my back skylight windows.