Wood Working: Custom Storage
Moving in to a new apartment came with a plethora of exciting opportunities, new furniture shopping, decorating, and coming up with functional solutions to living in a small apartment with very little storage.
As a person with lots of different hobbies and tool sets, I found myself searching for storage options that allowed me to express my colorful stylistic choices, as well as functionally store a variety of things. Using existing Hay crates as the base for the storage drawers I began to design a structure to hold them.
After sourcing some 1-in thick baltic birch plywood from someone not far away in Brooklyn, and having the audacity to think that I could carry six large sheets of plywood home - I called a Lyft to our office space and got to work.
This fairly simple construction still needs some sanding and finishing, but has already become a perfect place to store my wood carving tools, extra drawing supplies, and engineering supplies.
Behind the scenes
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Inspiration
After owning far too many of Hay’s recycled color crates, I knew I loved the style, flexibility, and color options that came with this playful storage solution. I wanted to be able to use each crate as a drawer, and began my explorations there.
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Early ideation
Before searching for materials and ordering crates I did a bit of early design ideation, creating quick keyshot mockups that allowed me to change color and layout options quickly. I mocked up a variety of options, and once I had settled on a final design I sourced some wood from a local woodworker, and took to the shop.
Filling in the gaps
While this project isn’t fully finished, it does have a home in our living room. It stores wood carving tools, extra sheets, tools, console controllers, spare batteries and whatever else needs a home at any given moment. Even though it’s in active use, it still needs a little love - final sanding and finishing are in this little shelving unit’s future!
