Studio Storage & new Drying Rack for artwork

Hanging Drying Rack

My studio is much like many artists' studios which are often jam packed with art supplies and works in progress. I am always looking for ways to "create" more space by rearranging stuff. I found some great shelves from West Elm to create storage in my stairwell and it proved extremely useful because it negates the "out of sight, out of mind" by allowing my glues, mediums and other assorted sundries to be easily viewed.

Stairwell showing 3 West Elm Square Shelving Units

I am currently taking a class online in which we are using self-leveling gel, which can take a week to dry or cute. On Friday I started thinking of options to create a drying area instead of using my work surfaces, which could really put a cramp in working on my next project while waiting for these pieces to dry. What I came up with was a hanging drying rack. Here are the pictures of what I designed.

Hanging drying rack, overall photo

Hanging drying rack, ceiling connection

Hanging drying rack, wall connection

Hanging drying rack, connection between screens

I bought everything at Home Depot. It cost about $45 and I installed it by myself. The only help from my husband being to close the whole decorator's chain links because I struggled to close the links once I opened them.

Here's my supply list, keep in mind you might need more chain if it hang completely hangs from the ceiling. I had a shelf above that prevented me from having the back 2 connections from the ceiling. They hang off the wall below instead.

• 11 ft. of white decorator chain
• 4 screw-hooks, 4 drywall anchors
• 16-20 small S-hooks (I didn't use them to connect the top most screen to the chain, so I only needed 16)
• 16 small Screw Eyes (I used 1/2" size)
• 3 adjustable screens with wood frames (I used 18" x 21"-37" size)

Tools I needed were:

• 2 pair of pliers
• 1/16 drill bit
• Drill
• Tape measure
• Level
• Pencil
• Hands strong enough to close links after opening them!

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