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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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Better Living Through Handymanlyness

July 31, 2014 2 Comments

In this year’s Reader Survey, a chunk of you awesome respondents said you want to see some more personal content, one reader wanted to see some upcycling ideas, and another suggested a series about creative space inspiration. So I’ll hit a few birds with one stone today by sharing one of the most creative spaces I could think of that’s personal for me – my dad’s basement workshop.

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com Last summer I shared the story of how my dad built a log cabin out of reclaimed utility poles when I was little. A resourceful guy like that doesn’t get that way overnight. At first glance, some of you might be thinking hoarder alert! as you look at these photos, but I’m not so sure. Rather than spending money at the container store, my dad’s go-to source for organizing materials is most people’s recycling bins. For this guy, nothing is better at keeping things organized than an old nail, shoe box or cleaned out sour cream tub.

If you think about it, a lot of municipalities don’t even have the capacity to recycle many plastics, particularly lids to things, so why not try to extend their otherwise-landfilling life?

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

Being 6’4″ has a huge impact on how my dad uses his space. His shop organization is absolutely NOT limited to walls of shelving. See everything hanging from the rafters? There are rolls of duct and packing tape hanging from nails. There’s a level, old lanyards, keys, work masks, an army water bottle, pliers, and who knows what else up there too.

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

There are notes everywhere. On pieces of wood, taped to drawers, written on boxes used for storage. Yes, on the top shelf there the box reads “explod outhouse.” It’s a small replica of an outhouse that explodes when you touch it, scaring the pants off whoever you’re pranking. Gotta store that somewhere important – pranks are an important trick in every handyman’s arsenal.

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

A big outdoorsman in addition to handyman, my dad has a lot of gear to keep organized (not unlike most crafters I know). Part of his collection of fishing tackle and poles resides in his shop. He recycled styrofoam packaging into a clever, tiered storage system for organizing sharp fishing lures.

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

See the net in the photo below? I think it might most accurately depict how exactly my dad’s brain works. In addition to the fishing and hunting, he’s also a big tennis and racquetball lover, has been for years. The racquetball racquet pictured must have been broken at some point, so instead of giving it away, he attached the net from a fishing net (I assume the frame was broken or found discarded somewhere knowing my dad) to the stringless racquet, making a well-gripped net for catching smaller things.

PS: The two articles pinned to the wood shelf are a Guide to Paint & Varnish and Better Living Through Handymanlyness. Who needs Pinterest when you’ve got a shelf and a staple gun?

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

Looking for a storage system to keep small things organized? Look no further than an empty Cheez Whiz jar. Pro handymanlyness tip, folks. I joke, but I should really do something like this with yarn scraps. An empty jam jar for all of my wool scraps, another for acryllic, another for alpaca blends. Not the worst idea ever, yarn hoarders! ;)

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

His workshop also extends to the garage a bit, where he’s got a huge stash of flags left in the ground by cable company workers. What are they for? He keeps some in a holder taped to the lawn mower for literally flagging dog doo that needs cleaning up.

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

With low to no cost practical ideas like these, I can’t say the man’s a hoarder. Just an especially creative reuser. Remember – a lot of the stuff in that shop didn’t cost a dime.

Better Living Through Handymanlyness / Creative Space Tour at handsoccupied.com

Filed Under: Craft Fairs & Store Tours, Inspiration Tagged With: creative reuse, creative spaces, fishing, hunting, inspiration, shop tour, workshop

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Peaches

    July 31, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    Whoa! Now THAT is a creative work space. Very cool!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      July 31, 2014 at 3:20 pm

      Haha, thanks! I was hoping someone would appreciate it for its pure weird- yet smart-ness. Probably not necessarily for design bloggers, but whaddyagonna do! :)

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
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If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually k If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually knitting from one sweater into another here, no big deal. (What can I say, I lost a game of yarn chicken. 😂) I almost didn’t post this because I was worried someone might have some nonsense to say about my ability to knit. Then I remembered I can’t care about that. Silly me, I almost forgot myself! 
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Speaking of which, dang it’s good to have my mental health back consistently after the past couple of years. The anxious parts of my personality are just chilling, rather than constantly screaming that my work isn’t good enough to share. The confident parts of me that matter have me creating (and starting to share my creations & process with strangers and friends) again! 
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Anybody else feel like they are beginning to return to themselves, so to speak, this spring?
I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] proj I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] project needs is a couple of short sleeves! I’ll be finishing this sweater *just* before it gets too warm to wear, but isn’t that always how it goes? 🫠🧶 
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Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, wh Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, which has unsurprisingly turned into a love letter to primary colors. ❤️💛💙 The heart stripe is a wee tweak I incorporated, and I don’t regret it! 
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I am unfortunately home bound for the near future I am unfortunately home bound for the near future thanks to the big, bad bug. So far I’ve knit half a sweater, consumed about a gallon of ginger tea, & plowed through 3 seasons of Pit Bulls and Parolees. 
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June doesn’t understand why I’m suddenly so boring, but she seems to like watching animal planet. 🤷🏼‍♀️
A bit of Saturday swatching. 🧶 I am working in A bit of Saturday swatching. 🧶 I am working in greyscale today to practice designing “without color”. Kinda cool, kinda weird. We’ll see if it yields anything interesting! 😆
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