HELP - Getting Organized in the Art Studio/Sewing Room

I picked up some little baskets at the dollar store to organize spools of sewing machine thread. 

My luck seems to hold out.  I purchased 21 baskets, and that's what it took to organize the sewing machine spools.  But wait, there's more. . .

The serger thread (cones). 

The larger standing thread cones are for the serger machine.

What is a serger machine?

Well, this is what a serger does . . .

A serger sews overcast stitches.  Here is an example of fabric serged edge.  Some fabrics like satin begin to unravel with even marginal handling. Serged fabric stops the ravel. 

Then, there are four additional cases of embroidery thread that have different properties.  The weight is different--it is a stronger thread and in most cases has a lovely sheen.

I boxed up all of the general purpose sewing machine thread in a plastic crate and fashioned some cotton piping cord into a handle.  This helped me haul the thread up to the studio.  Surprise . . . I'm still climbing an aluminum ladder to get to the second story art studio/sewing room.  The elevator is not up and running yet.  It takes some balance to climb the ladder and haul things up to the studio at the same time.

Here's how I haul hot soapy water up the aluminum ladder to the studio.  I made myself a sturdy tote out of outdoor furniture fabric.  I put the straps around my neck and climb up the ladder.  I need water in the studio for clean up while I'm up there putting things away and finishing the painting job.

This is the west dormer, my new sewing space in the upstairs art studio.  I shoved the wooden file cabinet to the center of the space so I could start cutting in the wall color.  Notice the little wool cookies at the base of the file cabinet help me move it across the floor without damage.

In the background you can see the library card files where I put away the spools of thread.

12 drawers to put away 200 spools of general purpose sewing machine thread.  That could change; I could downsize a bit more, but thought it might be wise to use only 2/3rds of the drawer, to open the drawer without dropping the entire drawer.  The drawers have no "built in stop", so for now I'll just play with the quantity of items to store versus "drawer function". 

Next, I put away 8 drawer of zippers, arranged by color.  I like to sew purses and totes with built-in zippered pockets.  I use lots and lots of zippers.  Mom gave me her stash of zippers recently, so I quickly doubled the amount I already accumulated over the last 40 plus years. 

I sewed more than 60 purses this year.  20 or so I gave to cousins last summer at a family wedding.  Another 20 went to my Mom for her church bizzare.  Two dozen went to two stores for sale, and some for Christmas presents to friends.  I love to sew them--its addictive.

Here is where I left off in the studio (re-painting the wall project)

Looking north, at the art supplies area.  The canvas cubbies are installed and painted.  Still have ladders and too much stuff in the way.  Later, I promise it will look good without all the clutter.

Seating area, across from the elevator door in the east dormer.  I imagined these two chair sitting here since I found them at a yard sale for $5 and brought the stinky chairs home, deconstructing and reupholstered them.  They were my first upholstery project. 

You can see there is a slight difference in wall color (where the old blue gray is slowly covered up with the new "washable" brown gray satin paint). 

The print is a favorite of mine.  I don't know the artist.  I picked up the print at a boutique.  For you costume afficionados--can you tell me what year do you think this little boy is dressed?  I really would like to know more.  Counting on you to tell me.