Heather K Powers

No Filing Cabinet? Enter—> The stylish, functional file cabinet

July 5, 2016 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Paper management, Productivity, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources 3 Comments

There is a trend lately to have no filing cabinet and sometimes even no desk space!

Time after time I go to a client assessment or am talking with someone about paperwork and they say they don’t have a system for storing papers. I get that lifestyles have changed. Most people work on their laptops on the sofa or at a table. Lots of us are trying to go paperless, but realistically we will probably always have certain papers to keep.

Yes, there is such thing as a stylish and funcitonal filing cabinet!

One very common complaint I hear is that “file cabinets are ugly.” “If I could just find one that looks like a piece of furniture”…well folks I’m here to help! Here is a beautiful round up of a variety of stylish and functional file cabinet. Not baskets, boxes, binders or bins…we’ll get to those another day because if there is more than one of you with papers in your household, most likely you need a filing cabinet!

Luckily some great companies are bringing stylish filing systems in as furniture so you don’t have to forgo the style for the function! Some, like the cabinet below by Iannone Design is truly a work of art!

Horchow collection has some beauties. I love these two mirror file boxes. They’re not filing cabinets but would work for a specific category or one person with minimal papers.

Wayfair has a lot of options from this more rustic wood, one drawer cabinet filing cabinet to more utilitarian ones.

The Container Store has clean contemporary cabinets in fun colors!

Ikea has basic affordable two drawer cabinets.

There are tons of great DIY options for painting and making over your cabinet with fun colors, chalk board paint (image below from hometalk.com), decorative papers and more! Loads of popular furniture and home brands have great options as well like the white credenza-style cabinet by Crate and Barrel below.

With all these stylish and functional options there’s no reason to be keeping your paper in piles or bags anymore! I’ve shared lots of great tips for filing systems on the blog, (search filing, or paper organizing). I hope this stylish filing cabinet roundup inspires you to get your paperwork in order. For more inspiration check out my Pinterest Office Board or my Houzz Stylish Filing Cabinets Idea book.

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Celebrate YOUR Independence

July 4, 2016 by Heather Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Photography Leave a Comment

As our nation celebrates independence, take a moment to Celebrate YOUR Independence! It’s a bee-autiful thing! Toast to it, light off rockets and celebrate with gratitude!

Happy 4th of July, happy Independence Day America! Here’s to next year bringing us more celebrations of Freedom and Equality!

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Organizing topics, what more can I say?

June 24, 2016 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Systems & Techniques 4 Comments

Some days I STRUGGLE with ideas to write about…SO I want to hear from you! What do you want me to blog about?

Maybe I don’t have anything unique to say about Organizing topics?

Or maybe NOT, I think I’m just stuck in my own head and don’t know what I know! The way I bring ideas together is just a bit different than someone else. How I say something might resonate with you in a way that it doesn’t with someone else. The same goes for how I work with clients to organize their spaces.

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Studio Time at the Vat Shack

June 11, 2016 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Handmade, In the Studio, Inspiration & Education Leave a Comment

I’ll be spending a lot of my Saturday’s this summer in my new shared temporary studio, The Vat Shack. This project brings together 6 Indigo & textile artists for a summer of all things blue!

The Vat Shack artists have affectionately been dubbed the “Den Mama’s”.

This project has been made possible by Charleston non profit, Enough Pie in partnership with Clemson’s architecture students (and others) who built this amazing temporary traveling “studio” for this specific purpose. The Den Mama’s and Enough Pie had regular meetings with the students and professors to share in the process of designing this space specifically for our needs. It was so fun to see it go from concept to reality, they did an amazing job and gave us just about everything on our “wish list”!

The Vat Shack set up

The Vat Shack storage

After the “shack” was delivered we came together to set up 3 types of Natural indigo vats, a Ferrous (Iron) vat, Fermentation vat and Hydrosulphate Vat. These three types of vats were selected to illustrate the evolution of this artform and craft throughout history (fermentation being the oldest type, Hydros the most “modern”). I was really in my element getting to set up the supplies and organize all the tools, shelving, space layout etc.

Den Mama’s setting up Indigo vats

Last Saturday this project was launched into the community with a public event Awakening:Indigo IV. All the Den Mama’s were there to share Indigo dyeing with the community. All afternoon we gave demonstrations of dyeing with indigo, shibori techniques and people added to the Community Rag Quilt (a Gullah Tradition being revived by the Gullah Lady).

Heather K Powers with Wire Hanger Mandala

The Gullah Lady

Art installations (I created another one of my wire hanger mandala’s above) were onsite along with performances by story tellers (like my friend Sharon Cooper Murray-below) and a screening of the indigo documentary Blue Alchemy by Mary Lance who was in attendance and helped to create a lasting blue memories in Charleston!

Charleston community tries their had at Shibori

Mary Lance creates something blue to remember Charleston

Den mama’s will be spending time in the shack teaching workshops, camps and leading community dye days (first and third Saturday’s each month into October). This project is such an exciting way to bring together all different kinds of people in the Charleston community to learn about the art, craft, science and history of Indigo in the Lowcountry and around the world. I’m very proud to be a part of this and I hope to see you out there this summer!

All together in Blue! (L—>R Rachel Parris, Cathryn Zommer, Mary Lance, Arianne King Comer, Heather K Powers, Leigh Magar, Cara Earnst, Sharon Cooper Murrah and Kristy Bishop)

In the Studio with Tim Hussey-Part II

June 2, 2016 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, In the Studio, Organize, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

In today’s interview we will take another peek at In the studio with Tim Hussey. Last week we talked about his background, his new studio space and his creative legacy. This week we dive into organizing specifics and he shares some tips he’s learned through his years as an artist in various capacities. His new space is open to the public, and his latest show Listing, is his first in this new Studio. I dropped by while the show was hanging but he’s also shared a few shots of how he works in his space. These photos are not styled and are typical of what his working studio looks like on an average day. All the photo’s in this post were supplied by Tim too!

Tim Hussey Art Studio Organization Part II (see Part I here)