Who is Stanley, you may ask? And why am I channeling him? Any of you who knew my grandfather would read that and chuckle. Stanley was a transmission mechanic for Ford. Growing up, I always remember all the creases in the palms of hands being stained black from the oil and fluids from the cars he worked on. He wore hearing aids most of his life. One of his ear drums was ruptured by the antenna at work.
Because hearing aids bring in all sounds at the same level, being in a noisy environment like a wedding reception, made it difficult for him to hear what was being said around him. He would amuse himself by melting plastic silverware over the candle on the table, twisting and bending it into creative shapes. He taught us to be careful when melting the silverware because if you get it too close to the flame, the plastic starts to burn and it smells horrible.
Here is where the creative solutions part comes into the story. My grandfather was always inventing or creating solutions to problems using everyday items he had on hand. (Suffice it to say, going through his workshop when he passed away was quite a chore.) There was a wrench that was bent into a “U” shape. He had bent the wrench so he could work on some of the car engines at work that had a bolt that he couldn’t get to.
My grandma had arthritis really badly in her hands and she sometimes had problems doing things. Stan added a metal piece across the top of her car key so it would be easier for her to grip when starting the car. He created a lever for her so she could open the window above the kitchen sink. Maybe his way of using whatever he had on hand to make things somewhat stemmed from growing up during the depression. I’m not sure but he always figured out a solution.
Hopefully soon, I’ll write a blog post in collaboration with my daughter about all of the interesting things she discovered about Stanley during a research project when she was in school.
So back to my creative storage solution. In the room where I keep all my craft and art supplies, there is a closet. It’s one of those six foot wide with sliding doors that many people have in their bedrooms. There is a white wire shelf with a hanging rod along the bottom for hanging clothes. My sewing machine, storage bins and other items are along the shelf but there is still a decent amount of wasted space at the top of the closet near the ceiling. I’ve been racking my brain for months trying to come up with a way to use this wasted space.
I finally figured it out!
We have accumulated quite a few plastic crates over the years, many of which my daughters used to store things in their bedrooms growing up. The sides of the crates have a grid of circular openings in them. At the hardware store, I purchased washers that were slightly bigger than these circular holes. In our garage, I found some toggle bolt drywall anchors with screws.
After clearing the shelf in the closet and covering the rest with a drop cloth, I pushed the first crate up against the ceiling in the corner and marked the 4 circles I was going to put the bolts through. I drilled holes in the ceiling where the markings were big enough for the anchors to fit through.
I placed bolts with the washers & anchors attached through the 4 holes in each corner of the side of the crate that was going up against the ceiling. Holding the crate up to the ceiling, I pushed the anchors through the holes in the ceiling. I tightened each of the bolts with a cordless screwdriver. I repeated the process with the other two crates.
The crates can’t hold a lot of weight but they easily hold 16 - 18 rolls of deco mesh or small boxes of decorations I use on my wreaths. I added one of those battery operated tap lights and some command hooks to hold a few hanging things. It is a perfect solution using things I already had on hand.
Thanks Stanley!
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