In a previous post on this discussion forum I described my laundry bin...a 30L cardboard barrel which I lined with an old shower curtain and decorated still reigns supreme on the lid of my top loder, Nobody knows what it is and its a never ending source of admiration from an artistic angle. Lacking floor space the only option was to sit it up there or out on the veranda.It works as a cat toy too. It has, however, acquired some vents in the lid since some of my art shirts are often a bit oily and I learnt that some oils tend to self combist in enclosed spaces and can be the cause of house fires. Sometimes hiding things in plain sight is a good option. With Tribbletrouble45142k7Trek...Your baskets sound pretty...why hide such nice functional souvenits!

Hey annb, Siri and bigreader - thank you so much all of you, for taking the time to explain your personal stories to me... I loved reading your replies. Have given me much to think about :) I love the idea of a couple of shelves with photos... one or two select albums around our coffee table and a family wall collection I think - a real talking feature. Any other spaces will have some nice artwork I think? Storytelling through photos and beautiful artwork on our walls - I hope - we can find a nice balance. Now.... the task of working out which specific photos to put where lol! I don't want it to look cluttered.... so it may take some playing with configurations on the floor - to work out which layout will look the best :)

sounds like there may be scope for a storage loft in the garage roof or the house? but anything stored in an unsealed space will get mouldy so you need to plan the storage carefully...we find that the tops of ceiling height wardrobes is an excellent indoor storage area and i have a gorgeous collection of vintage suitcases that are stored in a purpose built shelf to keep old toys and clothes and some tall glass doored Ikea Billy Bookases are only 30cms deep and will fit in odd spaces for storage of properly filed paperwork, photo albums and precious books but we really need to keep an index of where everything is as once the things are stored they can be difficult to find and i realise that it's time to cull some more to find something

Congratulations on starting a new business and following your passion. It looks like you are off to a good start with some beautiful homewares, that have been well designed, and which are presented well on your website. It is really hard at the start but you need to get your products in front of as many eyeballs as possible, and social media is a cost-effective way. Consider Facebook and Instagram advertisements as a starting point, and when you have enough momentum look carefully at some of the markets and tradeshows, which can provide some great opportunities for material for social media. https://www.instagram.com/secret_design_studio/ Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls