EmpressC Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 I wasn't exactly sure where to put this as it relates to candles, B&B and whatever else.My question for those who work out of their homes is, how do you store your product inventory? I was thinking of getting some plastic crates to store finished products (so that they can be moved around easier) and shelving for raw materials. I am wondering if others have ideas that I've not thought of. So what are some of your tried and true home warehousing ideas?TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapdragon2 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 I keep mine on a bakers rack in my house. I don't have tons of product inventory, but I like to keep a decent selection. It's a good size bakers rack with 4 shelves, so it holds what I need. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberly Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 I use the sturdy plastic shelving you can get at Wal Mart. I have 2 walls lined with them. One side is for all my candle stock...I usually try to keep at least 6 of each scent on hand. The other wall has my Tarts and B&B Inventory.Oh believe me, you will find the neatest ways to make use of every little inch of space you have available! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luci Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 I don't have a whole lot, but I keep most of it in my living room. It's a formal room that I keep closed off most of the time anyway. I have it all over the piano, bench, coffee table, mantel, you name it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 I have 2 large cabinets with doors for my candles. That way they stay relatively dark.My soaps are on curing racks until packaged, then they go on large wooden shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Dani Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 In Cupboards, Closets, shelving, under sink, in bins, lolyup you name it.....I have supplies in closet of my kitchen strictly for candles supplies, one set of cupboards for my presto pot, soap melter, other supplies,containers and stuff for BB in bins...locked shelves for my f/o...my cannister for kitchen that's meant for flour,sugar,coffee is filled with my dye chips in one and bb dye in another...oh yeah i'm pretty clever...lol sometimes it's overwhelming.oh for my molds, that's in another set of cupboards, and finish soaps and tarts are in my hutch. Dani Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpowell Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 We have an extra bedroom set up as our workshop. A lot of our supplies are stored in those plastic dresser type things that stack. Also, a bunch of the rubbermaid plastic shelving units. Our FOs are in metal file cabinets, and I put up shelves on the walls everywhere I could. We also have a guest bedroom that has lots of wall shelving where we keep our stock of pillars and a few other candles.As it was said earlier, you will find ways to use every inch of available space. I don't know how many times I have been working and thought of a better way to fit more and rearranged things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I just keep the wax in the boxes they came in and then stack those boxes up. As for FOs I keep them in a cupboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoapDiva Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I keep taking over more and more of the basement. I used to be a food squirrel, stocking up on food. Now, I'm purging that to make room for my much healthier obsession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmpressC Posted March 16, 2007 Author Share Posted March 16, 2007 LOL!!! This is great! I was beginning to think something was wrong with me. But knowing how the rest of you store things (especially Luci) makes me feel better. People come to my house and think I'm a pack rat cuz I've got FOs all over my living room, cases of wax in my kitchen stacked up, oils and butters in my basement....basically stuff's everywhere! I do need to get it all organized a bit better. But nice to know I'm not the only one with wax and butters and fo's in my living areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candlesprite7 Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I used to have everything in my kitchen, then my parents came to visit and dad wired part of the basement for me so I could plug in everything i needed and set up shelving and tables so I could get everything out of the kitchen. I need more shelves but can make do with what I have for the moment...lolYou will find very creative ways to store everything. If you look around here there is a thread with pictures of how some people's workshops look, they are all very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I got inexpensive but seriously sturdy metal shelving from the hardware store. Each shelf can hold a couple of 50 lb cases of wax. They can hold more but the boxes won't fit! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 LOL!!! This is great! I was beginning to think something was wrong with me. But knowing how the rest of you store things (especially Luci) makes me feel better. People come to my house and think I'm a pack rat cuz I've got FOs all over my living room, cases of wax in my kitchen stacked up, oils and butters in my basement....basically stuff's everywhere! I do need to get it all organized a bit better. But nice to know I'm not the only one with wax and butters and fo's in my living areas. This is slightly off topic, but I can claim part of my household expenses on my income tax, the % is dependant on the % of the house that I use for business. My husband said, "why don't you just claim the whole damn house, you've got stuff everywhere". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 But nice to know I'm not the only one with wax and butters and fo's in my living areas.Um, yeah, you know the boxes of waxes I mentioned in my earlier post? I was ashamed to say so earlier, but those boxes are sitting in my living room.This is slightly off topic, but I can claim part of my household expenses on my income tax, the % is dependant on the % of the house that I use for business. My husband said, "why don't you just claim the whole damn house, you've got stuff everywhere".LOL this sounds just like my house! Yeah, I really ought to be claiming the whole house at this rate, ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSoaps Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 I, too, ought to be claiming the entire house as storage. We did, however, claim a percentage on our tax return.I have severe storage issues. We've got two businesses that we're storing for, and I have nowhere near enough storage. But I have been very careful to take advantage of the space that we do have.We're in an apartment (am I nuts or what! LOL!). DH & I moved OUT of the Master Bedroom, and into the 3rd smaller bedroom. The Master Bedroom is now our main storage area. Our best investment was a set of interchangeable shelves from Costco. These things are insanely sturdy. Each SHELF (not the whole thing altogether) will hold 1500 lbs. Since I'm buying insane amounts of oils, butters and waxes, I needed more than your normal weight limits. The shelves are also incredibly "flexible". There are 5 shelves, you can set them at any heights. And my favorite part, you can actually set it up as two workbenches as well, which is actually how I have mine. As soon as we're able to, we're going to buy several more to set them up as actual shelves. We bought some cabinet with doors from Wal-Mart a couple years ago, but they've been moved into a new apartment, as well as moved around inside the current apartment, and they're not holding together as well as they used to. Basically, I keep expecting them to fall apart on me. My other "creative" storage solution is for my soaps. I inherited a bunch of the cube wire shelves (see a picture here). I assembled most of them, but left out a few extra shelves. I then took zip ties, and used them to make "shelves" within each cube. Each cube now has 3 shelves. Soap stacked on those carboard trays that sodas come on (four 6 packs per tray - me and my parents both buy them this way at Costco, and we all save them), fit on these shelves perfectly. I let my soaps sit on these for about two weeks (sometimes more when I get totally distracted ), then I place them in boxes for long term storage.Then I also have things stashed in other places in my house. I set up a bookshelf near the kitchen. We are planning on clearing out the storage closet off our deck and setting up 2-3 of those metal shelves (the costco ones) in there for storing non-temp sensitive items, like packaging supplies. The linen closet has been all mine since the beginning. And we're honestly looking still at renting a garage unit (the apts rent garages), but we're hoping to get one closer to our apt. There's only one available at the moment, and it's at the opposite end of the complex from us. We're hoping that some people rented for car storage during the winter months, and will "unrent" them soon. Otherwise, I honestly don't know where in the world I'm storing nearly 20,000 lip balm tubes that are coming in next week...Basically, where there's a will there's a way. Or maybe it's "Where there's a need, there's a way". Get creative, and make sure whatever you buy, especially shelves, are very sturdy, and will uphold lots of use. (we still wish we hadn't bothered buying the cabinets) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvcandletarts2 Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 I keep eyeing my living room and turning it into a workshop/storage area. The spare bedroom could always be the living room, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamondk Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 I live upstairs and my downstairs is all of my business and storage areas. Yes one of the bedrooms upstairs is my living room. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.