As a designer, I spend a lot of time thinking about how I work and live in my space, both at home and in the studio. I'm quite particular about functionality and the beauty of the objects that surround me. Ever since my days as a shop girl at the beloved Rare Device, I've dreamt of having a beautiful space to pack orders. A weird thing to fixate on, but when you devote entire days to shipping boxes, these things take on a new significance.

When I moved into my current studio space, I started sketching out an ideal packing station and a way to store the space-sucking packing peanuts used for shipping. I have hidden packing peanuts under rugs, in closets, and under my bed for many years. Now, I wanted to proudly display them in a way that felt intentional and not just "that'll do for now."

That's what motivated this 2-week long project. Aided by my apprentice Anna, we put together a DIY project that took on an odd significance. This became my Field of Dreams, if you will. Build it, and you will ship boxes non-stop. So we did. It prompted me to spend 2 days indigo dying, which is a lovely way to spend your days, folks. I had dreamt of an shibori-dyed packing peanut station, and we made it come true with only one trip to home depot, which is a miracle itself.

The bag itself measures 5' tall and hangs off a pulley system. Due to the metal ceiling of my studio, we built a small shelf to hang the pulley instead of randomly drilling into sheet metal. We used these instructions as our guide, adapting it to be a drawstring bag for a slimmer silhouette. It has a hot air balloon quality to it that I admire. Since installing it, I often find myself gazing at this new piece of equipment with wonder. Who knew office equipment could inspire such feelings?