I got all my pictures printed that I took of my studio the way it is now, measured my room, and headed to The Container Store on Wednesday night after work. My wonderful husband agreed to accompany me, so after stopping for a quick dinner, we found ourselves talking to a pleasant, if not terribly adept, gentleman about what I wanted for my space.

Let me just say that the first time I visited The Container Store and got excited about this project, I went to the store in the Houston Galleria area. The man there was very knowledgeable, he listened to me, and understood what I wanted. Unfortunately it’s also a pain to get there so I decided to go to the one that’s closer to me in the Champions area of Houston. I think that was my first mistake.

While the guy I dealt with at the Champions store was very nice, he was short on listening skills. I showed him pictures, I explained exactly what I wanted to do. He acted like he understood, so I let him work on the “plan” while my husband and I wandered around looking at things in the store. Finally, the plan was done, and I couldn’t wait to see it – it took about an hour from the time we walked into the store until the preliminary plan was completed.

But I was disappointed when I actually saw it. He kept telling me it could be changed, but I felt like he didn’t listen to what I’d said. I had given him three parameters …

1. I needed a table top for my serger and computer. I already have a very nice table for my sewing machine, but I did ask if they could do drawer-type storage under it (I could buy a cabinet from the manufacturer of the table, but it’s $1,000 just for seven drawers!)

2. On the same wall as the tabletop I wanted storage/shelving for craft books, threads, scissors – many things that, when I need them now, I almost always have to get up and walk across the room to retrieve them.

3. Nothing in the closet. I have quite a bit stored there now but I can’t see it and I want my fabric on shelves so I can easily find what I’m looking for. I want the closet to be a closet again, even if no clothes are hung in there for the time being.

First of all, he outfitted the closet with a “system” that would cost over $600 – all shelving, baskets and shoe boxes. There would be NO place to hang clothes at all, if I so desired. It was completely unnecessary and a total waste of time for him to even design it.

Secondly, I showed him pictures of my craft books and magazines. He designed the shelves to store them to be 12 inches apart. A lot of my books are at least that tall and would barely fit! Also, I showed him pictures of the plastic storage drawers I intend to continue to use, that would need to be placed on these shelves. I would much prefer the shelving to be 18 to 24 inches apart – which would eliminate at least half of the shelves he designed.

And he failed miserably when it came to the cabinet to go under my sewing machine table – I told him I only had 23 inches under the table. The “basket system” he designed for that area stands at nearly 30 inches tall.

There were other problems as well … he didn’t take into account that I already had one set of baskets that could be used in the room. He put shelving for my fabric on another wall that was spaced too closely together – he could have lost half the shelves and the design would have been better. And because he put all the baskets in the closet, he didn’t have nearly enough on the fabric wall.

They did email the plan to me, though, and I went through it and made some modifications – however, there is not a parts list or an individual listing of cost for each component. I ended up building a spreadsheet and taking the prices off their website to figure out a price. I brought the desk/book storage wall down from nearly $800 to just $450 – still quite an expenditure, but then I paid over $700 for my sewing machine table, and it has no storage at all. My redesign really would work better for me all around, too. The only thing I might add to it eventually would be some sort of storage baskets under the table top.

My mom and husband have both suggested I take my pictures and go back to the store in the Galleria and see if I get better results with them. I may do that …

I am very disappointed that the planning process did not include a list of parts that would be needed and a price list. I don’t like secrecy and I don’t like “package pricing”.

Still, I am pretty sure that this system can meet my needs … I just need to perfect the layout and then start working on buying it, a little at a time.