• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Good Press: Special Features, Freelance Projects, and Long-Term Clients
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after – transforming my first home
      • before + after, our current home
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

The Work-pad: Salt City Spice

July 21, 2011

Adding another inspiring biz to the growing work-pad series! You know how much I love a nice, productive and efficient workspace. And Katrina has one. Assembling an efficient and organized workspace obviously goes hand-in-hand with her vision of everyone having an efficient and organized spice rack, so, no surprise here, but I’m excited to see her space myself. Her products are a big hit, and she gets loads of publicity between Etsy and Worthsy, not to mention that her growing blog is filled with great small business perspective for folks like myself.

Before I say too much, I’ll let her take over and tell you about her business and workpad. Enjoy!  

Katrina with one of her creations.

Hi Merrypad readers! I’m Katrina, the owner of Salt City Spice on Etsy, specializing in unique magnetic spice racks and interesting vintage finds.

I’m originally from Rochester, NY but currently living in Syracuse (aka The Salt City) with my college-sweetheart husband, toddling daughter, and 2 naughty cats. I love cooking and eating, and also enjoy trying my hand at various home renovation projects around our house.

I also created The Salt City Spice Blog where I talk about some of the things I’m learning as a small business owner along with a few crafty DIY ideas along the way. I invite readers to learn and share along with me and the response has been really great so far! I’m currently wrapping up a series on Time Management and plan to continue offering more help in the future for readers looking to streamline their creative businesses. I should note that writing about these topics has everything to do with the fact that I come from an engineering and process & management consulting background and have a deep, nerdy love for doing things efficiently.

What’s your workpad like? How did you choose that particular space?

I use a couple different spots around the house – I originally started in the garage but outgrew that within a few months. Plus, let’s be serious, the garage was just way too cold this winter even with a couple space heaters on full blast. A few mishaps involving frozen fingers and quick-curing epoxy later and I moved the “small project” portion of my business to an upstairs spare bedroom-turned-office which I lovingly refer to as The HQ.

Katrina assembling spice tins.

I still have a corner of the garage reserved for refinishing, curing, and drilling the bases for my spice racks, but consider the office my main workpad since it’s where I spend much of my workday.

You know how much I love custom made furniture. Do you have any customized/upcycled/DIY’ed in your space?

Nearly everything in my office was (pardon the terrible poetry) thrifted, gifted, or Craigslisted.

(Editor’s interjection: Love it.)

My absolute favorite piece of furniture though is a solid wood desk handmade by my grandpa, who was an amazingly skilled woodworker and printer. I’m also lucky to own a bentwood rocking chair, an elaborate dollhouse modeled after his & my grandma’s old place, and (appropriately) a grandfather clock he made, along with various other smaller items.

A desk made by Katrina's Grandpa.

The main storage area for my office is an antique flame mahogany buffet that I found on Craigslist. It wasn’t custom-made for me (well, obviously) but it might as well have been! The height is exactly perfect for me to stand and work, then I can just put everything back into the many drawers once I’m done. Funnily enough, I bought it before I even started my business and had no idea how I would use it at the time, but there was just something about it that I really liked.

Antique hutch for small projects + storage.

I always like to ask: Do you keep any specific items, books, tsotchkes in your space to inspire you?

Definitely! A perk of having vintage items available in my shop means I get to appreciate the little treasures I have for sale until they head to their new owners. To make good use of this, I installed some shelves in my office that are now reserved for my various finds – they’re things that caught my eye to begin with so I like having them on display as though I were selling from a regular brick & mortar shop.

Functional & decorative storage.

I also keep one of my vinyl chalkboard trays (sans magnetic tins) on hand to note any supplies I need to buy, or to just play around with for new ideas. I have the world’s blackest thumb, but I found some awesome little upcycled cork succulent plant magnets that seem to be doing well under my care – I see that as a sign that anything is possible. Other than that, I love hand-printed and pressed artwork so I’m slowly building up a collection, including a “Viva La Vida” print from Happy Deliveries and a signed, numbered linocut print of one of NY’s Finger Lakes (a $2 thrifted find!). Just like the rest of my house, my space will forever be a work in progress – I like letting a design aesthetic evolve naturally as my tastes grow and change.

Do you ever see yourself outgrowing your current work area and expanding into commercial studio space or a brick-and-mortar shop? If you ever worked on outside of the home, have you ever thought of your dream workspace and what it would look like?

I would love to have some type of actual studio and storefront someday! It feels like a beyond-lofty goal at the moment, but I’m always open to new opportunities so I can’t rule anything out. Syracuse has a lot of awesome old buildings in the downtown area that are currently undergoing a bit of a Renaissance – the kind of old timey places with details like original tin ceilings, exposed beams, intricately carved woodwork… swoon. It’s exciting to watch the transformation for the city I now call home, and the downtown area is definitely where I would want to be. If we’re talking no-holds-barred, full-out dream world here, then my future space would somehow encompass my current business and a microbrewery specializing in spice-infused beers – is it too early to promise a round of free brewskies for your readers?

(Another editor’s interjection: Spice-infused microbrewery! I love that idea and can’t wait to see it realized. And no, I will speak for all of us in saying that we will accept a free round anytime of day.)

Thanks to Katrina for participating in the series and sharing all of the photos of your workpad! Now, everyone – I hope you all head over to read her blog and shop at her store!

Share

Work-pads

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

8 Comments


Andrea (Sacred Suds)
July 21, 2011 at 9:19 am
Reply

Katrina, you crack me up, and can I just tell you that I LOVE that you use the word funnily? Instant friend, right there. Thank you so much, Emily, for this super fun glimpse into Katrina’s world (and workspace). Makes me dream of the day when I have a designated space of my own. I love yours, Katrina – it looks so clean and quiet, and really conducive to getting some good work done while still being cozy and comfortable. Thanks so much for sharing y’all!

xo,
andrea



    Emily
    July 21, 2011 at 11:07 am

    Glad you liked it, Andrea! Clean and quiet is nice – you’re lucky to have a space like that to get work done in, Katrina. I meant to ask – is it fairly kid-friendly too?

    Katrina
    July 21, 2011 at 11:32 am

    Thanks so much ladies! It is in fact kid-friendly. My daughter has her own little workpad in the corner not shown where she works on things like making altered art with pages from her books and creating new interpretations of Mr. Potato Head. We make a good team :) Definitely lucky to have the space – I hope to hang onto it for as long as possible!

    Emily
    July 21, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    Oh my gosh. A baby workpad with DIY art and customizable potato faces. My heart melts.

Tess
July 21, 2011 at 10:58 am
Reply

ooh, thanks so much for sharing Katrina! I always love to see where the magic happens ;)
If anyone can make a spice-infused microbrewery happen, I know it’s you!



    Katrina
    July 21, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    Thanks so much Tess! Hubby is supposed to be in charge of perfecting the basic beer recipe, and I get to be the flavorist. Great deal, right?

Emily @ArtfulVintage
July 21, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Reply

So nice to learn more about the whiz behind Salt City Spice! It’s wonderful that you have some family treasures in your HQ and that you appreciate where they came from. I think you need to trademark the phrase, “thrifted, gifted or Craigslisted”. It’s awesome :)



    Katrina
    July 21, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    Thanks so much Emily, I’m definitely a sucker for anything with a little family history to it. Consider the phrase officially coined (and abbreviated TGC) – you heard it here first!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    merrypad

    Merrypad by Emily Fazio
    Instagram post 17902304861708711 Instagram post 17902304861708711
    Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️ Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️
    Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garl Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garlic went into the home garden: 10 rows [L>R] 6 whole Nootka Rose as an experiment, 3x8 Mennonite-grown cloves from Aman’s, and 6x8 (and, I think, total 112? notes are cryptic) “normal.”
#gardennotes #growinggarlic #garden2023 #whatisnormal #merrypadathome
    Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of mind! #garden2024 kicks off with my favorite biennial: elephant garlic! 15 cloves planted from small, to medium, to enormous. #gardennotes
    Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this i Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this is getting ooc, and I love it. 👩‍🌾🧑‍🌾

🧄 65% of the planting is in a new plot in the country. 🧄 Seeing if NR grows bigger with more sunlight. 🧄 Big @chasefarms cloves from 2021 were really productive in our home garden; can’t wait to see how they can show up next year in the new space. 🧄

Hand-turned a small bed, but big thanks to my sister, who rolled into town just in time to help me double its size (and did not complain once).
    One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stal One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stalks and 7 scapes, and I can’t wait to see this mammoth looks like when it’s pulled next month. #garlic2022 

Also, fierce springtime performance by parsley, chamomile, and self-seeded cilantro.
    Annual garlic notes #garden2022 ~315 cloves total Annual garlic notes #garden2022
~315 cloves total
50 in new, unfenced garden
Still need thick mulch on everything
Did a terrible job tracking varieties when I harvested, so it’s all a mix of hardneck now 😒
Added some big cloves from @chasefarms and look forward to adding some @fruition_seeds in #garden2023 when @porterfarmscsa delivers.
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. The Easy Fix For Broken IKEA Drawers 66.9k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. 7 Steps for Restoring an Old Midcentury Sideboard Buffet 56.8k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 50k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 40.1k views
    • DIY driveway removal. How to Remove an Old Asphalt Driveway 35.1k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Flagstone Patio in One Day 32.8k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. How to Dye Pasta Different Colors (Halloween Recipe) 32.5k views
    • Fix an ikea dresser drawer. Life Support For An IKEA Dresser 29.7k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 29.5k views
    • After: Custom wooden garden fence. Designing a Durable Wooden Fence For Our Beautiful Backyard Garden 23k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • HGTV
  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad