For any home staging and property presentation business, cushions are the lifeblood that create the theme in spaces like lounge rooms and bedrooms. They can change furniture to suit the wall colours, help neutralise a space and create softness and warmth.
Looking after these assets can be quite a job. While they compress a bit when in storage, imagine managing more than 500 of them!! That is the problem that Shift by Design faced recently until engaging the services of OAK Tasmania, a not for profit organisation supporting adults with disabilities.
Our cushions need to be clean, dry and well stored in preparation for use and we were having trouble locating and storage system that would work well, be cost effective and protect our investment.
Shift by Design Director, Adam Luttrell, had the idea of working with apple bins after seeing a display in a hardware store. With some shelves and material covering the timber, the bins would be perfect. Adam approached the manufacturer, Tahune Field Nurseries for assistance and their team figured out a way to complete the project with the assistance of OAK Indurtries.
Many thanks go to Mark Franklin, OAK Tasmania’s Marketing Manager for managing this project so well.
OAK Tasmania and Shift by Design – press release
An innovative and unique use for apple bins is reaping benefits for several businesses in the Glenorchy area and supporting adults with special needs in the workplace.
Home styling service Shift By Design adopted the idea of using apple bins at its Glenorchy warehouse to store its wide array of home furnishings.
The bins are produced by Tahune Fields Nursery at Lucaston, which is part of Glenorchy-based OAK Tasmania, a not-for-profit organisation which provides support, training and employment for adults living with disabilities.
A number of the apple bins were sent from Tahune Fields Nursery to another of OAK Tasmania’s businesses, Oakdale Industries, at Warrane, where they were shelved and lined. The finished product is an upright customized shelf unit.
Shift By Design Director Adam Luttrell said it was fantastic to be able to access shelving specifically customised to his company’s needs while at the same time support a not-for-profit, local organisation like OAK Tasmania.
Adam Luttrell (left), Shift by Design and Will Rogers (right) from OAK Tasmania
“My partner (Donielle) and I were extremely pleased that we were supporting a local organisation and a not-for-profit organisation like OAK,” Mr Luttrell said.
“This means we are really putting something back into the community which is great.”
Mr Luttrell said the unique shelving had provided a solution to many of his storage difficulties including avoiding dust, allowing fabrics to breath, protecting delicate artworks as well as providing a more organised means of handling of stock.
“The boxes are perfect for us,” he said.
“It just means everything is so much easier for us whether we are packing a job to go out or when stuff comes back in.”
“And when we are selecting stuff to go out on a job it is all easily identifiable by colour, pattern and choice.”
Shift By Design now houses 20 customised apple bins, and being upright, the shelves also made sure every inch of storage space was used to capacity.
“We have limited storage capacity (in this warehouse),” Mr Luttrell said “We don’t have any lost space now!”
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