[Found this post in draft mode from five years ago and thought I'd share that once upon a time my craft room was clean. Scroll down for the reality that is NOW!]
Welcome to my craft room & office!
I figured since it's clean I would finally take photos of my space and share it with my friends. Please don't hate me because if you're like me, I use to look at peoples craft rooms in awe and jealousy. I have been were many of you are, on a fold out table shoved in a corner of your family room, hoping no one but your family sees the creative mess you have surrounding you. You can never find anything because there's no room or way to
really organize your many purchases with only a picnic table as your work space.
We moved into our house six years ago. We had an extra room that my husband promised me was mine since I do work from home. He assured me that we'd get right to finishing the basement and I'd be crafting up a storm. You know I really thought I'd be a better crafter/scrapbooker if I only had a better space to create in (not true, but hey it was good argument in my head).
So after almost five years of waiting for my husband to get around to finishing that basement room, I'd had enough. I saved up some money, hired a friends husband (who does this for a living) and we got to work on finishing that basement. But I decided I would move my messy teenager down to the basement and take over his room upstairs since I knew I'd be living in this space more then any other in my home.
I did this room all on my own, with the exception of some really awesome friends (Jen & Scott Meyer) who came and helped me lay the laminate flooring...that was a fun time!! I pulled up the carpet, took off the floor boards and did all my own painting, hanging of shelves, etc. Because I could "wait" for my hubby to help out or just get it done!!
So this is my happy place, the place where I work and create. I love the colors because they are me and inspire me the minute I sit down. I love the storage solutions and that I can actually find everything. Typically it's NOT this clean though, so I'll enjoy it with you here not he blog when I start to lose the floor again. So let me tell you a little bit about the space....
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| Room Size: 10'5" x 10'5" |
The Coolest Craft Table Ever
I worked with a great local company called Hurcraft to get my awesome work table and bookshelf. (I just checked though, their site is down and I'm not sure they're still in business.) The work table takes up most of the room, but it's on wheels and I can push it to one side or the other depending on where I'm working. It also has tons of built in storage that I love!
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| I added those plastic, removable hooks to the underside and side of my table to make the items I need to find the quickest more accessible. Shown here: Bucket of Adhesive Runners, Doodlebug Twine and my Kiwi Lane templates |
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| Here's the side of my Hurcraft work table, love the how much I can easily store right in the table itself. |
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| Worthy of mentioning...the "LORI" above the closet doors were originally from a company called "All My Memories" trade show booth. |
My Awesome Book Shelf
I purchased a lovely book shelf for my family room and put all my 12x12 albums on it...broke two shelves as a result and the albums hung over the end of the shelves so they were getting super dusty and such. This beautiful shelf unit from Hurcraft is 14" deep and I have plenty of room for all my 12x12 paper vertical storage and my 12x12 albums. Don't you love the rainbow of Storybook albums from Doodlebug. Not only are they a great album (my all time favorite) but they look cute on my shelf too. I'm saving up to fill the bottom shelf next!
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| Don't you love the Doodlebug Storybook Albums |
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| This is the side of the table I sit at and craft...that way I can see the movies or TV on my computer monitor. |
Close-up Details
I've been crafting all my life, married for 20 of it and finally after years of shared bedrooms and family rooms I have figured out what items I want/need handy and what can be stored away. Everything you see out are the things I access the most. And yes, I do cut with both my Cricut and my Silhouette (at the same time on occasion).
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| I spend way more time here in front of my computer working (being that I work from home) then anywhere. After a couple of very uncomfortable chairs I finally invested in one I loved...and had style too!! |
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| Even though I have my big work table, I do need a space next to my computer to assemble things at times and this works perfectly for me. |
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| Some fun items on display that you may have seen me featured on My Craft Channel once or twice in the past! |
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| I don't collect many things, but I do love keeping all my badges from the different events I've taught at or attended. When I figure out a good way to scrapbook them, I will, but for now they can just hang in my office. |
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| The view I have from the crafting side of my office...have to make sure I can still watch my favorite shows while I craft! |
The Craft Closet
This has to be one of my favorite parts of my office and the most useful when I comes to storage. The closet already had shelves built in and the poles so I decide to try and utilize it the best way I could. I'll show you a close up of my favorite storage solution to date down below....
I hope you enjoyed my space and maybe something sparked you to create your own space. Keep in mind I actually use this space so by next week it won't look a thing like the photos I just shared. But I am so happy to finally have somewhere I can go and be creative and not drive my family too crazy with my creative mess.
REALITY 5 YEARS LATER....
So the photos above and the clean office came about when my craft room was being photographed for the Creative Spaces Volume 2.
