My Craft Room

This is my first official post. I thought I would start out by talking about my craft room. I just finished up decorating and putting it together. It's made such a difference in my crafting. It's cleaned up in these pictures, but that is not a normal day! What I love about having a dedicated room is that I can make a huge mess and leave it out. No one sees it but me!

It took me several months to put my room together. The first things I did was to get on the internet and search for pictures of other craft rooms. That's why I'm showing mine now. It was a huge help to look at other rooms to see what I liked and what I didn't like. I kept a little file of pictures of the ones I liked.

I also purchased two very helpful books, "How to Organize Your Scrapbook workspace" by Michele Gerbrandt of Memory Makers and my favorite, "The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker" by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey. If I had to choose just one of the two it would be, "The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker". I liked the fact it there was a workbook to help you determine your creative style and it showcased several scrappers and their workspaces.

This is my room. I still have some things to finish and as I go alone I'm sure I will have to change things here and there.

Yellow is one of my favorite colors. I choose this color because it makes the room feel bright even on a gloomy day. My husband and I made my desk. The bottom drawer sections were unfinished kitchen cabinets from Menard's. We had to cut the very bottom off to make them low enough for desk height. Then we cut and attached a finish grade plywood to the top that I stained in a clear white finish. This gave it a really natural look. I was worried about painting the top since I will be hard on it and didn't want the finish to chip off.

I love having the upper shelves and everything in reach. I use the baskets to separate things into catagories so when I'm ready to work on a book, I just pull that basket out and start working.

Here is my sewing side of the room.

And the window end.

I purchased both bookcases at a local auction. Both were solid oak. I painted them white, much to the dismay of my husband! If you are putting together a room on a budget, auctions are great places to find bargins. You'll be surprised at what you can find there.

If you are planning a room, take your time, look at lots of other rooms to get ideas and remember to surround yourself with your favorite things. Even if you don't have a whole room to yourself, you can still create a small place within other rooms to suit your needs. Then craft away!

Comments

[Karen B]

Your room is a great inspiration for organization! I like your color choices for your blog also. ;) I'll send any stampers/scrapbookers I know your way. Good luck!

[Kathy]

Wow, Melanie, this is such a beautifully organized and inviting room! It just beckons you to come use it! I would LOVE to have a room like this for my knitting and counted cross-stitch supplies. The only different item I would require would be a diamond-shape cubby to hold skeins of yarn :)
I can tell you put much thought into this, it looks professionally designed. Excellent job!!!

[Kathy]

P.S. Is that little Mia in her bed "guarding" your craftroom?

[Melanie Sutherlin]

Thanks Karen, send the scrappers my way. Thanks for stopping by!

Kathy, Oh diamond cubbies would be so great! I have my yarn in baskets, but that works too. I just have to dig to find stuff.

And yes, that's Miss Mia! I have 3 little dog beds in my room!

[Lea]

I love your craft room. That's what I need. I have all my scrapbook stuff stuffed all over the house and although I really, really want to scrapbook I can't bring myself to pull everything out. I'm jealous. =)

[Melanie Sutherlin]

Thanks Lea, It really does help to have a place just for making a mess! It really helps in the creative process too because I can have everything out and see what I have.