My Craft Studio

It's been quite some time since I've shared my studio and there have been a whole bunch of updates. In case you're curious to see what I started with and what it looked like last time I shared my studio just follow the links. Here is what it looks like now! (Click on any of the photos to make them larger).

When I was writing this post looking at all these pictures was making me dizzy, and I work in the space! So here is a simple layout of the room so you can find where you're at if you get lost.

Here is your view right when you walk through the door. You get a head on view of this wonderful file cabinet that I would like to update at some point. Any suggestions how to pretty it up? I spy a furry helper wondering what I'm doing. Say hello to Patches!

As soon as you walk through the door and turn to the left this is what you'll see. Now i am incredibly lucky. This is a 12 ft. by 24 ft. space. But that also means it is long and skinny so that creates it's own set of challenges. Especially when you have as much furniture packed into one room that I have.

There are a few odd things about this room since it is an addition that the previous owner made to the house. Another thing I would like to add here is that we have lived in this 1950's fixer upper house for 9 years. The house still needs A LOT of fixing. There are still several things about my craft room that need fixed, but it's a work in progress. So please forgive the two types of flooring with the gap where a wall used to be, the un-sheet-rocked section next to the back door, and the lack of baseboards/trim. There are, after all, only so many hours in the day. Also, fixing some of these issues would require me to empty out the entire room, which means a large amount of time that I don't have my work space.

Okay, back to the tour. So if you turn back towards the door you will see what remains of the sliding glass door. This is one of those odd things I mentioned a few minutes ago.

In front of the remaining half of the sliding door I have my electric fire place. This room gets so cold in the winter so this is definitely needed. Next to that is a card rack that my wonderful sister picked up for me with no cards on it. I like the idea of having the card rack, but the florescent lighting will fade the colors of the card stock. So I don't want to leave them out forever so I'm in a conundrum on that piece. On top of the fireplace I have a few magazines and some pretty baskets with yarn for upcoming projects.

Now if you turn to the right towards the rest of the room we will continue.

Next is my upcycled sewing desk that was a super cheap garage sale find. Above that I have 5 Bygel rails with baskets, flatware caddy's, and hooks that are all from Ikea. This is where I store buttons, brads, twine, clothespins, safety pins, tags, and more. On my sewing desk I have a glass jar that I use to keep my spools of thread in. All the wonderful drawers in the desk house the rest of my sewing tools.

Right next to my sewing desk is my trash can. It is actually meant to be a beverage cooler for use at parties and such, but I loved the color (as you might have noticed) so I use it as my trash can. It just goes to show you that you have to keep an eye out and be creative with your storage. Not all craft storage has to be something that was made to be craft storage.

Now another way that I am incredibly lucky is that my husband likes to do woodworking as a hobby. So he has built a lot of my craft room furniture. This stamp rack is one of the many pieces he has built for me.

It is huge and holds a whole lot of stamps!

On top of the stamp rack I have my current Stampin' Up! embellishments in a spinning organizer. Next to that is my owl Scentsy warmer and some more clear jars that store scraps of Stampin' Up! ribbon, embossing powder, and glue sticks. There are also a few things just for pretty like the lava lamp my dad gave me for my 14th birthday, the adorable owl my best friend gave me, the branches for my Easter tree in a pretty vase, and that wonderful yellow clock which was a Pick Your Plum score.

I really love storing my supplies in clear glass jars. It keeps them all together, they are pretty and add to my decor, and I can see inside the jar to grab the one I want. I would say that glass jars are my favorite organizing go to!

Now if I turn around a bit you can see this side of my ginormous craft island that my husband built. It. holds. so. much. stuff! This is where I do all my card making, fabric cutting, painting, etc. As you can see this side is all drawers. On the end I have two large wall files that I ordered from The Container Store. It houses my rulers, Big Shot cutting mats, current Stampin' Up! catalogs, and scrap paper for stamping on. What's the thing on the front of the left wall file you ask? Well that is the magnetic platform for my Big Shot. Since the wall files are metal, the magnetic platform sticks right to it so it's within easy reach, yet out of the way.

If I face back towards the back of the room you will see the ribbon rack and huge lateral file that were both built by my hubby. The top of the ribbon rack has blue jars that hold scraps of non-Stampin' Up! ribbon. (I'm a Stampin' Up! demonstrator so it makes it easier to keep those products separate from the rest of my supplies).

Then there are rows of ribbon spools. They just sit on the shelf and it is easy to pull out just one spool of ribbon.

Here you can see just how huge this file cabinet is. That is a whole bunch of 8-1/2" x 11" card stock all filed by color. On top of the file cabinet I have my Stampin' Up! ink tower, big shot, a plastic container with patterned paper scraps, and a basket with my DecoArt Media paints. On the wall I have mounted a paper towel holder (that is currently empty). That way it's easy to grab one when I have a mess I need to clean up.

To the right of the file cabinet is one of the ever popular turquoise Raskog carts from Ikea. This one holds my desk organizer, scissors, pens, pencils, craft knives, paper piercing supplies, envelopes, pre-cut and scored card bases, baby wipes (for cleaning my hands) and a few kits that I need to put together. I love that I can roll it out right next to where I'm working and I have all my most used tools right at my fingertips!

Here is a zoomed out view of that back wall. Since this room is so long and skinny I decided to paint that back wall a nice vibrant blue. It's Deep Blue Sea by Behr. The dark blue make the room seem less like a tunnel and more like a square if that makes any sense. The white shelves are the perfect place to store more supplies and display some of the things I've made.

The cabinet to the right (also built by the hubs) holds all my stained glass supplies as well as some other tools. Trust me... you don't want to look in there. It's a mess and needs some serious help. Also, those doors... they may or may not have been leaning against the wall of my craft room for the last three years or so until just last night when I needed to take photos for this post....

Here is a view of what is below those display shelves. A wood set of drawers that needs some work to be usable. I think it needs to be dressed up too. Any suggestions? On top of that is my radio. Gotta have some tunes while I'm getting my craft on! Next to that is my little kiln. I like to do some fused glass once in a while and this kiln is just perfect. Although when I use it I clean everything off the top and pull it out away from the wall. Safety first!

On top of the kiln is a 12" x 12" paper holder with mixed media supplies, a bin with some kits in them, and my Dremel drill press.

Now this spot was really hard to photograph. It's the end of the island that faces that dark blue wall. I've used Command picture hanging velcro to store my paper trimmer and Simply Scored scoring board right on the side of the island.

I also have a little command hook hanging from the underside of the top. This holds one of those cheap foam type place mats. I always like to stamp on one of these. I think the even, yet soft, surface gives you a better stamped image. By using vertical space where nobody can see I have these tools right next to where I use them and they don't have to be left on the top of my table all the time.

Here is a closer view of those back shelves. I have jars that hold my washi tape, Stickles glitter glue, glitter, some flattened bottle caps, alcohol inks, and even some old glass peanut jars I picked up from a garage sale that house my colored pencils. The owl planter hols all my sponges that I use for stamping, and the turquoise floral vase holes specialty pencils and pens that I use for Mixed Media.

Another view of the left side of the room. You can see the pretty fairy print that I picked up at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival several years ago.

Here is a view of my paint storage that I shared a few weeks ago. On top I have a jar with my twinkling H20s and my owl vase that holds my paint brushes. There is also a chalk board for my crafty to do list (I need to get a chalk marker so I can actually start using this!). Then to the right there is the outside window. I took these photos late at night so I left the blinds closed.

Here is another view of that unfinished glass cabinet. Both that and the file cabinet are eventually going to get a few coats of white paint.

Here is the other side of my fantastic storage island. This side is all open shelves. I have some painted crates that hold a variety of things and then there is stuff stacked to the sides of the crates. This area really needs some help.

Now if you turn to the right you can see this cube style shelf. I loved the look of the Ikea Expedit shelves, but until this last year it would have been about a 6 hour drive to the nearest Ikea. So that wasn't going to happen. There just was no way I could make my husband understand that a full day road trip was worth it to get one shelf... So I did the next best thing. I begged my handy hubs to build this shelf for me. It is wonderful! Although I think I may stain it darker to match the island.

Anyway, this shelf holds supplies for some of my in process projects as well as my fabric hoard collection. The shelf above is for some fun display. The top of this book case is also where I take a lot of the photos for my project posts (hence the lights).

Just to the left of the cube shelf you will see yet another Raskog cart from Ikea. This one holds (and is over flowing with) beading and jewelry supplies. Most of the beads and components are sorted in mason jars by color. Just under that plastic bin is an old metal tool box that holds all my jewelry making tools.

Turn to the right again and you will see the front end of the room. This portion needs some work still. We have to patch the sheet rock next to the door and then paint it the nice soft gray color (Twilight from Behr). Behind the door is the closet full of more crafting supplies, yet lacking organization (no one is perfect right???).

In the corner is this amazing wing-back chair that I scored from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for only $15. I'm thinking of recovering it in the fabric swatch you see sitting on top. It's nice to finally have a place in my studio to relax and take a breather or to make a guest comfortable while I work.

The built in shelf to the right of the file cabinet houses boxes of yarn and boxes of finished cards as well as books and my porcelain dolls that I've had since I was little. In front of the file cabinet is a gorgeous painting my mom did for me. The frame just needs painted white and then the painting popped in.

Now we've made it back to the door! Just a couple more things...

I love this amazing two-tiered fruit basket that I got from Pick Your Plum. It holds a lot of mixed media supplies and some general tools. Also, That nice HUGE work surface all clean..... Although I will try to keep it up, it probably won't last long. Just sayin...

One more tip, I like to keep a pretty bowl on my table for trash. That way I can toss the little bits in the bowl as I'm working rather than having to go over to the trash can every time. It keeps my work surface a little bit cleaner.

So although it's still very much a work in process, this room is the closest to perfect for me that it has ever been. I love working in here and making all those fun projects that I get to share with you! Thank you so much for joining me on my tour! I hope you enjoyed getting a peek into my home.