Craft Room

I think us crafters love craft rooms and craft supplies almost as much as crafting itself!  I have been lucky to have had a room dedicated to crafting our our current (and past) homes. Over time, my craft room has changed depending on the space and my preferences. No matter the space, here's what I've found works best: 

• Flexibility - I like having the ability to move things around especially now that I work from home part of the week. When I retire, I'll hire a professional to help me design a custom room. 
• Light, bright, and neutral - I prefer to have a room with little to no color on the wall or in the furniture.  I like having a neutral color especially when coloring and taking pictures.
• Work Triangle - The same concept you use for kitchens also applies to the craft room. My "triangle" is my main workspace (island), tools counter (long stand up desk with trimmer, die cut machine, scoreboard, and hot foil machine). 
• VIP supplies - I keep my most used items at arm's reach. I also have another set of VIP supplies on my desk, so I don't have to go back and forth looking for one item. 
• Stand or Sit - Most of the time, I stand to craft, but I like having my computer desk if I want to sit down. 

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2021

IKEA Tornviken Kitchen Island

Waffle Flower Silicone Mats - Water Media Mat & Stencil Mat

Waffle Flower Blending Brushes

Tim Holtz Glass Mat

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HERE'S SOME PICS FROM PAST CRAFTROOMS...

2013

WORK TABLE

My worktable is a simple hollow core door on top of two metal cabinets that my father got for pennies from a fabric store going out of business.  The cabinets were originally for holding sewing patterns.  I want to paint them some day, but for now, white contact paper works really well.  The table measures about 8" wide and 4" deep.  The drawers are super deep and can pull be opened all the way even when they are loaded up.  

FURNITURE

This large hutch was purchased from Craigslist.  It's huge, made of real wood, and already came painted white.  It took me about 7 months to find this one online.  Great mix of open shelving and closed drawers. Plus, the gold handles are fun!

This large metal lateral file ($5 at an estate sale) is covered in subtle patterned contact paper.  I use one drawer for my good cardstock, so it doesn't get warped.  The rest of the drawers are for my regular household papers.  Because it's metal, I can use magnets on it.

This white bookcase is from Ikea.  It is a bookcase [Billy bookcase] with two doors at the bottom.  I have two of these bookcases on either side of my large double window.

This long, standing height table is from Ikea as well.  It was bought separately as a table top [Linnmon top] and adjustable metal legs [Olov legs].  Underneath, I have an Ikea metal rolling coffee table [Ikea PS 2012 Coffee Table] and an Ikea cabinet [Alex cabinet].  Both the coffee table and cabinet are on casters.  

STORAGE IDEAS

I work in a lab, so scientific supplies are my thing.  Small flasks make great glitter holders and look great!  These particular volumetric flasks are 25 mL volume.

I got this sponge dauber holder at a scrapbook convention but they are available lots of places online.

I keep my Copics in inexpensive pencil cups in the top of a metal cart from Ikea [Raskog cart].  The whole cart or each pencil holder can be moved to my work table or other work surface.  

The metal rack at the bottom of the picture is from a scrapbook store that went out of business.  At the same sale, I also picked up some plastic display hooks that are hooked onto magazine file holders.     

I keep my good, heavy cardstock in hanging folders.  I've found that if you store them standing up, the paper will bend because of the weight of the paper.  

My weakness seems to be sequins and large glitter.  So to wrangle my collection, I looked to scientific supplies again.  These sequins are contained in plastic disposable test tubes and stored in test tube racks.  There are lots of inexpensive options online.

These large ink pad racks are from Organize More [Pro Ink size].  I bought them on sale and they are worth every penny. I got this size because they fit ink pads from many different vendors.  

My stamps and larger die sets are stored in pockets from Avery Elle.  I also found some smaller square pockets (search online for "CD plastic sleeve") that are made of the same material as the Avery Elle pockets.  I store both types of pockets in media baskets from Ikea [Motorp].

BLOG POSTS

If you want to read more about craft rooms, check out these posts!

March 18, 2016 update
February 15, 2015 update
Craft Room Storage -  July 22, 2014
Craft Room Work Table - July 21, 2014
Craft Room Revisit - July 20, 2014
Original Craft Room Post - October 7, 2013