Wednesday when I posted this photo of the office/scrap area with Bob I was inspired to do today's post.....THIS IS FOR EVERYONE OUT THERE WHO HAS A USABLE SPACE THAT ISN'T A DESIGNER SHOWPLACE BUT IS STILL THANKFUL TO HAVE IT TO CREATE AND RELAX IN!
I still miss my pretty purple craft room but wouldn't for a minute change the fact that I'm thankful to have both my sons living at home again.
I tried to scrap in the dining room for a couple months... lugging stuff out and having everything put away out of sight. This just wasn't working for me. I like to see my stuff.
These are most of my crop totes (I have 2 more small pieces). So it doesn't hold a lot.....
I was trying to store everything in my rolling totes and in the buffet and a hall closet. I have way too much stuff for that. I had that craft room packed full of stuff. I am a "crafting junkie".... I love scrapbooking, quilting, knitting, jewelry making, clay, etc... I also love books so I had my library in there too. The smallest room in the house was filled with the most stuff.
We have an older ranch house that had the living room/dining room together and a kitchen with a "den" separated by a bar. My sister has a similar floor plan in her house and she was using the space off the kitchen as a dining room. Hers is paneled like ours but was painted before she bought it to brighten things up. I would like to brighten things up too but this is my husbands absolute favorite room in the house. He loves the dark wood so there is no way I could paint my paneling like so many people are doing now.
Dining room before son moved in and put in the 2nd buffet went in to store all my quilt fabric and craft stuff..... The living room is to the right. When my son moved back we put the TV and recliner in the living room and started using that for watching TV and "living"in. That made the dining room even more cramped.....
The den when we used it as a den..... before I put the office computer armoire in there... that took up so much space that we only had 2 chairs in there so the family couldn't watch TV together so we moved all the sitting furniture into the living room leaving only the office in there off the kitchen . It was a nice cozy family room with the paneling - I really liked this room when it was like this but it was only comfortable for 2 or 3 people not all 5 of us.... so the re-arranging began.....
When I started having to scrap in the old dining room I felt too cramped. I liked being able to watch TV but it was just too close when my DH would recline his chair and bump into the table.
So I turned our den area into the dining room but left the computer in the same room since it was too big a production to move. T was still able to see the TV at a distance from the new room but when my husband would be sitting at the computer and I would be at the table I was cramped again! Then with the dark paneling and the computer in there it just didn't feel like a dining room and I still had to keep cleaning everything up and putting it all away so it still functioned like a dining room. Even though we don't hardly eat at the dining room table I insisited on trying to keep a room that we didn't really use. Finally I decided that the "real estate" was too valuable to waste on a room we weren't using fully anyway and I shouldn't care what other people think but do what is right for me and the way we live. So that didn't last but a couple weeks and on Andrew's day off I had him move the good dining room table back into the real dining room but collapsed it down to a drop leaf decorative table with a lamp on it in front of the window so we didn't lose any of the space in the living room.
My husband's joke since we've been married he would never know how the furniture would be arranged when he would come home. Now it's just on the days the kids are off because I have to have them help me .... when I was healthy I would do it myself.
FINALLY I HAVE A SPACE IN PROGRESS - LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS THAT WILL HELP ME MAKE IT BETTER......
So now the area off the kitchen is now the office/craft space. I am really loving having an area again. It doesn't have beautiful colored walls or even areas on the walls to hang anything because of the window arrangement and all the mix-matched shelving units but I HAVE A SPACE! It actually is more organized than it looks but still has a way to go. I purposely took photos of the space when it wasn't the cleanest to just show what is real. One thing that having serious health problems and then cancer on top of it has taught me is that a clean house means very little in this life and living our lives and enjoying it is what IS IMPORTANT! So it is what it is and I AM ENJOYING IT in spite of not having everything beautifully decorated, matching, and looking like it should be in a magazine.....
This is the Floor plan - not to scale and poorly drawn in photo shop. There isn't that much room to walk around as you can see in the photos..... but it gives you an idea (any suggestions would we welcome)Oh and between the hall door on left and kitchen entry is a huge old TV on a wide stand - it's not hooked up. I can't decide if I should get my son to hook up to cable again or get rid of it and put in another low shelf because as you will see my shelves are too crowded.
The computer is angled in the corner and my desk is an old dining room table with one leaf down and one up to make it more square. I have a sewing table next to it that I have the die cutting machines on and then an old desk with my sewing machine. I was trying to do an "L" shape. It's a very narrow room and has a path to the hallway, kitchen, back door and laundry room to consider and there is a bar from the kitchen so very weird wall space with all the windows and doorways.
I know it's a bit cluttered and still crowded but I have to have things within reach because it's hard for me to get up and down all the time with my arthritis and also when my husband is sitting at the computer we still get in each others way a bit....
My "desk" has a 2 drawer file cabinet half under so I can reach my adhesives, paints, embossing powders and anything to do with stamping in the top drawer and in the bottom drawer I have all my punches in several baskets by type that I can take out just what I need. The file cabinet was on clearance at Staples 6 weeks ago regular price $139 on sale for $6.96. I brought it home in my convertible with the top down because that was the only way it would fit! I can never pass a bargain that is useful!
Being short has its advantages. I can store things under the table and still move my legs around. I'd like to put some kind of skirt on the table but since it is an antique I don't want to damage it with velcro so if anyone knows another way let me know....
Under the desk I have a metal mesh file tote (another Staples steal for $1.99) that I keep Cropper Hopper page sorters or 2 gallon Aldi ziploc bags of patterned paper sorted by designer and page kits that I have made to take to crops or to work on at home. I also have an expanding holder for misc patterned paper filed by type (i.e. single color, background, floral, dots, plaid, stripe). The 2 black expanding files hold the scraps of my patterned paper and cardstock sorted by color and each color has own 1 gallon ziploc bag in the slot to keep smaller scraps together.
I'm using chairs as tables to hold things. I did it before I saw Ali Edwards blog with photos she did it too - that made me feel a little better......The chair (in photo above) next to the one I sit in holds a tote that I store my Bazzill or other textured 12x12 cardstock sorted by color in 2 big Cropper Hoppers. I also have a pad of textured cardstock I bought at Walmart in that tote and the little accordion file holds matt pads of textured cardstock.
On top of desk area I have my Cricut Expression (covered up with blue & yellow fabric cover to protect it)Cutting mat & working mat.
I have my adhesives I use in a metal bin from Target $1 spot. In that bin is my Herma runners both temp and perm, Glue Dots, Zig 2way glue, Pop Dots & Zots. All the other glues are in the file cabinet drawer so I can get to them easily when I need them. My new fave is GLOO
I use a Cutterpede trimmer (because I like to cut scallop edges without using decorative scissors which is hard for me with my hands)
I use an old silverware storage tote to hold most of my tools (scissors, craft knife, bone folder, rulers, compass, stapler, pens, files/distressing tools, piercer, tweezers, etc.
I have another bin that holds erasers, sharpener, staples, little things that would fall out of the tote.
My faux F.R.E.D. is in the background and I move it forward to scrap.
On the file cabinet I have my most frequently used embellishments (or ones that need filed away)
Acrylic stamps in CD cases by type filed and stamping blocks in a fabric lined basket
"Train cosmetic case" (my husband won as a gift at office Christmas party) that houses my favorite rubber stamps so they are all within reach.
I have 2 drawers that hold my markers and gel pens on top of the file cabinet too. (these were on clearance at Staple's in January for $1 each and was using them to hold all my ribbon but needed to store my pens better so these 2 are for that and still using 2 for ribbon)
In the plastic drawer unit to the right on my desk I have my frequently used ink pads.
Inside the filing cabinet drawers:
Top drawer has anything to do with inks/paints/adhesives in bins so I can take all the paints out and go thru them.
Starting in back:
Left bin is all adhesives: Mod podge, PVA, PPA, Diamond Glaze, Gloo, MM metal adhesive, etc
Middle bin : Stickles & other glitter glues
Back Right: Gesso & chalk pallets
Embossing powders, heat gun & Tidy Tray
Bin for: blending applicators. Qtips, pads, cotton, makeup sponges, Tim Holtz supplies
Bin for: Alcohol inks & applicators for that
Front right bin: craft acrylic paint (Making Memory, Folk Art)
Bin for Artists quality acrylic & water color paint
Also in the drawer are : my artist quality water color solid pallet set
Baby wipes
Fiskars stamp press large size
Splat Mat
Stamp Cleaning sponge
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CONTINUE AROUND THE ROOM TO THE RIGHT OF THE DESK
Die Cutting workspace. I store the big dies in a box under this table along with binders with dies in them. I also store uncut chipboard, foam, stiffened fabric and felt under this area for easy access when I want to cut
The sewing machine is set up next to the die cutting area. I have a small ironing pad/mat that can sit on top of that desk so I can press as I sew when I am quilting. I have an OTT light on that desk and a knockoff OTT light from Home Depot on the scrapbooking desk.
The Open Shelf stores most of my supplies and embellishments
On the top shelf I have a tackle box with metal and found objects
2 different storage boxes for eyelets, brads, metal letters, corners, etc.
My faux "clip it up" made from a paper towel holder & sheet protectors is also in the tops shelf
Faux "clip it up" works very well for me and hold all my sticker letters and any other semi-flat things that I want to be able to access quickly and easily.
This basket came from the antique store we shop at often. I paid $4 for it and I put my favorite rubber stamps in it.
The recipe file holds sketches of layouts and cards that I drew or found from other sources.
Also on that shelf is my foam stamps sorted in 2 bins. Alphas in one and shapes in the other
I store my ribbon in several different ways. I eventually want them all in jars wound on clothes pins but for now I don't have enough shelves to do that.
Target $1 spot basket holds a lot of ribbon on clothespins from the Dollar Tree. I use small rubber bands by KI designed for tie dying shirts $0.97 at Hobby Lobby (I don't like the pins since I have a hard time gripping with my hands)
Smaller pieces of ribbon are loose in mason jarsMason jars are very inexpensive at Walmart.
This is the same box that I store my pens in from Staples on clearance $1.09 each. I bought all 4 they had. The are perfect for the ribbon wound on the Cropper Hopper spools with the clips. This was fine when I didn't have a lot of ribbon but it grows by the month so needed another way to store it since I have 2 for ribbon and had to start using the other 2 for pens since I was damaging my pens by not storing them horizontally.
Another antique store find (don't think it's an antique but it's cute) $5
I store my inkpads that are colors I don't often use in these drawers.
This is the top of the armoire. The top left has the flowers and buttons and top right has watercolor pencils, watercolor markers, colored pencils and paintbrushes.
Bottom left has 2 boxes of CDs music, photo, and computer programs. Bottom right has ribbon boxes and jars
The armoire is the only splurge we have in the room. It came from Office Depot and is from the Christopher Lowell collection. It holds everything and the doors can be closed to hide the clutter.
We have a Dell desktop computer and an HP all in one printer (love that printer)
This is the shelf that has a glass door. My dad gave it to me and he got it for free. It's part of an entertainment unit but it holds my scrapbooks, boxes of photos, some books/magazines and in the bottom I have baskets filled with all my chipboard.On top I have a hatbox and basket filled with knitting yarn and supplies
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