Thursday 21 April 2011

Want to see my crafty space???????

Hello there, I did mention last time that I have something to share with you and this is the state of my craft room before we started on Sunday. I know shocking right?before
In my defence though half of it was the stuff my hubby brought back from the NEC show and just dumped into the middle of the room after I had to rush out and be with mum. But fear not even without that stuff this room was BAD.
Things just got out of hand a bit and it got so bad that I knew just a few hours wouldn’t make a difference. So on Sunday along with my good friend Alison( thank you for volunteering hun) we tackled it, we started at 11am broke for a 30 min lunch and when Ali left at 4pm we only did half the room, however we did a total reorganize not just a pull everything out and bring everything in. I carried on after Ali went home to her lovely hubs and didn’t finish till 9.30 that evening but I had 1 hour for dinner and a quick email check.
I am so ashamed to show you this picture but I have also crafted a long long time to know that pretty much every crafter out there will have experienced this chaos at some point, ok  maybe not on the same scale I know.Winking smile
Ok so I am sure you want to see  the after right?
after
Now my room is not a planned and designed room, I do covet one of those and one day it will happen, this room is thrown together but is arranged in a way that is very user friendly and I am extremely happy in here loosing hours on end creating and playing.
Everything is arranged in a U shape, so as you enter the room on the left hand side I have my stamp library
stamps
Tall DVD storage units inexpensive and perfect for all my stamps( I wish they were white but  they were to cheap @ £5 each to worry about the colour of them, the latest 2 have been around £15 each) I store my stamps by size and each cubby hole is numbered, I then have all the stamp sets listed alphabetically and each stamp set is given the corresponding number based in which cubby hole it is stored, not sure that makes sense, it works for me and it cuts down the search time. I want to say that only current sets are stored in this units, everything that retires lives in a different place. I am also storing the dies for my big shot on this unit.
Below you can see the beginning of my desk.
desk
It sits on top of what used to be bedroom bedsides cabinets. At the top I have 2 double units that have doors on for even more storage. When we moved in 2 of the bedrooms had these fitted white bedroom units very dated and not at all for my taste so when we remodelled them I had hubs adding them into this room instead of throwing them out, my intention is to have a custom build craft space in the future but before that I think I would like to move house LOL>
These deep drawers store a lot and they also allow me to have everything on hand. On the top my Big shot station the spinning carousel which quite frankly holds all of my tools and my ink  holder. On the wall a peg board that houses my clear blocks, embossing folders, a little telly, bits and bobs of business tools  and along  from that starts my ribbon storage. This is simply 3 narrow shelves that I have bought in Ikea many moons ago. They are brilliant and work a treat, is so  easy to take the reel I want and simply replaced it on the shelf after I finished with it.
desk front
Next my working place, is here where I have my chair underneath the window so I have plenty of natural light to work with is also wonderful for shooting my videos nice and bright.
I have shot a video so you can have a virtual tour of the room at the end of this post and I mention in there the nice and deep window sills. I was so happy I chose deep ones when we changed our windows as this doubles up as wonderful storage for my punches and my markers, again everything within easy reach.
desk front punches
Here’s another view, the old style punches are stored on a metal shoe rack(Ikea for a cool £2.50)and my new style ones simply fit side by side, I LOVE my punches. My guillotine is the one thing I couldn’t live without I had it nearly 12 years and never needed sharpening or the blades changing and is happy cutting through 6 sheets of card at a time, makes class prepping such a breeze.  I also have one of those OTT Lite daylight lamp, brill for late night crafting.
As you turn around towards your right  you come to this
paper storage
One big Ikea Expedit unit, half the crafters out there have got one or two of those babies.Red heart This cubes hold a lot of stuff but mainly my card, I organize everything by colour and not by family, my brain copes better having it this way and I think it looks prettier. These 12x12 clear stackable trays I have collected over the last few years as they are so hard to come by now a days, however early March a local craft shop closed down and I went to ask them if they were selling their storage and managed to get a few more so now I have just about enough. They are neat and I turned them upside down so that I can get the sheets out easier, if used the right way up they have some tabs at either end and is a bit of a pain to slides the sheets out easily you need to manoeuvre them about a bit.
And when I said earlier that my room was thrown together you can see it clearly in this picture. Have a look at the legs of my unit, they are supported by some wooden blocks as they were not long enough and my lamp is actually sitting on a plastic box.
Voila!! This is where I happily create and prepare for events and NO I am not making any promises that I will keep this room looking this way because I know it won’t happen and that’s the end of that, but I do know it will take me less time to tidy it as everything has got a place now.
Hope you enjoyed peeking into my room and here’s the video enjoy !!!
Till next time Hugs xxx
Shop Stampin' Up!

34 comments :

  1. It looks WONDERFUL! You worked very hard. You have great light in that room and your storage solutions make everything look neat and tidy. Love it! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  2. Oh wow. you have been busy. It is a lovely feeling when you get it all organised. I love how you have made the most of your space. The shoe rack is perfect for the punches and I just LOVE the carousel for all the tools - must keep my eye out for one of those. Your paper looks great - do you only buy your card stock in 12 X 12 size??
    Thanks for sharing with us.
    Mary

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  3. Ooo I love having a good nosey! Great craft space Mon, I'm so jealous!
    Gem
    x

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  4. Overwhelming... Great room. I like it. Greetings from Germany!

    Simone

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  5. I like having a good nosey too. Love your paper storage. I'm still busy getting mine ready but when it is I'll post some pics.

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  6. wow - it really did get worse after i saw it!!!

    cant believe how different it looks now though - FABULOUS, i'm envious!!

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  7. My craft room is twice the size of yours Monica and it's a MESS! I want YOUR room!! Gotta get myself off to Ikea and get organised. I'm SO jealous! LOL xxx

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  8. Oh wow Monica, beautiful room, I'm envious too!!

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  9. Oh wow Monica, beautiful room - I'm envious too!

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  10. OH MY GOODNESS!! This is craft heaven-what i would give to have a room like this! I will post my crafting space and then you will see how lucky you are!! x

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  11. OH MY GIDDY AUNT!! This is beautiful Monica, craft heaven! I would love a room like this, you should see what space i have to work in, might actually post it so you can have a good laugh!! x

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  12. Thanks for sharing your little slice of Heaven on Earth in your house! It's AWESOME!!!!!

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  13. I am so jealous! But how long will it stay like this ?!!! I have a good tidy every now and then but always end up in organised chaos. ( I can never find anything anyway if I tidy up!)
    Love all your storage solutions though. Thanks for letting us have a nosey.
    Chris

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  14. Oh Wow Monica what a craft room! I'll have to post my poor little space I work in under the stairs! A right little Harry Potter I am, along my own little OWL! Very jealous, if only I lived closer!!!!

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  15. Monica, thanks for all the great ideas. Your space is fabulous; you the a beautiful job.

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  16. WOW Monica what a fab room. Ihave my cupboard (i lovely cupboard) to keep my things in and it gets smaller and smaller!!

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  17. WOW! Wish I had a room - mine is messily stored in the dining room.
    You room looks lovely.

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  18. I LOVE everything you've done. Wow it all looks so beautiful and tidy and makes me want to re-design everything in my craft room! x

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  19. WOW, a beautiful room. thanks for the video and sharing, Monica

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  20. Wow, your craft room is just Fab, thanks for sharing all those great storage tips too, that shoe rack for punches is just genious I`ll be making a trip to IKEA soon LOL ! and storing the 12x12 trays upside down, I never thought of that and it makes getting card and paper out so much easier, you`ve inspired me to have a go at my craft space now, hugs Sara xxx

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  21. I have to say my craft room resembles how yours used to look Mon. I can't get in it for stuff piled up on the floor! I really must get my finger out and start putting some organisation in to place. Love yours!

    J x

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  22. Some great ideas Monica, thanks for sharing xx

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  23. Monica, way to go, your craft space is so awesome. Thanks for sharing all your storage ideas. I was so inspired by your pics that I cleaned my craft room, my hubby nearly fainted...he couldn't believe he could see the carpet! LOL. TFS Cheers Donna Zammit

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  24. Love your room Monica - some great ideas for storage too! :) x

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  25. Great room...lots of clever storage ideas here. Thanks for sharing :)

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  26. Monica, great space girl!! I know you have wonderful times in there! Thanks for sharing your cleaver ideas on storage. (I snuck over here from Crafty Storage!) Keep making beautiful things!! Jan

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  27. Oh my goodness! Time to run to ikea again and get more stuff! I love the shoe rack idea for the punches!
    Great job on your room!

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  28. I love how you have your paper stored!!! I need some of those holders. Everything looks like it is placed just right for actually using. Thanks for sharing your room!

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  29. Fabulous room and storage ideas. Thanks for sharing.

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  30. Where did you get the clear plastic shelves for your cardstock that you have inside the ikea book shelf?

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  31. the metal shoe rack for the punches ... genial! Thanks!

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  32. great use of space! I love the natural light to work by. I am afraid to show my space on my blog LOL but I may do a before and after as well.

    amazing how stampin Up stuff multiplies!!!

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  33. greetings from the USA... I have enabled one over there to sign on to SU lol she's doing great too! I love your work space. The natural light is great too! and nice to know I can get the clear shelves here-and they'll fit in my expedite book case! I love IKEA :) so many great storage ideas!

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  34. Your craft space is super Monica! I think that we artists have rooms like you started out in, because our crafts are pushed to the side in favor housework, cooking, teaching (me too), etc., etc. :( (I have a very similar room, but even worse). Let's face it, it's us ladies that do most of the work around the place. We're just lucky to get any time to craft, so our supplies are just lumped in a spare room, that we wispfully look at once in a while. I'll use your room as inspiration to redouble my efforts to clear my own studio.

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Thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment, I really apreciate it as I love hearing from you. Hugs Monica xxx