A Glimpse into my Craft Room

My craft room is one of those things that can get out of hand really quickly.  I do so much creating in this room the absolute last thing I want to do is organize and clean it.  My craft room is my escape my "break-free" room where I can be me.  However, when it is a mess I can't stand being in here.  I feel overwhelmed and completely uncreative. 

If you notice from my last post I haven't posted anything since January 1, 2012.  Why you ask?  My craft room was an absolute disaster from holiday crafting and I couldn't stand to be in it.  I craft every day for Bowdabra but most of that crafting I was doing in my sun-room so that I didn't have to be in here.  I would hurry downstairs grab a few totes and rush back upstairs to the my warm, sunny, glorious sun-room.  However, the problem with being upstairs is one I am limited to what I grab in a tote.  I have so much craft stuff I don't really know what I have unless it is organized.  Two my husband absolutely hates craft clutter so it strewn all over the upstairs makes him a bit cranky.  Three the pictures needed a lot of post editing because the sun-room casts weird shadows and the quality of the photos were dependent on the time day.  Four any spare time I had for crafting for my own personal time went into organizing my craft room.  I spent at total of 8 Sundays getting this little room organized.   Here is a glimpse into what it looks like all cleaned and organized.

My initial problem was that from the holidays I had stuff everywhere.  Here a couple before pictures.  I had tons of shelving units but it was filled with stuff and nothing was labeled.  Also the one window I had was completely covered. 

Here is another before angle.  (Notice the window at the top left all covered up.)

I need to go through organize and label to see what I had.  To my surprise I had 2 full bins of pompoms?  Really why so many pompoms? 

I also have an entire bin of bias tape.  No idea why?

Next, I need the sunlight (A MUST) when I am in the basement I feel trapped like an animal in a cage.  I took away a storage unit to uncover a basement window.  It is small window but even just a little bit of light really helps.  I turned two storage units sideways this gave me an aisle and let me get to everything easier.

The storage unit held bins of ribbon.  Instead of placing the ribbon in bins I made a wooden holder for the ribbon and placed the spools on dowels.  I also added a room separator to give me a backdrop so that I didn't have to look at all the bins.  I added some hair bows to the room separator  I think this would be a great backdrop for some craft videos.   (PS - Tomorrow's post will be how I built the ribbon rack.)

Next, I purchase a folding photography table.  The light is best by the backdrop so when I need the photography table I just set it up.  When I am done it folds up easily and can be placed in a corner.

I added some of my favorite things to the room.  My late grandfather made these wooden cars.  I added them to the room because they mean so much to me and they remind me of him.  (The photo was taken using the photography table - no after photo editing was needed.)

When of my favorite shelves is the section that holds my craft books and magazines.  Lots of my inspiration comes from books and magazines.  I added a wooden box that my father wood-burned for me.  It holds little trinkets and small gifts with meaning.

Lastly, I wanted my craft table open in the middle of the room.  On the other side of the table is my children's play area.  There is a TV, couch, and games.  By placing my table in the middle it separates my space but still lets me interact and be with them.   

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my craft room.  I found so many neat things I forgot I had and can't wait to start sharing some of my crafts now that my Sunday free time is not spent organizing it can be for some personal craft time.