Hi everyone. I can't believe my vacation is almost over! Three more days and I'll be back at work. Considering my track record with cleaning/organizing, I figure that the current state of my craft room is as good as it's going to get for a while. I shared my messy 'during' photos on this post, so I thought I'd let you see how I've organized things so far. I have to admit that at first I wasn't too keen on getting rid of my old craft table (a hand-me-down dining room table) and replacing it with countertop. But oh how I'm glad we did! This is the left side of my crafting counter. Not much to explain. I did re-arrange some shelves that I had so that I could prop up each end of the countertop. I'm still saving for sets of cabinets to go underneath. I need some doors to hide the clutter! Underneath the counter on the left side are some of my most frequently used SU stamp sets and a 2-tier plastic shelving unit to hold all of my SU cardstocks. And on top I tucked away my glitter trays and baby wipes. What you can't see is that I keep my Scor-pal in between the paper holder and the wooden support. I can reach it easily from my chair and I'm thrilled it stores vertically.
This is the right side of my workspace. I'm pleased with how I re-purposed all of my old shelves, carts and racks. What you can't see is my trusty $20 cd player/radio that now sits behind my tools. I love my tool bucket - my friend Liz found an ad for it in one of her crafting magazines a few years ago. It spins! I'm storing all of my favorite designer papers and my Papertrey cardstock in the vertical holders on the wire shelves. Underneath the desk on this side are odds and ends like extra tape refills, glue dots, dimensionals, watercolor crayons, colored pencils, pastels, etc. And my 12" CM paper cutter. I love that thing! I now only use that for patterned papers, though. I was burning through way too many blades by cutting a lot of cardstock.
And here's where the husband made my birthday dream come true. His version of Nichole Heady's closet! He wants to add another shelf on the top but I won't let him yet. I can barely reach the existing top shelf as it is. (I have a horrible habit of falling off of step stools. I live life close to the ground for a reason, baby!) The closet has become my cutting/embossing/embellishment station. And where I store my Nesties and Papertrey stamps in those CD holders. Just looking at all of the pretty flowers and ribbon makes me happy. I can't even tell you how much time has been spent sitting and looking at the closet lately. That wooden shelf propped up on the left is a re-purposed cassette rack I've had since high school. It's perfect for holding little bottles like Dew Drops, Stickles, Prima Deux flowers, etc. As you can see I use a Big Kick. I've been very happy with mine - I got it for a song and I've been able to use all kinds of dies and embossing tools on it without any issues. I'm not going to show you what's in the cabinets...just lots of odds and ends from each crafting phase I've gone through. And see the drawers at the top? The big one on the right holds ribbons that are wound on wooden clothes pins. I have quite a ribbon addiction. And the drawer on the left is where I store brads and related bling. So as I work on projects at the table I move to the closet and 'shop' for my embellishments. I'm hoping to get through some of my stash this way! What you can't see in the photo is that we left useable open space on the right side of the closet. I've stored my electric sweeper and crafting totes over there. You never know - I may clean the floor someday.
Ok - here's the computer desk/guest workstation. When I sit at my craft table it's behind me and to my left. It's just a cheapie student desk I salvaged from my parents' house before they moved. It belonged to one of my sisters way back in the day. And see that door? It's the second closet in the room, directly across from my embellishment station. It's very narrow and we put shelves in there a couple of years ago so I could store my sewing and knitting supplies. And see the dresser to the left of the chair? It's main purpose is to hold the white storage cubes I have as well as my Sizzix storage towers, but slowly and over time I've been replacing the clothes in the dresser with crafting items. That top drawer you can see is where I store all of my punches. And see the black and white photo on the wall? That is a beautiful piece from one of the English teachers at school. I had no idea he took such wonderful photographs; this one is a view of a path over the sand dunes in Dewey Beach. I have it hanging right over the computer station for two reasons. One, I think it's beautiful. And two, it is a reminder to me that people have many hidden talents. Thanks for taking the tour with me! I think that once I clean up the other side of the room I'll take pictures and create a gallery. Yeah, right. Like I'm going to clean again!
Until next time...M
