My Create Space; A Tour of My First Craft Room

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my craft room. I posted photos about a year ago when I first got it set up but it has changed a lot since then. When we finished our basement, I got a room! Yeah! It was small..so I had to plan it out right- I even went as far as to draw it out on graph paper to make sure all the stuff would fit first..

My husband put in the floors, cabinets and built all the IKEA stuff (seriously.. LOVE LOVE IKEA, but it comes in like a million pieces!) I’m so lucky to have him help me out with everything. He along with a great contractor who came over one night when I decided last minute that I HAD to have a closet, made this an awesome room for me to work in.

I keep waiting for it to be “clean” before I post photos, but I realized today, It’s not EVER going to be clean.. this is about as good as it gets! I kept 2nd guessing myself today for posting the photos, it looks sooo messy on film.. but hey, that’s the way it is! and this is clean 🙂

So here are some photos, with a little bit of info… and yes, I know I have A LOT of stuff. The way I work, I work best when my stuff is out and I can see it … So I have a tendency to keep stuff in open baskets, glass jars and piled up on counters. It gives the room a bit of a “messy” feel but it really helps me when I’m creating.

This is my IKEA bookshelf that I LOVE.. I wish I had room for a 2nd one. On it I keep my fabric, books magazines, canvas… Above it I like to display little “treasures”.

Things people make for me. I love hand made gifts, and I keep them forever. I painted the painting above it just for this room. (it wasn’t my idea, I got the idea from an artist I admire)

pin cushion made for me by my Mom, antique sewing machine models given to me as gifts.

A doll that Traci at Amazing Mae, made for me.

(yes, that is a barbie doll up there… She just looked so “chic”.. she had to go home with me 🙂

This is the view looking right in the room. That is my scrapbook table. It is built from 3 IKEA upper cabinets and 1 kitchen countertop (also from IKEA, come pre-built). The 2 shelves on the side are also IKEA…

Here is a better shot of the cabinets that make up the “base” of the island. Love the doors. HIDE the mess!

Behind the IKEA island, (that you can’t see well here) are cabinets.. they are from Lowes, we bought them unfinished and painted them GREEN! My hubby thought I was a little nutso.. but I LOVE the green/blue combo in there.

In the center, I painted chalkboard paint (okay I confess, my husband did the painting, I directed)… I just need to write on them now.. The lower cabinets have another IKEA countertop (butcher-block) that we TOTALLY lucked out and fit the space perfectly.. On top of that is my printer/scanner etc…

As for lighting. I went with track with 2 pendants.. they hang over my workspace (and the little closet I had my contractor throw-in at the last minute)

Here is a shot from the other side looking out… this is my “work” area. Like I said. I like to have things out so I can see them… this is really as clean as it gets.

This is my cutting table… I LOVE it also! You can see I have a hodgepodge of stuff on it right now… bags, quilts, and Moda projects in the works.

Above my cutting table, I have a magnet board. These are metal sheets that I had leftover from my old house. I just covered them in fabric and hung them up. I have 2 in my room.. the other one is above my scrapbook table.

(banner by Traci, at Amazing Mae)– ledge is from IKEA.. I put whatever punches are “in season” on there.

My cutting table underneath.. I just have a bunch of baskets, they hold extra batting, wonder-under, and works in process. In the one basket is a quilt for my daughter’s room.. can’t wait to get that one done.

For Christmas, my hubby researched and got me a dress form.. I LOVE him for it! I have made quite a few things for my teenage daughter on it.. when you are making stuff up from scratch it helps to have something to pin it on (yeah teenagers don’t like making you try stuff on them 100 times PLUS for obvious reasons you can’t pin stuff on a person)

Her little “sister” joined me this summer via eBay… I think they need names… when they are not being used, they are decorated with whatever I have laying around…hence the black/gold flower pins.

Not a good shot, but this is my sewing table, a few mending projects off to the side.

above it a thread holder and a cute magnet board my sister got me with cute magnets that my Mom made for me. I use it to hold pattern instructions when I’m sewing.

oh- last but for sure not least… THE Polkadot chair… and it’s friend The Striped Ottoman… It sits by the window, if you could see it up close you would see it’s covered in a thread from many an unpicking… It sits in front of a wall of cubes that hold my scrapbook paper.