Dedicated Craft Area

Discussion in 'Chatty Pad' started by KatrinaHunt13, Jul 23, 2017.

  1. KatrinaHunt13

    KatrinaHunt13 And *POOF* it appeared!

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    Ok, I know most everyone digi scraps on their laptops. But if you do other crafts or hybrid, do you have a dedicated craft area?

    We have a smaller house, 3 bedrooms but on the smaller side. We have talked about moving, but we just don't know if we want to or not because not sure we want a house payment again.

    The 3rd room is basically a catch all and is not organized at all. Mainly because of all my paper scrapping stuff that I have. Well, that and fabric now. I have a couple of shelves from Sam's set up to hold things, but that just isn't working anymore.

    Thinking of a BIG purge and getting rid of stuff that I know I am not going to use or is just older and I cannot really use it for my paper teams because of that. Honestly if I do that, I will get rid of a ton of stuff. And since I went hybrid, I haven't been buying as much "physical" product unless I really really really love it.

    The main reason is because I would like to have a place to sew, because my Bernina is still just sitting untouched since I got in January, because I feel like it needs a space to sit, not just pull out and put on the kitchen table. And right now, I scrap on a folding table that I drag out in the living room, which is kind of in the way all the time!

    I have been looking at this from Ikea...does anyone have it or anything similar? The cubbies could hold things and I would have room on the top to place things that I didn't use a ton or just need everyone in awhile. The only problem that this stick out 6 ft from the wall it sits against, unless I were to turn it sideways. There is a bigger one, which I love, but same problem. It has more cubbies and then the table is double the width.

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  2. Sunberry2

    Sunberry2 Full of secret tidbits

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    We have a craft area in our house that is for "everyone." Which means the kids can do crafts in there, my son could work on school projects, I have my old paper scrapbook things in there (I make a few cards throughout the year and a few other things). I *really* need to get in there and purge and clean too!
    I have the shelves that are like those, but no attached table. I really like them because they can hold so much. And they are tall enough for the 12x12 paper I have.
     
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  3. amien1

    amien1 I do enjoy a good exclamation point!

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    I have a craft/office room in our house- one of my main requirements when looking/building a new house! I don't have that exact setup but something very similar desk then a table then shelving. One side is 'mine' the other side is 'kids' & it works wonderfully! They have their bins for all their craft supplies & I have my nice organized side! ;) Under the table we keep the garbage can & the recycling box (which is always full of paper scraps it seems!) I love that Ikea set up & maybe once we finally get to redo-ing the office- that might be one of the directions we go!
     
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  4. jesskab

    jesskab Watch me sizzle & twizzle

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    I had a setup as a paper scrapper. I used an old kitchen table & mounted metal bars that held baskets & hooks on the wall. I still have a tall thin cabinet holding different craft supplies & a wide bookshelf with paper, beads, sizzix, & stuff. I can't get myself to get rid of that stuff. The funny thing is, I put up the shelving & put together "scrapbook central" while my husband was delivering a car in Oregon. Surprise!
     
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  5. IntenseMagic

    IntenseMagic Some grannies cuss a lot. I'm some grannies.

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    I really want one of those! Here's the thing. My house is on the smaller side, too. We have 3 bedrooms and one room that could be another bedroom or office. When both my older kids lived here and there were 5 of us, every room was filled as a bedroom. When the oldest moved out, we converted his room into an office and DH and I shared it. Then when my daughter moved out, I converted her room in to my office/craft room. I love my space! BUT, now she is back with her baby, for the time being and everything is chaotic again. So, I'm not sure how long I'll have my space to myself :/
     
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  6. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    We're also in a smallish 3 bedroom (1700 sq ft) and we picked up a large L shaped desk for free from the VarageSale app that is in the kitchen are. It has our PC, my HP printer, Sizzix eclips2 and my hubby's large format printer on it. I have a wooden "hutch" type thing that had two sliding doors with 10 shelves that run the entire width of the piece that I have my physical paper in that's just to the left of the desk. Then the master closet has the rest of my physical scrapbooking stuff, physical PL kits/albums/pages and my BigShot. Also in the master is another hutch minus the top piece that has the embossing folders and other random crap (canvases (because I totally paint you know) grapevine wreaths, a couple wire wreaths, unpainted bird houses, you get the idea) and my heat gun and hot glue gun. And last but least because it got to hot to dig around in the garage when we moved I have a 6ft card table with those plastic bins with drawers filled with more art and crafty nonsense!

    I had an IKEA Expedit...I had a love hate relationship with it. I loved how big it was (it was the largest one they made) and how much it could hold; but I hated how cluttered it looked!! If you don't have storage bins or baskets it can become quite the mess...and dusty!!

    I've seen desks made using shorter bookcases for the base and a bedroom door as the top or you could use another thick wood.

    Not having a mortgage or rent payment would make it so hard for me to move...
     
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  7. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    We have a 3 bedroom place. I just finished going through the 3rd "catch all" room. It's our craft room, school room, and office area. Since it does all three, my sewing ends up done on a folding table in the living room. I'll snag a photo if you are interested, but here's the set up.
    The main desk: an old dining room table. It's wider than a lot of desks, but I love that. I have room for the desktop computer, and two monitors. I can push the keyboard back towards the wall, and have working space on the front side. The table has a silverware drawer on the side which is great for storing pens.
    Next to my desk is my kid's desk. It's a school room desk complete with the plastic chair attached to the desk, and a wire rack under it.
    Behind me is an Expedit {now Kallux} from Ikea. It's the 4x4 size. On the top of it is my Silhouette, my laminator, and rotary cutter along with containers holding pens/markers/pencil crayons/etc. I have drawers in 10 of the cubbies because it makes it look nicer. It also helps contain weird things - like my Xyron machines and ATG gun and refills. It's also helpful to keep 6x6 pads from falling all over.
    My cardstock is on a shelf, and so are my page protectors in their box. Also, my albums fit on the shelves.
    Next to the Expedit is another Ikea thing: the Trofast system with bins. That's currently housing school supplies, but will probably end up with my sewing stuff in the empty drawers.
    The closet has the filing cabinet and my vinyl hung up.

    And now that I've written all that, it sounds cluttered, but it's really not. It's not a big room either, but the Expedit really helps keep things organized and contained.

    You can kinda see the desk in this photo. I've switched the screens so the shorter one is on the left.
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    I love the desk and shelves, but I wonder if it minimizes your options for moving things around with your crafting.
     
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  8. Teri

    Teri You bought a used lion?

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    We have an office/sewing/craft room. It seems like if one of us is there, everyone ends up in there. My hubby has one wall and I have the other (a small portion of my wall has a fold down shelf for my 9yr old and her sewing machine). The room has built in shelves, cabinets and a desk on one wall and that is used for storage of office/craft supplies. The closet is used for fabric storage. Several years ago my mom gave me a half circle desk that she had gotten at a sale of old school items. It is perfect as a sewing table. I have my serger on end and my sewing machine on the other and can easily swivel between the two when working on a project. I also have a 6ft folding table that I use of for cutting/crafting. It seems like if hubby and I are in there working on something, then all four littles are also in there working on something.
    @KatrinaHunt13 if your Bernina needs some action send it my way ;)
     
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  9. tkradtke

    tkradtke Professional Brainstormer

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    I'm no help as I'm just getting my space and have no clue what to do with it. When we moved into this house 3.5 years ago, my daughter and I decided that one of the spare bedrooms would be our craft room. Well, given that neither of us really do crafts (we just like to think we do and buy the supplies), it became a catch-all, junk room. Then a couple years ago, Clara decided that she would like to have it as her "office" to do school work (her grammar school was an "art" school, so they had lots of large, involved projects that took up space). We cleaned it up and made it her office. Since being in high school, she prefers to work in her room... plus most of what she does is on her iPad, so she doesn't need space anymore. So... I get the room now!! I just have to clear out her junk and figure out what I want in there!

    We used to have those bookshelves from Ikea and loved them... so great for storage. We didn't have the desk portion though. I love those craft island tables with storage on the sides... but most of them are higher than regular desk height which wouldn't work for sewing.
     
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  10. StefanieS

    StefanieS Think it over, think it under

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    I have a studio where I used to teach paper scrapbooking from home, my pc and two screens now reside on my desk and I share the space with hubby and kids and their laptops.
     
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  11. jenn mccabe

    jenn mccabe She's OUR sunshine!

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    I was using our very small office for my craft room for awhile when we first moved into our home (it is now back to being a home office for my husband) but I had a table that was similar to what you are showing. It just didn't have the cubes. The table was from Ikea. And it sticks out into the middle of the room ... so take a peek so you can see what it is like. Then I just lined the walls around me with more storage type furniture. I still have that table. Actually I bought 2 more and use it as a L shaped desk that goes around the walls of my new space. So the tables hold up pretty well. Had then 8-10 years (the original about 10 years ... and the newer 2 for about 8)!

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  12. MrsGaramer

    MrsGaramer Using my imagination

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    You've basically described my life. 3 bedrooms, 2 kids and no craft space. I too have a sewing machine sitting on a self, calling my name. We've talked moving (but we really don't want a larger mortgage payment) and we've talked about semi converting our garage. In the mean time I wait for craft space!
     
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  13. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

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    We have that small old house (1500 sq ft) and 3 bedrooms. The third has been a couple of things over the years but sine dh moved his office to the small attic when we finally finished that, the 10x10 room is my office/studio. I also have a twin bed in it and I'm sleeping here now since it's the only room that has blackout curtains. I love it but I have way way too much stuff in it...more stuff for those times I thought I'd try something but never did. I am almost totally digital in my life but the idea of sorting and donating all these supplies gets me overwhelmed.

    I do have a tall table I use for any glueing or messy work - rare as they are. It is an Ikea coffee table top from their 2nds room cause it was missing legs. I got the tall round red legs and it's worked for about 10 years, mostly as a clutter magnet!! I'll get a picture later.
     
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  14. KatrinaHunt13

    KatrinaHunt13 And *POOF* it appeared!

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    You guys are awesome! @jenn mccabe just a little jealous of all the storage!!! Thanks for the visuals they are appreciated. I would love to take over the entire room, but that's just not feasible! But you all are giving me some ideas of what I might be able to do.

    Another problem is that the house basically has zero storage. The room that I am talking about currently holds the vacuum cleaner and steam cleaner just sitting in the floor!

    If the darn table just "folded" up when not in use. But then you get into it not being sturdy enough! I am a "she hulk" at times have been known to break things. :lmao:lmao:lmao
     
  15. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    I die :yowza

     
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  16. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    Do you know anyone who's handy dandy with woodworking or building things? I think someone could easily make it a folding table by changing out the hinges, and swapping out the legs for the ones that come on folding card tables. Of course anchor it to the wall as well!

     
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  17. lmccandless

    lmccandless The Force is strong with this one. Boss of the Applesauce

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    I will try to take some pics tomorrow. I have the Elfa craft system from The Container Store. Here's a pic from their site. Super customizable and easy to add to when you need more storage.

    They also have one that is meant to go inside a closet which I think works so well for those third bedroom space issues.

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  18. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

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    This image is the table we made from Ikea parts. It's 51x30 inches. Over on the left you can see a set of metal drawers that was under the table. It's pulled out to encourage me to empty it and get the little treasures to some teacher or charity. Btw, those drawers were great in a bedroom closet but not for craft items because there is no solid base in the drawers. One could line each one with plastic or something, but I am not that one..

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  19. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

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    Then you have what my dh made for me when we first removed the closet from this room. The above table was under these shelves but...I found it hard to reach over the table to get stuff off the shelves and I'm not short. They have never given any indication of being anything but secure but I always hesitate to put a bed under them. Thus I am always rearranging this room and never being satisfied. btw, I now have other boxes under the shelves but otherwise there is space for that table under the shelves. You can see the height vs the door.

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  20. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    I am incredibly lucky. We have a 3 bedroom house, but in the basement there is a HUGE room that our previous owner had set up as a "media room" AKA big TV and surround sound. I saw that and immediately claimed it as my craft room. I have tons of Alex drawer units and tables from Ikea that I LOVE! I have been painting (acrylic and oil) and also do a lot of mixed media art journaling too, so I have tons of paints and inks and markers and pens, etc. This page shows bits of the room (which is great except the awful carpet)

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    The carpet is awful, but on the plus side I don't care one bit if I dribble paint or ink anywhere. :giggle
     

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