Hey everyone! This week I’m excited to be participating in a HUGE craft room tour hosted by Angie at The Country Chic Cottage. She has gathered more than thirty bloggers to share their crafting spaces and they are chock full of inspiration!
Check out Angie’s blog for a link to tour these lovely spaces, and check back often, as more will be added each day this week.
I’ve been super busy lately, I’ll give you three good reasons why:
These three are keeping me on my toes! So when Angie asked if I wanted to participate last month, I said yes because I took these pics WAY back when and they were hanging out on my computer just waiting to be shared.
As I was pouring over the pictures, I kept saying to myself,
“Look how CLEAN this room is!”
Sad when you have to look on the internet to enjoy a clean house.
Seriously folks, five minutes after these pictures were taken, things got real and this room went back to being a dumping ground for everything in my house! I try to organize my supplies, but when I am in the middle of a project, I can drag them out like nobody’s business and you are looking at one trainwreck of a craftroom!
My craft area is the room in the very back of our house. Our home was built in 1950, and I suspect this room was previously a porch. At some point (I’m guessing in the seventies), it was converted into part of the house. The acoustic ceiling tiles and bad texture job that cover the old wood paneling are dead giveaways. It is right off the kitchen, and where a window once sat above the sink overlooking the backyard, there is now the entry into this room. The kitchen sink now has a bar in front of it.
This room is not only my craft space, but our office, and homeschool area. It works triple-duty, and I think without this addition, we would have outgrown this home a long time ago. I would argue that this could be the most important room in my house (my husband would say the TV room, but what does he know?) The “Mom Cave” rules! I chose a palette of bright, happy colors since it is also a kid-friendly area too.
Starting at the door leading to the back patio, to the right, I have a buffet that holds all of my scrapbooking supplies. It is filled with way too much scrapbooking paper, stamps, ink, and paper trimming tools. I also have a Cricut machine (
Check out the Daily Deals from Cricut!) under the little slipcover I made, and I keep all of my adhesives and scissors in the pink caddy above. It makes it easy to find them when they are all in one place. I used to have all of my brads, eyelets, and other metal findings on a magnetic board in those little circle tins, BUT, one of my children slammed the door too hard and they fell and made a giant mess. So, I had to give up the cute display and put them away safely in a drawer.
The desk is a project I did last spring. It’s an L-shape, made from 3/4″ plywood. I used 1×2’s to trim around the edges and finished it off with a little cove molding before I painted it white. Supporting the desk top are two oak store-bought file cabinets that I painted to match, along with a computer tower I built to support the far end. All of these pieces are separate, but the white paint (Heirloom Lace, by Olympic) keeps the furniture cohesive.
I love the desk! It is huge and gives me plenty of workspace. I cut up my old desktop to create the shelves that now hold my printers. One printer is for my coupon printing, and the other is for photos.
When I started to gather design inspiration for this room, I fell in love with the Rodney White print
that hangs on the wall. My husband surprised me with it one Christmas and I mounted it to the front of a wood frame I built from 1×2’s. I painted the frame black and then used old roofing nails to secure the print to the front. I keep it right above my computer. The print reads:
“We tend to seek happiness, when happiness is actually a choice.”
It’s there to remind me of the condition of my heart. While I’m pouring over Pinterest, gathering inspiration, and pinning up a storm, I like to keep things in check. It’s so easy to focus on what you don’t have instead of being thankful for what you do. I really struggle with contentness and even though I’ve come a long way compared to when I was younger, I still like to have this here as a reminder to make the best of what I have in all circumstances.
Okay, I couldn’t share my room without mentioning this one embarrassing thing. Why mention it? Because I KNOW I am not alone. I have this light-up makeup mirror on my desk. And next to it is a cup full of grooming tools.
So the story goes like this: Once, while Sam and I were driving down the freeway; I had the vanity mirror down and was applying my makeup in the passenger seat. The sun was shining perfectly on my chin and I almost died when I saw it! A black hair growing out of my chin! ACK! I had just had my second baby a few months before and was not quite twenty-eight years old. Way too early for a whisker. Ugh. It took me back to being twelve years old, when my Great Aunt Marge, at the wise old age of 82, asked me to pluck her chin hairs because she was old and couldn’t see them. Well, of course I obliged, but the whole time I was thinking, “Someday, I am going to be an old woman and this will be ME asking MY nieces to pluck my chin hairs.” Never, EVER, did I think I would have that problem at 28. But here I am. Awesome genetics, I suppose. I am extra paranoid, and I keep this mirror here on my desk. While I am working, should my hand graze my chin and feel something a little rough, that hair gets plucked ASAP. It’s handy for doing my eyebrows too. I spend way more time making stuff than I do primping, so this lets me take care of things without having to get up and run to the bathroom every time, lol. I may have a few eccentricities, but I don’t want “Bearded Lady” to be one of them, haha.
Okay, back to the room tour. At the end of desk is a wing chair I recovered. I envisioned curling up with my kiddos and reading books there, but it has turned out to be just too much chair for this room. So, it’s no longer there. It’s in my kids’ room. And soon it’s getting booted out of there for a crib, so who knows where it will end up. But isn’t it cute? I really loved it for this space. It added to the busy fun-ness.
On the third wall, I have a hutch and dining table set up for our homeschool station. They are cast-off’s from my cousin that I painted a fun color (Valspar’s “Twilight Meadow”). I used vinyl sheeting over the table and it has kept the table clean and unblemished for nearly 2 years. Best $4 I ever spent for that space! On each side are two tall bookshelves that were part of our old entertainment center. I couldn’t bear to paint them; they are part of the Broyhill “Fontana” Collection, and I still love it. It’s whitewashed pine from the nineties, but it has a timeless appeal, in my opinion.
I’ve also replaced the two chairs with an upholstered bench that I made last year. It works great for the kids to sit on while they work. They were always falling off the chairs, so the bench is much more comfortable. There are free plans for that here.
The final wall holds my sewing area. It is adjacent to the kichen bar and fits nicely in a little nook behind the door. I store my sewing machine, serger, and loads of fabric above and below. I found this piece at the thrift store and refinished it.
You can read the blog post here.Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to click over and see the rest of the great craft spaces in this tour!
Linking up and sharing here:
So the story goes like this: Once, while Sam and I were driving down the freeway; I had the vanity mirror down and was applying my makeup in the passenger seat. The sun was shining perfectly on my chin and I almost died when I saw it! A black hair growing out of my chin! ACK! I had just had my second baby a few months before and was not quite twenty-eight years old. Way too early for a whisker. Ugh. It took me back to being twelve years old, when my Great Aunt Marge, at the wise old age of 82, asked me to pluck her chin hairs because she was old and couldn’t see them. Well, of course I obliged, but the whole time I was thinking, “Someday, I am going to be an old woman and this will be ME asking MY nieces to pluck my chin hairs.” Never, EVER, did I think I would have that problem at 28. But here I am. Awesome genetics, I suppose. I am extra paranoid, and I keep this mirror here on my desk. While I am working, should my hand graze my chin and feel something a little rough, that hair gets plucked ASAP. It’s handy for doing my eyebrows too. I spend way more time making stuff than I do primping, so this lets me take care of things without having to get up and run to the bathroom every time, lol. I may have a few eccentricities, but I don’t want “Bearded Lady” to be one of them, haha.
That desk is to die for!! When are you going to come make me one?? Thanks for joining Jenny!
Oh my gosh such a fun space! All of your altered furnishings are to die for…all. of. THEM. I'm so crushing on that daisy chair and that bench…adore!<br /><br />Amy*
Jenny – I love all the bright colors and fun patterns! I couldn't help but feel creative and inspired in your space!
Great desk, and I love how bright and fun the whole space is! Pinning!
What a great craft room!!! I am sooo jealous 😉 I want a craft room so bad!!!
Ooo, I want to come over and be crafty with you! 😀
Thanks, Angie!
Thank You, Amy! I'm running out of room!
Thanks, Keri! Sometimes I wonder if I've gone overboard…nah!
Thank You, Jessi! It's been a fun process putting the room together.
Thanks for stopping by, Rachel!
If only El Paso was in Idaho! Thanks, Vanessa!
Love the turquoise and red combo! You were featured last week at Inspire Us Thursday on Organized 31.
Turquoise and red are like peas and carrots to me! Thanks for featuring me, I was on vacation all week and did not look at a computer once!
I love your craft room! The colors make it so bright and fun!
Hi, bearded lady! You are so funny and entertaining in your writing. 🙂 I love your craft room and the colors you've used. Now that my kids are growing up and moving out, I have a room to transform into a sewing/project/blogging space. Overwhelmed! Thanks for the inspirational ideas. I'm heading over through your link to check out the others. Blessings!<br />Kim @ Curtain Queen
Hi, Kim! Thanks for stopping by. We are so cramped in our little house that I am already envisioning my next crafty space. It's non-negotiable; if I don't have a space for all my junk it will spill over to the rest of the house. Enjoy your craft room planning!
I love it all!!! First time here from Bird and Soap and the Craft Room Tours! Your bench is adorable – do you by any chance know the name/manufacturer of the fabric you used on the long pillow? Exactly what I have been looking for…please don't tell me it's discontinued!!! I look forward to following your blog!
Thank you, Katie!
Hi Elaine! Glad you found me. Yes! Isn't that fabric great? I came across it while I was shopping at Home Fabrics. It's and older print, but I was able to find it online. By Robert Allen Home, it's called "Summerlin Palm Beach." I paid $7.99/yard at my local store, but it is going for double online. Shop around for the best deal! http://www.fabricguru.com/