My Craft Room Finally Organized

Since the quilt show is over, and I now have my life back.  :)  I've been trying my best to make my craft hoard look more inspirational.  No one likes to craft in a mess!

Much like most of you, I've been scouring the internet for ideas and wow there are so many!  This has taken me much longer than I'd hoped, and I'm still not finished.  Not everything fit into my room!  :(  My treadle sewing machine that I thought would be a MUST in the room I am most creative in, but NOPE....there just isn't any room for much in the way of "ornaments".  She's on the catwalk....and I think she'll have to stay there at least for now...

Anyway getting back to what I intended on sharing.... :)

So I found this post on how to "file" your fabric.  http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2012/01/tool-time-tuesdayfile-your-fabric.html.  Well, wouldn't you know it, I've thrown all my filing cabinets out and now I find a great use for them!  I was still determined to file my fabrics, so I went on line and I found these crates, 6 for $24.00 so I bought two sets.

You can buy cubicle cabinets at Walmart and Ikea however those cabinets the cubicles are only 12x12 and these crates are 15-1/4"L x 13-3/4"W x 10-1/2"H and that is where the dilemma began.  Now I had to build my own cubicle storage unit just to be able to file my fabric.  Mostly because I'm a bit anal and more because I wanted a inspirational room not a storage space.  So I went to the home depot and purchased some cabinet grade plywood.  It was on sale for $34.99 a sheet and I calculated I needed 3 sheets.  This turned out to be wrong and I only really  needed 2 sheets, I did end up using most of it in the end though.

So with all my supplies purchased I began building.  I sort of used these plans but altered them to fit my new filing crates, http://ana-white.com/2010/07/well-i-did-promise-you-i-would-work-on.html.

With the frame of my cubicle cabinet mostly complete on the first day, and the day I realized I had too much plywood.  I decided to make three drawers to fit on top so I went inside and ordered drawer slides from here dirt cheap:  http://www.zorotools.com/g/Euro-Style%20Drawer%20Slides/00064403/None.  

Then the next day I finished the cubicle by putting on trim and painting it white and pink.

Then I made the three drawer unit and waited for the slides to arrive.  Wow, drawer slides are harder than one would think!  I got some good instruction here:  http://sawdustgirl.com/2012/03/09/installing-cabinet-drawers-with-glides/.  Once I figured it all out and had the units completed and painted, then I had to wait for my son to come over to help me get it up the stairs.  

Then I took a break from my craft room because I got side tracked and decided I needed two new fountains for my back yard.  I was not willing to pay for the cheap ones again cause they only last about a year and I wasn't going to spend all the money I spent on the front yard for the back yard!  So I went to walmart and got 4 plastic pots and two clay pots and then off to home depot for 330 gallon per hour pumps.  Here is what I made with Walmart Pots.

Now with my distraction over, back to my craft room.  I decided a while back to move my craft room to the game room because we never used it for games anyway.  :)  but I never thought about the lighting...or lack of lighting!  The older I get the more light I NEED!  So I needed a better light source..... I made one.  :)  Very simple.....  I used these INSTRUCTIONS

And then I found a use for that old window I purchased.  I made a cabinet and used the window for the door.  Doesn't look like much here, but I fixed it up.

And remember those ruler crates I made to sell at the quilt show boutique.... well I made myself a few.  They are perfect for ribbons or vintage spools.  I hate ribbon holders that have a dowel in the middle.  I like to take my ribbon to my work table and I hate having to remove all the ribbon just to get to the one I want to use.

Anyway after all of that...today I started cleaning up and organizing all my new stuff.  I have a long way to go yet, and tons more idea's I've found here and there.  But my craft hoard is looking much better don't you think?

I hope I've inspired you to build your own dream craft room.  One that will inspire you to also be the best you can be!  Oh I still have to figure out my paper crafting room...that is my next adventure!

Cheers,

Janet