Craft Area (not room)

I need to know what others do for their craft area. I looked through the gallery here but there is soo much that I can seem to sort it.

Here's the situation-I need to be able to organize my scrapbooks/scrap booking supplies, fabric, canvases, paints, etc etc in a little over 9 foot area AND have a place to work. My walls are made of cinder block (outside wall) so it's going to be very hard to hang anything on the wall.
Right now I have a little armuor storing my craft stuff (maybe 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall), a 4 ft wide 2.5 foot tall bookshelf holding my fabrics and items on top, and am old sewing machine desk holding my sewing machine (the old one "folds" under the "desk" which is prob 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall). It's not working very well lol.

I have lots of projects planned and I finally have the motivation again, but no area that's "mine", it's all on the floor or kitchen table (so has to be picked up).


I know there was at one point a place for me but we ended up not getting that house because of technicalities.

Any help would be appreciated

Hey CountrynCrafty -

I feel your pain. While most parents get that empty nest syndrome, I really was anxious to get my son's room turned into my craft room. While I don't have it exactly like I want it, I still have one spot in which I can create. I think that's the most important - 1 spot. I have a table, a chair and a bookcase that I got from a box store. I'm a beginner scrapbooker and found that organizing paper into colors and having small, plastic, shoebox like containers from the dollar store for embellishments has really helped. Labeling everything helps too. And, everything goes on that bookshelf. I would like to have more, but just can't afford it right now. My son's old room is also full of my school books (finished my Bachelor's yeah!), and my seasonal clothes. But I dedicated 1 corner for scrapbooking. Take time and space for yourself and have fun!

It sounds like you might have to switch out one or more of your furnishings for pieces that function better in your current space. Taller pieces sound like a good idea since you don't want to deal with trying to hang things on your cinder block wall.

Depending on your finances, you could locate a tall bookcase at a discount store or buy one online (sometimes with free shipping - if you get lucky). Or you could look into replacing your armoire with a taller one. Those can hold a ton of supplies and can even function as desks. And around here, anyway, the old entertainment ones can be picked up relatively cheaply second hand and converted (with a little work) into something really handy for crafting storage. Also, a basic table (even a folding one) that allows for storage underneath might work. And if none of that is doable, portable storage pieces... little carts on wheels or boxes, crates etc could be put into use and objects could be moved to the crafting space in a pinch.

I do have a crafting room (only 8.5 x 8.5 feet mostly square) of my own right now. I did invest in a tall bookcase (online) that holds tons of stuff.

But in the past I had no room of my own and had to rely on portable storage options... shoe boxes, gift boxes and cropping bags even.

If you can't hang anything on the walls, build a frame that will sit on the floor but cover it with peg board... VOILA moveable walled pegboard

I have my scrapspace in my living room and it takes up about 6"x7". I am incredibly blessed that my hubby build me custom desk to house everything and keep it organized, but prior to this blessing I made do with a desk with a kind of hutch on top to hold stuff. The other thing that I get the most compliments on are my super cheap storage bins. They hold a ton of stuff and take up very little space on a cheap shelf.



In my current space I have a little wall space so the bins have moved above where I work, keeping them all close at hand, help me to be organized and productive.


If you are on a budget, I find one of the best things to do is hit up garage sales and thrift stores and see if you can find a good table\desk with a couple drawers. Hope this helps a little!!

Here is my link to my scrap space. The expedit shelving unit from Ikea can store a whole lot and is inexpensive.

http://www.scrapitsplendid.blogspot.com

Hope this helps(:

I currently do not have a craft room. We are in the process of remodeling so hopefully will have one soon. However, right now, I have a small space in our studio which is also our exercise room. I have two tables (maybe 6 ft each) that are placed in an L shape. I have an inexpensive drawer cart underneath one table that holds some smaller items and a storage tub underneath the table that holds my paper. I have a container on top of the table that holds more paper. This really works great for me right now. It is not near as impressive as some of the scrap rooms posted on the site but it works and it is inexpensive and easy. I will try to take some photos.

I have to scrap on my dining room table and my storage is scattered, but it works. I have items in drawers in our hallway, in my bedroom, and items stored in our china hutch. I get a workout running around gathering everything, but at least it works.

Well, first of all, you can attach things to a cinderblock wall....you can purchase everything you need at a Home Depot. You will need to drill holes and put plugs in (if you are comfortable with a drill or know someone that is)

My craft area is a bedroom that we've converted to a home office/school room/craft room so I share my space with DH and DS.
I have an Ikea desk up against the wall and I've positioned one of the Ikea Expedit shelving units at a 90 degree angle, coming out from the desk/wall. That way the shelving unit isn't taking up wall space and it doesn't protrude too much into the room as it is only a few feet long. I like these shelves as the spaces fit 12x12 albums (not all bookshelves do)....
I can reach to get stuff out of the shelves from either side.
On top of the shelves, I have 2 of the jetmax cubes from Ms that hold my paper...I have a ribbon organizer, currently sitting on my desk but I plan on hanging it on the wall above my desk.
There are 4 cubby holes in the Expedit shelving unit....I use one for albums, I have a large basket in one with my stamps, I have a basket for chipboard and alongside that fits my binder with Quickutz and spellbinders dies in it....
I have my fabric in a basket.
My BigShot and my paper cutter fit on each side of my desk with a space in the middle for working.
I use a glass vase to store my markers/pens. I have another basket for my adhesives on my desk as well....
All my stickles are stored in one of those storage containers, sitting on top of my ribbon organizer.
Inks, paints, embossing powders & glitter are stored in those Ikea DVD boxes and I keep those on the bookshelf......I love those boxes, they are inexpensive, they look nice and they are great for storing all kinds of stuff!
All my buttons are in mason jars on the bookshelf.
I also plan on hanging a corkboard and a chalkboard, framed, on the wall. An alternate, and inexpensive idea is to use those brown, utility clipboards from an office store and paint them with chalkboard paint and decorate them...

Sorry if I rambled....I hope I explained myself. I can try to take pictures and post them tomorrow. It's really late here

Alison

I have a small corner in my living room that serves as my scrapping space. I have a desk top from Ikea that has 2 legs attached on one side and a drawer unit on the other side. All are part of the Ikea collection. The drawer unit has long drawers and you can fit alot in them. I also have a mix of Jet Maxx cubes and cubicals from Target that store all my clutter. I have actually just been re-organinzing and labeling all my stash. I do have a ribbon organizer from Michaels on my wall with a shelf on top that I store flowers in the plastic containers from Michaels.

I highley recommend the desks from Ikea. There are plenty of styles to design exactly what you want. The Expedia desk looks great, just would not work in my space otherwise I would have gotten that.

I am using a 9x10? area that was a dining room. I have a everything within a roll of my chair.....

I also use an antique childs wardrobe we had in the basement.

Scraproom-moved By ScrappyMama6


I have a shelf on the main wall now that my BF hung for me, but otherwise, this is it. I have tons of room, and by it being in a "U" shape everything is at reach. Kind of like having a galley kitchen, you dont have to go far to get what you need.

And you CAN most certainly hang stuff on cinderblocks! You need wall anchors, a drill and concrete screws, all available at the hardware store or Lowe's/Home Depot etc....make use of vertical space by hanging wire closet shelving, and use hooks underneath to hang extra stuff off of.

Good luck!