The Craft Room Reveal

I think of this as a den type of space since it is a walk through room with no closet. In case you forgot first it was our “master” bedroom. Then it spent half a year as a construction holding/giant mess place. And right before I had Tuesday I “organized” it to look like this:

Ok so it wasn’t always that bad, but it wasn’t so great. I was hardly using it at all as of late because all the storage was open and Tuesday went nuts pulling things apart in here. Welcome to craft room version 2.0:

Oh I’m such a tease!

Note that all these photos were shot with a wide angle lens… the room didn’t suddenly grow over night, though it sure feels like it did to me!

Because I have so many pictures (you did say you wanted details!) I’m going to continue this after the jump.


This is looking out of the room (or would be if the door was opened). I first of all want to say how much work my mom, who is an interior designer (J. W. Design in Salem, Oregon), put in on this project. She is a detail woman, and helped me get it just perfect. I can say with certainty that this is the best use of the space for us. Having it set up this way leaves lots of floor space (play space) and makes it a lot easier to get up the stairs.

The cabinets under the stairs were put in during the remodel and the handles are from Restoration Hardware: Traditional Glass Pulls in Antique Brass (to match existing knobs/handles I put in during my first overhaul of the house in 2006). The chair here is from Ikea: Ektorp Jennylind and the side table is a garage sale find with fabric stapled over the old cushion. The room color is Overcast Dawn in Duration Home from Sherwin Williams. A grey/purple that is so wonderful and soothing. Everyone seemed shocked I painted over the green. I love me some green, but I also hate stagnate spaces, so a change was needed.

(Tuesday’s view of the room). The curtains I made from Ikea fabric (if you click on the drop down color grey/white you’ll see the pattern I got) and Ribbon Jar grosgrain ribbon. Because space was an issue between the two upper cabinets I used bath robe hooks from Target. This looks really cool, but means I can’t just pull back the curtains. I have to climb a little and move the ribbon loops from one hook to another (I double them up and fold the curtains over). It is nice not to have pull backs though. Under here you see an old stool and mop bucket (on wheels) found thrifting.

The red cart (that I want to take apart and paint a neutral color) is also from thrifting. It holds two containers of scrapbooking paper, a ruler case that holds long 12X1.5 inch scraps for my quickutz, a jar of ribbon, a jar of letters, a tin of mini albums some random stuff on top and a hook for my purse. I am going to use this as a cutting table when I need more countertop space (I can just roll it out). The green stool is from Design Within Reach. I got it when I first got pregnant after years of sitting on the little blue one. The little metal basket there for Tutu’s toys is thrifted (I never pass these up, obviously). And the metal is from Ikea (can’t find it on their site, it is from seven years ago I think).

I wanted to try to keep most things off of the work surface to make it visually tidy and easy to clean. These were the perfect solution, also from Ikea. I combined a Grundtal rail with S hooks and Asker containers (in two sizes). Non strip lights make this space more than just a black hole (I had an electrician come before the cabinets went in – thanks Brent! – there is also a new plug behind the clock if I need to use a heat gun or something. All the other wires go through a hole in the counter into a hole in the cabinet and are totally hidden – it is awesomenss). The wire basket and little green pen container are both thrifted. I am looking for the perfect desktop garbage can thingie. Right now I use a coffee can I sponge painted in high school… so it didn’t make the picture 🙂 Hmm… maybe I can wrap it with something….

To the right of the computer is an awesome thrifted clock (that I had re-gutted) and a carpenter’s ruler to hold little pieces of paper (idea from the Pottery Barn Workspaces book). The candle is from Anthropologie. They were on sale after Christmas and now I wish I would have gotten a dozen – it looks knitted! Oh I almost forgot, the countertops are from Ikea (sense a theme?). They are the Numerar solid wood countertops. Very, very sturdy (like I stand on them everyday to move the curtains – I told you the system wasn’t perfect).

The cabinets are from Canyon Creek, my mom is a designer/rep for them and when she tells me what style they are I’ll fill in this blank: Monticello (thanks mom!). Because I don’t consider these part of the “built ins” that I have around the rest of the house, I decided to go with a different style. I explained to my mom designer how I wanted the glass to look and she helped me pick this one out. I found it really hard to visualize, a professional eye was so helpful, they are perfect!! I was originally going to go with mullions, but got talked out of it because there are already mullions on the windows. I’m so glad I went with solid pieces of glass, it looks clean and not fussy, plus you can
see the goodies inside. Since the cabinets were different I wanted different knobs. The first ones from Anthropologie broke, and now I am glad about that because these ones from Restoration Hardware look fabulous and are much better made.

Custom artwork from my favorite 3.5 year old. Am I lucky or what?

Awesome giant corkboard I got from an office that was being demo-d.
Now do you want to see where I keep everything? Because Bj saw my pile o crap (since it was sitting in his office for a week) and did wonder (out loud and repeatedly) where it was all going to go. I still have a few bins and things in the basement that I need to sort out, but my philosopy was that if it doesn’t fit in this awesome new room that is so perfect I barely deserve it then I DON’T NEED IT. This is why I have a bunch of listings going up on Craig’s list, eBay and Freecycle. Be gone clutter of my life. Here is where I put all the stuff I did keep:

This is to the right of the computer. It holds little bits and bobs, a stapler, rulers, push pins, lip gloss, hand lotion, etc. Below it:

This is deeper than it looks. Two leather bins hold scrapbooking stuff, the first stickers and stuff, behind it 8.5 x 11 paper. Above that my little Epson printer and behind her inkpads and stamps. To the side there are some kid toys, like magnets for the board (Tuesday can only play with that supervised since they are not teething baby safe).

To the left of the computer and above. Top shelf: tins full of adhesives and paint. Next shelf: buttons, scrapbooking idea books, an elephant piggy bank (thanks Sciarrino!), writer’s block book and activity stamps in a thrifted tin. Next shelf: books, quickutz alphabets and a thrifted glass box with scrapbooking stuff in it. Bottom shelf: slang cards, zig writers, jar of clips, tin of rubber bands and paperclips, box of stuff, decorations that I love.

Big cabinet up top. Top shelf: albums and a canvas box full of stamps. Bottom shelf: albums, unmounted stamps, foam stamps, notebooks, containers of cards and postage. Vintage wire locker bin full of in progress projects. Below this cupboard:

Dymo tape, rubons, ephemera, old maps and my color pencils (so glad to have a space for these up here). Bottom shelf: Electric typewriter, grandpa’s typewriter (cursive), bin of random stuff, card catalog hold my photos in categories, Big Picture Scrapbooking style, letter embellishments, chipboard and state tags. On top of that another typewriter (but it’s awesome and green and I can totally justify having three). Old ledgers.

The drawers under those cabinets hold tools.

And punches.

Right side of my lower cabinet. Paper cutter, vintage stamps and contact paper above. You can’t see the stuff behind the paper – beads and some random stuff.

On the right old cards, and things I want to keep above. Below is this cool Elfa thing I just found at the Container Store (argh that place is like crack to me!).

It holds my patterned paper. I got the Medium Drawer (16 7/8″ x 11 1/4″) and it was a snap to install – I did it myself!
Behind the door of the room I’m not quite as organized. I need to work on a few projects to get my flow down and work out where everything should be.

Like this deep but not too tall shelf, it’s just a collection hub right now. I’d like to keep it a little tider so I can store my camera there, and have it ready to grab.

Below that scrapbooking stuff.

Below that knitting and spinning stuff (most of that stash is in the basement…. I have a little bit of a fiber problem, I’ll admit).

More scrapbooking stuff below that, along with cards and stuff. I was going to show you all the drawers (there are three) to the right of this bank, but they are boring: envelopes, postcards, and photo stuff.

(awesome eBay find).
So there you have it. Picture heavy, I told you, but I’m guessing I’ve answered all the questions you could possibly have – and more! Let me know if you do have any others though! I so love this room. And I know someone will ask… no I never did get quite to my goal weight (that was the deal originally to get these cabinets). I still have five pounds to go 🙂