Monday, August 17, 2009

Craft Room Conquest!

I know, I know, this post is a day late, but yesterday turned out to be one of those days that got completely away from me. Not because we were super busy; just the opposite. We really didn’t do much at all, which was a nice change from the frenetic working weekends Bob and I have had all summer. And as I was laying there drifting to sleep, I realized I forgot to make this post.

But before I continue, I must give a HUGE Thank You and Shout Out to Catherine for motivating me to get this done! {HUGS}

So here is my organized craft room! No more ironing board, and the contents of those boxes have either been filed or, most likely, thrown in the trash.

View1I did a little reorganization of the tall shelf unit, moving my 12x12 papers to the other hutch. Right now, those green & black boxes hold my SU and non-SU ink pads, but Bob is making me a storage unit that will sit on the desk just under the window.

View8

Now I can get to the drawers that hold my crochet supplies (which reminds me that I need to get to work on some long-overdue projects for some special card-making sisters!

Plus I can keep my IKEA tray with my current project pieces off the craft desk. Keeping everything on this tray makes it easy to move if I or someone else needs to use the entire desk.

organized 009 Wow, a nice, clean work desk and even the computer corner has been tidied up. It hasn't looked like this in a long, long time! Even Bob was impressed.

organized 016This is first of my two most favorite things - I organized my cardstock drawer! The top drawer hold SU’s four color families, and the bottom drawer holds SU neutrals and non-SU cardstock.

organized 022Can you see the little box in the front? I ordered these great frosted plastic boxes from Oriental Trading and they are perfect for holding scrap cardstock pieces in the front of each color family. I also use them to hold my Nesties and up to 12 Cuttlebug embossing folders.

View2This is the second of my two most favorite things – these great little 2-drawer storage units on clearance at Mike’s, which I topped with a piece of leftover MDF. They hold double-sided adhesives, packs of brads, pearls, and assorted bling, and assorted tiny paper flowers, plus the top keeps other frequently used items at my fingertips but off my work surface. I’m going back today for 3 more!

My Copics are in the floral box, and all my punches are in the spinny thing under the desk. Bob has promised that we will put up the Bygel rails on the naked side wall this week to hold the punches, and I’m thinking of storing my Copics in the bins that work with the Bygel rails. IKEA, here I come!

View5 Under my desk in the 3-drawer unit, I keep my Crop-a-Dile and sheets of pop-dots in the top drawer, my embossing powders and heat tool in the middle drawer, and the dies, embossing folders, and plates for my Cuttlebug in the bottom drawer. Those clear 12x12 cases hold alterables and non-card projects, and the top bin holds all the fabulous card kits I received from my swap!

organized 011Finally, my magazine storage area is much more organized and will soon be full of color. I’m decorating the fronts with floral and striped DP in my fav combo of pinks, greens, and white (you saw them on the IKEA tray) and I’ll add scalloped tags with the contents to the front of each. I'll post a pic of that when I get it done later this week.

WHEW! I must tell you that I actually took a vacation day on Friday to get this done! I just needed an entire day of uninterrupted work to sort through everything and organize it in a way that worked better for me. Before, every time I walked into that room, it was so depressing and shouted about the total lack of attention I’ve been able to give to my house over these last few months. Now that the room has been purged of useless stuff and reorganized in a more useable way, I am completely renewed and can already feel the creative juices flowing again!

I can’t wait to start working on Catherine’s somethin’ somethin’ for her space, and what’s really cool is that I’ll get to give it to her in person on Saturday when we meet up for a day of talking, eating, and shopping, of course! Thanks again, hun, for motivating me to stop complaining about my room and instead, taking control of it!

I’m always looking for creative ideas that you’ve found to help you organize your space, so please share your favorite suggestions in your comments! Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great day!

Happy Creating!
Susan

8 comments:

Catherine said...

OH-MY-GOSH!!!!! Susan!!!!!!! This looks amazing! I just love your hutch and shelves! And the little drawers are so cute!!!!! Everything in it's place and a place for everything! Lovely!!!!!

I'm sooooo excited for our meet up on Saturday! And I'll have your something-something to deliver in person too! Yay!!!!!

GF, you really met the challenge head on and kicked it's butt! Congrats!!!!!!

Mary Giles said...

Wow Susan! Look at that craft room. Way to go girlfriend. Now your mojo can fill the room. I'm inspired now to clean up little area of the basement.

kadie said...

This is Gorgeous, you lucky duck! I wish I had a beautiful craft space like this!

Sandra MacLean said...

This is a beautiful space Susan! So roomy and everything has it's place. I'm currently in 'negotiations' with hubby to add some drawers under my desk to hold all the paper I've been collecting! Wish me luck! ;)

MiamiKel said...

How terrific! Isn't it fun to have a craft room - only yours is clean, lol! You've done a terrific job on the before after!

Judy McMullen said...

Wow! You did a great job of cleaning and organizing your craft space. You and Catherine are inspiring me to do the same when I get home this Fall. I do have the IKEA Bygel rails and love them for storing my SU punches as well as holding different IKEA trays and bins. The only problem is I didn't get enough!

Lorie said...

Susan, your room is gorgeous!! You and Catherine both did a wonderful job cleaning and organizing!! You hav ALMOST inspired me to do the same. Hehehehe!! I love what you've done. It's just beautiful!!

Xazmin said...

Okay, this. looks. fabulous.

I can't remember the last time ANYTHING in my life was that organized! You are truly and inspiration.

Can't wait to snoop around your blog some more!