My Horrendously Messy Craft Room BEFORE {One Room Challenge Week One}
Hello! I have an exciting new project that I am about to begin and I can’t wait to share my craft room “before” and my plans with you today!
I am super excited to be taking part in this round of the One Room Challenge (also known as ORC) is hosted by Linda of Calling It Home.
The ORC is a challenge in which bloggers attempt to makeover one room in their homes in the period of six weeks, sharing their progress along the way. In fact, the challenge is actually less then six weeks because week 1 is the before/intro to the project, and week 6 is the actual reveal. Over the next six Thursdays (including today) I will be sharing a makeover project or the progress on my makeover of my CRAFT ROOM!
I am super excited about this project because I set up my craft room nearly two years ago when I moved my youngest son into his brother’s bedroom to create a shared bedroom space, but I have never actually decorated or finished it off completely. I have done little projects along the way, but have not yet taken the time to pull it all together in a cohesive way. And I think it is about time that I did!
If you are a regular reader, then you know that this week I have been participating in BOY MOM MADNESS. On Monday I shared my Boys’ Bedroom REVEAL. Today’s theme is: Boy Mom Style.
I thought and thought about this topic because, really, most of our house tour reflects “my” style. Although I live in a house full of big and little boys, I have still integrated quite a few feminine touches. But the only room in the house where I feel that I have completely free reign is in my craft room. So perfect timing: today is all about how I want to inject ‘my’ style into finishing off my CRAFT ROOM space.
Here is the horrendously messy dumping ground that I call a craft room… and what I am starting with…
I have made a start. We created a craft work station using cube units that we backed with beadboard to give them strength and then topped with a large white countertop surface. These cube units fit large fabric bins but I find that the bins can be too large and I don’t find them efficient for keeping craft supplies organized in.
I also have a long storage cabinet against the back wall (right now it is hidden by an extra painting)… and above that is my giant chalkboard made from an old oil painting that I picked up at a second hand store.
In the corner behind my crafting table is the perfect spot for throwing extra fabric on the ground…
The other corner has my Ikea cart with craft supplies, some extra pallet signs that my husband made for me and I haven’t used yet, as well as some bolts of drapery lining and some extra baskets. The fabric covered cork board that you see a glimpse of behind the Ikea cart was actually made to cover a section of glass block in the wall that I don’t like (it is one of the only features left in the house that reminds me of it’s 1994 roots).
The wall beside the door has another crafting table on it as well as a hutch top that I picked up at a garage sale for $5 and painted. Problem is, I NEVER sit at this craft table and it just collects junk constantly. I would rather have some better storage and something more shallow in depth in order to open up the small room a little bit more.
This is my little sewing desk – it was a freebie from my Mom and Dad that I freshened up a couple of years ago with some DIY chalk paint. I really like the desk and love having a spot to leave my sewing machine set up all the time, but need to work on a better chair for it as well as organize the wall surrounding it.
Lastly, I have an old bookshelf for storage (it is years and year old) as well as a good amount of storage space in the closet. You can probably tell that there is a lot of space in here for craft storage, but that it is very disorganized at this point. My Mohawk rug (that was previously in our dining room and bedroom) is in the picture…but I have since moved it into the entry hall for now. I haven’t decided whether I want a rug in the craft room or not.
So there it is folks.
The dumping ground. My horrendously messy craft room.
The fact that I can close the door on this room and not be exposed to it’s mess is a huge bonus. But it is time that I put a little bit more energy and effort into it and organize it so that it doesn’t end up like this time and time again!
So what am I going to do??
1) ORGANIZE!!
Go through all my supplies, purge, sort, and organize so that everything has it’s own place. Then it won’t be hard to keep it tidy, right?!
2) STORAGE
I would like to find some more cohesive small storage that is better tailored to the size of my craft supplies to use throughout the space. I would also like to get rid of the junk-collecting white table – the one with the hutch on top of it – though I am willing to keep the hutch. I never, ever sit at that extra table/desk and I think the space would be much better used if I could find a dresser style unit with drawers to sit the hutch upon. I also want to get rid of the grey fabric covered cork board and replace it with a piece of peg board that I could use to create a gift wrapping station (I swoon over those whenever I see images of them!).
3) COLOUR
While aqua/turquoise/blue is the primary colour already, there are a lot of other mixed colours in this space and I would like to tie it together with a more cohesive colour scheme. I am thinking of turquoise and yellow. I want to paint the walls out white. While the current grey walls are pretty, I love the contrast of fresh colour against white walls, and I happen to have an extra can of Cloud White sitting out in my garage.
4)LIGHTING
I am not sure if I will change out the ceiling fixture or not (it is a small school-house style fixture that has a cute, vintage feel to it), but I definitely need to reconsider my lamp options. It is not a very well lit room, and faces north, so I need all the light I can get (especially when I am doing projects that require attention to detail).
5) DECORATE
I want pretty drapes!! I love pretty drapes! In other words, I want to add in some of my style with some beautiful DIY drapery panels. I would also love to include a little more fabric by reupholstering the stools that I sit on most often – and painting out the bottoms in a coordinating colour. Lastly, I can’t wait to take a little shopping trip and keep my eyes peeled for a few accessories and decorative items that will help pull the colour scheme and the room together.
Want to see some of the craft room ideas that I am pinning?
Follow my Pinterest board: Make a Space for Crafting…
Well, what do you think? What would you do to this space? Any fabulous craft rooms that you think I should check out?
Have a look at what the rest of my BOY MOM MADNESS co-bloggers are sharing about their Boy Mom Style today…
Krista! Looking at your images I kinda feel better now-haha..I tackled my office/craft room last year with the one room challenge and man, it must be blogger’s life style but I can’t keep it organized. Sigh… I think the problem is that I always dig deep in 3-4 projects at the time…just like you, my friend! Looking forward to your challenge and to see what you create! I am pretty sure it will be drool worthy!
I love your ideas. The color idea of turquoise and yellow is great, and it looks like you’ve got some amazing ideas for storage. Good luck!
Sooo excited to do this challenge with you, Krista! I jumped on board too and can’t wait to see how your craft room turns out! What an awesome room to tackle! Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! xo
Love the idea of remaking your craft room. Such a great space, and I can’t wait to see how it comes out.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you do to YOUR creative space. This is going to be a fun series to follow!
Excited to see the end result! I currently have a crazy craft room too so this might help me makes some changes too!
Oh my goodness Krista!!! I am CRAZY excited to follow along with your crafting space! I’ve been dying to make one of my own and I’m sure this makeover will be just the inspiration I need!
I can totally see the potential of this space, especially knowing what the rest of your house looks like! Excited to follow along!
I have a storage room in the basement I’d love to eventually turn into a studio. Looks like you have a great space. Definitely looking forward to seeing the transformation over the coming weeks. It goes by so fast, believe me!