My “new” craft room

Hello there! How the heck are ya? I’ve gotten so little done this week because I’ve been focused on the little visitors I told you about earlier this week. I was SO very naive to think we just had a couple mice. Yes, there are more. No, I’m not ready to talk about it. ;) Maybe next week I’ll be able laugh about it. I may need a few Mickey jokes to get me there.

So anyhoo, I did get one project finished up this week that got my mind off things. I am so excited about this space! I showed you my first craft space (in the unfinished basement) years ago here. Then my plan was to downsize quite a bit and I made my DIY craft table for the basement.

Well, the closer we got to finishing up the basement, the more we realized the space plan we had figured wasn’t going to work. I was trying to cram too much in there. So I did some switching around, and ended up with a brand new craft room in the process!

We are so lucky to have so much space in this house – in some ways too much for what we need. I wish we had more, say, in the family room and kitchen, and less in spaces like our loft. As the Bub has gotten older we’ve struggled to find a good use for it.

This was how it looked last time I showed it to you:

Check out those pinky walls! Ack!

It used to be the Bub’s playroom, but things slowly but surely got moved down to the basement. We still had a few toys upstairs in this dresser, and the big coffee table was his spot to work on Legos. And now that the basement is done, most of the toys are down there (and it’s awesome!), so we didn’t really need an additional space the kiddo stuff.

Soooo…we had too much in the basement, and not a real purpose for this room, so I thought, why not make it into my sewing/craft room? It’s light and bright -- perfect!

I took the craft table apart and we brought it upstairs (all three pieces were BEASTS!):

We had an extra sofa up there that I gave away to a friend and that cleared up a ton of space.

The table is AWESOME for storage – it holds a ton of stuff. I’m starting to move some of my fabric in there too, slowly but surely. The sewing machine will come up from the basement soon, but it’s in the storage room (where THEY have been hanging out), so I’m in there as little as possible lately. :/

The top of the table is our old laminate island countertop and it’s GREAT for crafting – stuff just wipes right off!:

The dresser that used to be filled with toys and games now holds a few more crafty things and my wrapping supplies:

I still need to organize everything better, but the IKEA Hemnes dresser (more about that here) holds a TON of stuff. Love it!

The wrapping paper just sits in a big glass jar:

My leftover wallpaper that I use for crafty stuff is rolled up in there too.

I was so thrilled to finally have everything set up, I worked on a little crafty somethin’ for the room:

I got the letters at Joann’s months ago (when this process started…I take awhile), and I mixed it up by getting different fonts/types. These were each $3 or $4, but I got them on sale – it seems like they are half off all the time.

I grabbed some cute blue and green scrapbook paper to cover the letters – you just spray the paper and letter with spray adhesive, then press it on:

Then use an X-acto knife to cut the paper off around the edges:

Afterwards you may have some rough edges – I just sand them down with a sanding block:

   

I wait till after the paper is on to paint the sides of the letters (if needed), because if I mess up or tear the paper I can just fill it in with the paint color.

I hung them up over the window (where the “Play” letters used to be):

I went back and forth on which way that “A” should go – I still don’t know if that’s the right way, but I like it. ;) The other direction looked wonky.

I have BIG plans for that window wall, as I’ve mentioned before:

A little something like this would be perfect,  yes?: 

(source)

My plan is to make it similar to the built ins downstairs, but this one WILL have a window seat. It’s begging for it! :)

Oh my goodness, I can’t wait! It’s going to be a little more difficult this time since the space on either side of the window isn’t equal. I think I have a plan of action now though.

But until then, it’s still an awesome, bright space with tons of storage – perfect for crafting!:

I can’t wait to get started on holiday crafts up here!

I love to see how this room has changed over the years! Here it is a few years ago:

I can’t believe how much I crammed into that space!

And after the paint job, moving the toys out and most of the furniture:

And yes, I still plan on doing the huge gallery wall on that big space above the molding. It’s been on my list…for a couple years. ;)

Do you have a spot where you sew/craft? (If you do sew/craft.) I’ve been lucky to always have an area in the house, but it’s funny how we usually end up at the kitchen table. I think now that we have this sunny spot set up we’ll use it much more than before!