Here's a picture of the finished space. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of how it looked before, but trust me this is a HUGE improvement.
Before, I had placed all the desks along the wall and stored all of my 12 x 12 paper on the tops. My craft table sat in the middle of the floor. The problem with this was that I never had enough room on my table for the things I like to have within reach. So, I was constantly knocking my supplies off the back. Plus if anyone wanted to come do crafts with me, I had to clear off a space at my table, not too friendly.
This set-up gives me 3 crafting spaces. (My daughter has claimed one of them, as well as the shelf next to it). So I can have company while I craft.
What started this overhaul was the purchase of this bookshelf from Target. I paid $25 for it in the college section. It is huge and the adjustable shelves give me lots of options. There's actually one more shelf I didn't use, but I could add it if I decide to later.
Everything on this shelf used to sit on top of the desks. It took up a lot of "counter" space. The CD rack holding my stamps is a Goodwill find. It was originally marked at $3, but they had a "clearance" sale that day and I got it 50% off. Each of the 12 x 12 paper holders are organized by company. I have Stampin' Up in one, Basic Grey in another, Bazzill cardstock on another, etc. I currently subscribe to the Little Red Scrapbook monthly kit club, so one of the holders houses those kits. I put things I normally don't use on the bottom shelf. Things like the box for my Cinch, extra storage containers, all of the wooden blocks from the stamps I've converted to cling (They have such great images on them. I hate to waste them, so I'm planning to do a project with these.) On the top shelf I have a couple of scrapbooks I'm currently working on. This keeps them from getting buried on my desk.
As you walk into the space, to your left is my sewing desk. The space is small, but I really only use my machine for paper crafting, so I don't need too much room.
Top shelf of this desk is where I keep my Cinch. The round tray houses all of my beads (I made jewelry in a former life. Sold quite a bit of it, but just lost interest.) I have my camera next to that, then my 4 x 6 DCWV paper pads.
The shelves hold all the stamps that will not fit in the CD holder on the shelf.
Under this desk I have hanging file folders that hold all of my Stampin' Up 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock. I can slide this hanging file system out when I need it and slide it back when I'm done.
One real advantage to storing my paper this way is that the tabs give me easy color reference without having to flip through a stack of paper. Along with the full sheets, I also keep all of the scraps in page protectors with in the folders. Allows me to grab the scraps first, such a paper saver.
Turning to the right, you are at my craft desk. This is where all the fun happens.
To the right of my desk are shelves that hold my all of my Cricut cartridges and idea books. next to this is a shelf where I store my paints, Papertrey Ink papers, flowers, canvases and other misc. supplies. Next to that is a ribbon rack. I didn't think I really needed a ribbon rack, but I found this on sale at Michaels and I'm loving it. It is so easy to match ribbon to my projects.
I keep my Cricut on the desk below my ribbons and my Gypsy next to that, tucked up under the hanging ribbons. When I want to cut an image, all I need to do is slide it away from the wall and I'm ready.
I keep all of my inks, Glimmer Mists, embossing powders, and Perfect Pearls in the Stampin' Up ink tower, on the right of my desk. This was a little expensive, but well worth it. I also have a space for my DVD play or laptop. The spinning tool caddy is from Pampered Chef. I sold Pampered Chef many years ago, so I had this as part of my kit. I don't really like my utensils on my kitchen counters so I put this in the "get rid of" pile. I'm glad a rescued it because it's is one of my favorite storage devices.
Here's a close up of my craft table. I couldn't find exactly what I needed to store my acrylic blocks and adhesives, so I made this unit out of foam core. It works perfectly. I also made the Copic storage shelves. I wanted to purchase the Studio 3 sets, but apparently they went out of business. So I looked at pictures of their sets and duplicated them as best I could. Now all I need are more markers to fill up my shelves (don't we all though). And of course, my Pink ATG gun. I resisted buying one, but one day after changing my tape 5 times while making one project, I had had enough. The next time I visited Michaels, this pink baby came home with me. My only problem I have is that none of our local stores carries the refills. I either have to drive an hour away to our nearest Michaels or order them online. I watch for sales and free shipping on the refills and stock up every chance I get.
The shelf behind my desk stores my Cuttlebug, die cutting supplies and punches.
The blue binder is my rubber stamp reference. I put every image I have in this book and sort it by manufacturer. It isn't as neat as I would like it to be, so that's probably going to be my next project. The red binder is where I store all of my ATCs. I bought a bunch of trading card inserts for my son when he was in the whole Chaotic phase. He didn't us them, so I took them back. They work great.
As you can see, this space is small, but the way I have it arranged, everything is pretty much at my finger tips. Plus, I still have lots of empty drawers where I can add more supplies ;-)
Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond
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