Where I Create

slfarrell0
May 21, 2014
4 min read

I have been wanting to share my little room with you all for a while now. But the time needed to be just right (I mean, I needed to do a major clean up) So I just spent the last weekend ( a long weekend here in Canada) and reorganized and tidied the whole room – yes, finally everything has a home.

There’s a story behind this room. We moved into this house 3 years ago, with the plan that one day we would renovate and redecorate. At the very bottom of this post is a ‘before’ photo of my craft room. Then, 6 months after we moved in we had a flood. The entire basement needed to be gutted and replaced.

We found that a little insurance money can go a long way – lucky me! So I got my dream room earlier than I ever imagined. This room is totally me! I absolutely love the colour purple more than any other colour.

And this is the only room where Brad didn’t have an opinion about the decor. I think I married the only man who actually notices or cares about home decor. It took a while, but by the end of last summer this room was almost done. And I have been happily crafting here ever since. So welcome to my little tour.

This little corner is for the obvious. My Mother-in-law found an old sewing machine in her attic and I removed the antique and my new one fit right inside so now I have this cute little case. I think I might paint it white and distress it this summer if I have time. The desk is from Ikea and the chair was an old one I found on the roadside many years ago. I painted it with white chalk paint and distressed it.

Next to my little corner is the fireplace. One day we plan to put a gas insert into this baby, but for now it makes a nice home for my silhouette machine. I just attach the cords and use it right there. It’s a great use of extra space that wouldn’t be used otherwise. Brad built the mantle and hearth and I tiled it with the rocks. Now I think all I need is a nice decorative grill to hide the machine. On the wall are some frames from Pier I, which I use to display some of my creations.

Here’s a wider shot. I have a dining room table from Ikea as one of my workspaces. I use my computer here and I have some cork boards to put up ideas and inspiration. I also have two other chairs for when my children come downstairs and create with me.

On the near wall I have my counters and cabinets.

I found the ink pad storage at a thrift store for $5. I painted and distressed it. The other one I have jimmied together from an Ikea box, but I plan to get another ink pad storage shelf one day. My big shot also lives here with all my electronics. One of the things I really appreciate about this shelf is the undershelf lighting that my hubby installed – check out the photo below.

The top cupboards are kitchen cabinets from Ikea. In there are my stamps and accessories. Being a former Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator means I have a ton. The bottom drawers are little drawer sets from Ikea that my hubby hacked together to form a bottom cabinet. In here I keep my silhouette cutting pads, my pens, my adhesives, bit shot dies – tons of stuff. Once Brad hacked together the bottom drawers, we had a small space left over. I am extremely lucky that my dad is so talented that when I asked him to custom make me this little storage unit, it was no problem. In this unit I keep printer paper and photo paper. On top of the unit is my printer, and the top drawer is actually a sliding shelf for my scanner.

The whole unit is on casters and I can roll it out for easy use whenever I wish.

At the other end of the counter is my paper cutter.

Next to that is my massive paper storage. We bought a whole bunch of these paper trays from Ikea and stacked them all up. Brad built a little wooden frame around them all to keep them from bowing under all the weight. On top of the paper storage is a little birdhouse that my Dad made and my Aunt painted for me many many years ago. Next to this are some tiny little shelves I found at Home Sense which I painted and distressed with the wall paint. They are another one of my little display areas.

And below that is my dear music cabinet. I bought this at a thrift store for a few dollars.

I painted it with chalk paint, distressed it and added the crystal knobs. Inside are little shelves which used to hold phonographs and records. They are perfect for my 12×12 patterned papers.