Where I Create

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. 

Here’s a before picture of the room when we bought the house 3 years ago.

I call it hunting lodge chic.  It wasn’t my style.  That stone fireplace got covered up pretty quick!

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Please let me know what you think.

thanks again for stopping by!

Sandra