Craft Room Share: Creating A Great Crafting Area in a Shared Space

I would like to thank Anita Cripps for graciously sharing pictures of her creative space with us today!  Anita has created a craft space in a room she also uses as a spare room for guests and as a TV room for a relaxing evening.

Anita has created a space behind her sofa which is pretty perfect for her creative space.  She has organized her space into areas which you will see in the photos.

Here is what Anita told me about her room:

The first 2 pictures are just to show you the room set-up.

(My note: First, can I tell you I love the sky lights she has above her space!   I also love that her couch really hides the craft table!  When your space has shared purposes, it is nice to have a way to tuck it out of sight!)

(I love that she can see the TV from her craft table.  I often have the TV on when I’m working on a project.)

My desk is from our basement where our kids had a playroom. It has a nice work top. The riser is from a smaller desk my son had that he didn’t want. I have my label punches, envelopes, scrap pieces, projects I am working on underneath. On the top of this shelf I have the must haves, adhesives, scissors, etc in the two carousel organizers that I got from free from work. I also have some small plastic organizers that hold gift tags, extra cut outs that I didn’t use and plates for my mini embosser/die cut tool. To my right in the plastic tote I keep my clear blocks, mini Misti, stamp-a-ma-jig, embossing buddy, mister. Behind that tote I have my Tim Holtz mini embosser (love that little thing) and I got it super cheap at Amazon.

The paper is at my feet and I still have plenty of room for my legs. The three drawer cabinet has my larger Tim Holtz stamp positioner, and I use the mini more often, my T-square ruler, scoring board and some cutting tools from my scrapbooking days in the top drawer. The second drawer has smaller plastic boxes, one has ribbons, and the second my embellishments. That drawer also holds my extras such as adhesives (never want to run out of glue, dimensional, envelopes etc.

The bottom drawer has the organizing items, magnetic sheets, the Avery Elle pockets plus some catalogs.

To the left of my chair is that 6 drawer cabinet. That holds my inks in the first 2 drawers, I want to keep my Altenew mini cubes in the second drawer. The third drawer has my heat tool and embossing powders and bottom 2 hold punches.

You can see my tall bookshelf that has all my stamp sets. The fridge bin has that nice system of Jennifer McGuire. Saves a ton of space.

Behind my chair is my Cuttlebug station and my paper cutter on the right.

There you have it. Very simplified but remember I have so much less in stock than you have. You have a business along with being crafty . I am just being crafty!

Thank you so much for sharing your space, Anita!  It is FABULOUS!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this has given me lots of ideas!  I’m designing a new craft space that will be a shared space.  It will have a pull out sofa and function as a guest room just like Anita’s room does here.  I love the idea of putting the sofa in front of the work area so guests come in and see an inviting sitting space and not my work table.  I also love that the TV is in there and that room can function as an entertainment space or even a game room.

The way that Anita has created a space so that all of her tools are within sight and within reach is perfect.  She has her work space, her cutting table, and the perfect shelf to hold her stamps.  The tool storage on her desk is super functional and it is all within reach.  The desk riser gives her some wonderful cubbies to keep things handy as well.  I bet it is easy to find what she needs and easy to put it away.  That’s exactly what we all need from our creative spaces.

I was also happy to discover that I am not the only one whose craft space is made up of furniture hand-me-downs from things our kids used to use and other thrifty finds that are now serving a new purpose.  I like reusing stuff in a new way.  Why would I get rid of something that is in good condition and is still perfectly functional?  A coat of paint can give new life to almost anything!

I love browsing Pinterest and seeing those gorgeous spaces people design with all the white cabinets and granite countertops.  I often wonder how they can afford to have a craft room designed and built as if they were adding a brand new kitchen in their house.  Watching the videos on Stamp-n-Storage of the crafters who have professionals come in and design and build a perfect space that accommodates their every need seems amazing to me and certainly unrealistic on my crafting budget.  It’s a dreamy thought, but unrealistic in my world.

Plus, isn’t part of the fun creating the space yourself?  I absolutely love scouring a good thrift store or a garage sale and finding a fabulous “new” piece I can use to organize something in my craft room.  Plus, we’re crafters and we love DIY projects!   Anita’s cutting are cabinets looks like they have been hand painted or stenciled.  I love that!

I also can’t imagine crafting on a granite countertop.  Or any expensive surface.  I just don’t think I could do it!  I’m a crafting slob!  Truly, I’m a mess.  I clean it all up, but this stuff stains!  Plus, I can point to some of the stains on the table in my craft room and tell you exactly which project I was doing with my kids when the table got that stain!

I hope this gave you as many ideas as it did me.  Thank you for stopping by!