Here are some of Rosie’s tips on creating your craft room:
- Consider your physical comfort. When you work on your projects, do you like to sit or stand? That will determine the height of your new countertop or craft table. Do you work with colors or with small embellishments like brads and eyelets? Do you need to thread needles? Add task lighting right at your work table. Overhead lights might not be enough.
- Keep storage spaces within reach. Craft projects usually involve a million little pieces, like paper, adhesives, cutting tools, stickers, ribbons, die cuts and even computers and photo printers. Make sure your new space has room for all of it, and make sure you can reach it from where you will sit while you create.
- Go big. The more counter space, the more cubbyholes, the more shelves, the more drawers you can fit in your hobby room, the happier you’ll be. One of the joys of having a dedicated space for your crafts is that you can separate your supplies and display them in plain sight instead of mixing them up so they’ll fit into drawers or bins. Plan a work station with enough room to both spread out your supplies while you’re working and to store them how you want to when you’re not.
- Think small. Still, if your projects involve small components like buttons and brads, you’ll stay better organized if your big space includes the smallest drawers, compartments and cubbyholes for separating those small supplies.
- Ventilate. Choose a room with a window or add another way to air out the space. Many crafts involve glue, paint and other toxins you shouldn’t work with in a closed room.
- Make it yours. Whether your hobby room is someone’s old bedroom or a part of your laundry room, decorate it so it reflects both your favorite craft and your personal style. Paint the walls your favorite color; adorn them with photos you have taken or pages you have designed. When someone walks into your space, it should shout “creativity.”
- Add a gift-wrapping station, No matter what kind of hobby you love, reserve some space in your room-come-true for gift-wrapping. Gift wrap is awkward to store and it’s hard to find a counter big enough,and out of the family’s way, to spread out your paper and packages. Mount racks for rolls on the walls, or buy an oversized umbrella stand, something pretty enough to “live” in your craft room, for storing them. Another idea: Stack PVC pipe in a 4-inch-wide by 30-inch deep cubbyhole under your counter. Paper rolls will slip right in and stay out of the way until it’s time to wrap presents.
Here are two ways to get exactly what you want for your scrapbooking/sewing/craft room storage solutions:
- Shop at kitchen and cabinet showrooms, and even at the hardware store. The latest kitchen cabinets come with so many pull-down, lift-up, slide-out drawers, shelves and doors that you’re bound to find some that are perfect for storing your hobby supplies. Use a spice rack to store different-color embellishments or a dresser-drawer jewelry organizer for beads or buttons. Convert a tool box with compartments for nails and drill bits into a carrying case for brads and eyelets.
- If you can’t find something, build it. Many remodelers are skilled carpenters or have some on staff. Show your contractor pictures from magazines of the cabinets and work spaces you like. Chances are, you can get them built to order.
If your craft room is mainly for scrapbooking there are some additional considerations.
Whether you’re working with an interior designer, a carpenter or your handy husband to convert an empty room into a creative space, explain in detail what you will do in there.
I’m guessing that few builders/remodelers are avid scrapbookers, so they’re unaware that you work with oversized paper and need shallow, 12.5-inch horizontal slots for paper storage. Show your contractor examples of your scrapbooks or quilts or canvases—depending on your hobby. Understanding what you do will help your helper build you what you need.
Show your contractor the intricate embellishments you work with, like brads, buttons and eyelets, and ask for small cubbyholes to store them. Spread your materials out on a table to demonstrate how much counter space you’ll need while you’re working.
And tear pictures out of hobby magazines to show the contractor examples of spaces that have been custom-tailored for our specific hobby.
Your contractor wants to build a space that you’ll be happy with. The more he or she understands how you work when you work on your craft projects, the happier you’ll be when the job is finished.
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