$131 Craftroom Makeover

The craft-room, it is my favorite place in my apartment.  It is a place to store my horde of fabric, buttons, markers and every scrap I have ever created.  However, having such a large, materials driven, hobby creates a huge mess if you don't have it organized right.  And well... I didn't have mine organized.  It was a huge mess.  It became the dumping ground for anything we didn't want in the living room.  This would just piled up in front of the door way.  Every flat surface was covered with something.  I am sure others out there can sympathize.  The room had gotten so bad that I couldn't even cut out patters anymore.  I started migrating in to the living room (which is supposed to be a pin free zone!).

However, being a teacher means summers = free time.  I decided to use mine wisely and really give my whole craft-room an overhaul.  I figured there are others out there who might  be dealing with this same issue.  Soooo I decided renovate my craft-room for under $150.

The Before 

Sewing Area

Desk/ Work Area

Step 1: Purge!!!  Yes this can be scary.  I have been guilty of keeping a 3" sq. fabric piece because I might need it some day.  But this thinking leaves things cluttered and just takes up space.  Go through your fabrics, only keep what you lover or know what you will use.  Also, just get rid of old or broken tools that you don't use, papers that have stacked up for no reason.

Step 2:  Pick your weapon of choice!  Mine happened to be cardboard banker's boxes. These cost me about $15 dollars for 10 at target.  They are light weight cheap, have lids and you can write on them.  I just started sorting everything.  I made boxes for the different types of fabrics (soild, printed, scraps) you could even break it down by color or type if you have that much fabric.  I also created boxes for costume accessories and unfinished projects.  If you are not sure how many boxes you need or how to lable them.  Well, just start sorting things in to piles and the labels will create themselves.  I also has plastic containers full of supplies that had just become jumbled! I couldn't fine anything.  So, i dumped them all out in to one pile and sorted.

Organized Fabrics

Step 3: LABELS ARE YOUR FRIEND!!  I have said before I am a teacher, and love labels.  I actually got a label maker for Christmas last year.  All my plastic containers and boxes are labeled with their contents.   This is partly so I will know where to find things and partly so I can remember where to put them away.  This will help your newly set up organizational system keep working for you.

Step 4: Get creative with your space.  I have a good sized room, however only one closet for storage really.  Until recently boxes of stuff had been piled in the closet and costumes filled it to the point that there was much room for anything else.  Sooo.... I went to target to see what I could find.

What I came up with was SpaceSaver bags, cost $15.  All my costumes fit in to 2 SpaceSaver bags.  This freed up alot of space in the close.

I also wanted to take advantage of all the wall space I had.  Sooo, for $50 I was able to get a 7ft tall bookcase at Ikea. It was just the basic, White, Billy book case.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  I put my boxes of patterns on it, my binders and books.  As well as boxes of supplies and other items that didn't have a place.

Boxes in the Bookcase

Step 5: Optimize Workspace  In my craft-room I originally a computer desk and an old fashioned writing desk that served as a sewing desk.   The computer desk was small crowded and had no room to work on it.  So it had to go.  I replaced it with a simple, large flat top table from IKEA for $60.  Also in an effort to save work space I bought hanging cups for scissors, pencils and pens.  Also, a container with all my office supplies fits nicely under the desk.

Getting pens off of my desk.

So if you were keeping track that is
Bankers Boxes 10 for $15
Billy Bookcase (Ikea) $50
Table (Ikea) $60
Supplies cups (Ikea) $6
=$131.00

Sewing Area After!

Desk and Workspace After

The Desk!

So for just 131.00 I was able to completely redo my craftroom.  I have to say so far I am really happy with it.
And now I am working on planning my first sewing project since the remodel.  Keep your eyes open for updates and upcoming projects.
Ta Ta
Nikki