My New Craft Space

Last December we moved into our new house and I showed you my new Craft Room in this post here.  I felt very blessed to have my own craft room which I only shared with the playstation, but I always felt very lonely sitting in there by myself.  I spend many hours at work and when I am home I like to chat with the kids and watch our favourite TV shows together.  I couldn't do that from my craft room and so I was very rarely crafting.  When we closed our shop and had to bring stuff home we also needed to set up a home office.  Off the kitchen we have a 'meals' room which housed a table that everything got dumped on and our home office was stored in a cupboard in there too.

It was a conundrum ...

We decided to get rid of the table as we ate our meals in the dining room and turn that space into our home office.  It wasn't perfect as one side of the room opened out onto a walkway and it faces our living room.  But an episode of the Paperclipping Round Table changed all that! I now commute an hour each way to work and I began using the time to listen to audio books and podcasts.  I once listened to an episode of PRT when Shimelle was a guest, but as I never had time to sit and listen, I hadn't thought about them since.  Two hours minimum in the car each day and I needed something to entertain me!  I downloaded a selection of different podcasts and started listening.  One episode of PRT was all about organising your craft space.  I almost didn't listen to it as I was lucky enough to have a craft room ... but I am sooooo glad I did!

There was some great advise on it and my brain was opened to a whole new way of thinking.  If you are having difficulty organising your space I suggest you have a listen to the episode and work through the questions posed.  They were enlightening! I had been feeling guilty that I wasn't using my craft room and that it was a WHOLE room in the house dedicated to me.  I kept telling myself I was blessed to have a room for my crafting as most people didn't, but then I realised that just because other people have a craft room didn't mean that I had to have one too.  When we were looking at building a new house I always located my craft room off the main living area with big doors that I could open to turn the room into essentially one big space, I never planned to have it on its own.  I am a social person, I LIKE to talk when I am crafting, I LIKE to watch TV with everyone else while I am crafting, I LIKE to be right smack bang in the center of everything! I do not like peace and quiet when I am crafting.  (It would be different if I crafted while home alone or if the kids were still small)

I didn't listen to anything else on the drive home but I mulled over my options ... I knew what I wanted but now to convince everyone else :-) It was easier than I thought!  Our home office is now in an 'office' and my crafting space is right smack bang in the center of the house!!!  I am still using the built in robe as storage as my sewing stuff won't fit out here. The picture below is from the living room looking into the old 'meals' area.  The door on the left goes down to the kids rooms and to the right is the kitchen and the front of the house.  I really am right in the middle.

My new craft space!

We brought home fittings from the shop after we closed and my table is our old 'demo table'. It helps to keep The Beagle out and I can also barricade everything in when we have small visitors.  The sliding door gives me plenty of light but you just can't use it any more.  It is still a bit of a mess (sorry).

Please ignore the mess!

When the shop closed I ended up with a LARGE collection of ribbons, there are even more in the garage that I still haven't even looked at.  I need to start listing stuff on ebay to raise some funds and clear some more space.

The last photo is looking back towards the kitchen.  I sit/stand at my desk facing the living room and the TV, but I can also see into the kitchen and hear what is going on in the games room (off the living room to the right when sitting at the desk).  I am loving it as we are a chatty family :-D

Still working on sorting.

I hadn't realised how much I used the floor when I was crafting until I got a taller desk.  I now sit on a stool (or stand) and the floor is kinda out of reach.  I love the higher desk but I NEEDED the floor!  The LOML solved it by finding my an office chair that I leave my kit on (in the purple container).  Then I can wheel it around when it is in my way, but my kit now sits at the right height.  I would like to eventually get a wheeled trolley.  I had always planned on turning one into a mobile spray booth, but now I think I would like one with a couple of shelves and space to spread out my monthly counterfeit kit.  One shelf would house my manual die-cutter, another my spray box, and then a third for other misc bits.  Should work a treat!

I have decided to join in with Rinda's Summertime (or Winter) Photography Scavenger Hunt this year as it looked like so much fun last year.  I found my first thing today but I will post about it later :)

Thanks for joining me as I ramble on about my craft space.
Chipper