Happy Friday! Today I wanted to invite you behind the scenes into my home office and crafting space. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and let me take you on a little craft room tour to give you some decorating and organizing ideas for setting up your own creative art space or home office.
Back in January, I told you all about the problems I was having in my craft room with lots of messy before photos. As part of that blog post, I shared 5 easy ideas for craft room organization and promised to follow-up and give you a full tour of the room now that it’s done. This has got to be one of my favorite rooms in our entire house and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Welcome to My Craft Room Tour
Come inside and let me give you a little 360 degree craft room tour. I hope you enjoy this little peek into our space and that it gives you a little better idea of where I make many of the projects you see here on Kenarry: Ideas for the Home. More importantly I hope this craft room tour gives you an idea or two that you can use for decorating or setting up your own crafty space.
My craft room is in the basement or lower level of our home. To get to the craft room, you’ll walk down the stairs past our castle playroom and through the boy’s toy area to enter through double doors. I chose French glass doors so I can close the space off if I don’t want the boys messing with something I’m creating. Or alternatively I can also be painting or crafting away in there and easily watch through the glass to keep an eye on the boys playing.
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Grab a Paint Smock
The first thing you’ll notice when you enter our craft room is a little inspiring message on a magnetic metal chalkboard that M-D Hobby & Craft gave me at the Haven Conference for DIY/home bloggers last August. It hangs on the side of an IKEA cabinet that I use for storing the large photography equipment I use for blogging like a light kit, vinyl backdrops and a large backdrop support/stand. Then of course, you’ll want to grab a paint smock off one of the Command Hooks because it’s bound to get a little messy while we’re in here!
A Utility Sink is a Must Have
On the other side of the French doors, opposite of the cabinet, you’ll see a large utility sink and a long chalkboard wall. I am SO glad we went through the effort and expense of putting a utility sink in the craft room. We got this one at Costco and use it ALL THE TIME!
Above the sink you’ll spy a little gallery wall with some art I’ve collected over the last few years. I found the colored pencil canvas on clearance at Kirklands (This one is similar). The “Be the Most Brilliant Color in the Box” canvas came from Hobby Lobby. They don’t carry online, but you may still be able to find it in store. Otherwise this same design is available on Amazon as a peg board. I won the cute little bird art in a raffle fundraiser for Women’s Service Day, an annual event I help organize in our community. It was created by Kathy Stanton, one of my favorite local artists.
Create a DIY Paper Towel Holder
Above the sink, we also installed a GRUNDTAL Rail from IKEA to hang towels. To create the paper towel holder, I strung a piece of sisal rope through the hole in the middle of the paper towel roll. Then I tied a large loop on each end of the rope and hung it from two GRUNDTAL S-hooks. The rope makes it really easy to change the paper towel roll whenever it runs out.
Chalkboard Wall and Wire Art Display
Adjacent to the sink, you’ll notice about half to 2/3rd of the wall is a large oversized chalkboard. Our boys LOVE this! We just used several coats of chalkboard paint directly on the drywall. Then we put a horizontal piece of trim across to separate the chalkboard from the rest of the wall. Above the trim, we installed a long curtain wire from IKEA. We use small metal clips that were meant for curtains to hang art that the boys bring home from school or that we create together in the craft room.
The Crafting Command Center
On the next wall, opposite from the French doors I have a large desk system that I got at an office supply outlet from a local manufacturer. I picked this set because it had a cabinet and file drawers that I could lock to keep the boys out of messy or dangerous art supplies like the paper cutter, X-acto knife etc.
It may be against my better judgement, but I did put the colorful carousel of fancy scissors on one of the open shelves (This one is similar). It was just too pretty to hide away. Hopefully the boys don’t make me regret my decision!
On the open shelves I also put the Silhouette Cameo the boys got me for Christmas last year as well as large clear acrylic canisters. Don’t they look fun and inviting with the boys’ colorful markers and colored pencils? I’m glad I chose acrylic instead of glass canisters so they won’t break if the boys drop them on the floor.
A Gallery Wall Fit for a Crafter (or #Blogger!)
Between the open shelf unit and the cabinet unit, there’s an small desk that adjoins the two. Above the desk, I created a small home office gallery. At the top of the gallery is a large oversized red clock I got from At Home and a #blogger sign from The Summery Umbrella. Under that you’ll see a bulletin board I covered with black and white fabric. It was just a regular old corkboard before I gave it a makeover. Then next to that is a magnetic markerboard. It’s the same size as the bulletin board so they balance each other well.
At the bottom of the gallery, we installed another GRUNDTAL Rail from IKEA. I used GRUNDTAL S-hooks to hang a red wooden “tool box” I got from the Dollar Spot at Target and bright colorful buckets that I found on clearance at Michael’s. The hanging buckets are super handy for storing craft supplies that I use all the time like Sharpie markers, colored pencils, gel pens and paint brushes.
Craft Room Durability and Flexibility
Next to the storage cabinet, you’ll see I’ve got folding chairs stacked up against the wall. I picked the Lifetime brand plastic ones from Costco because they’re really easy to wipe clean if the boys or I spill paint or glue in the craft room. That’s also the reason we put inexpensive laminate flooring in this room. I wanted flooring that would look nice and wipe up easily, but that I wouldn’t feel bad if I accidentally dropped something or scratched it up.
On that wall, you’ll find the one small window in this room. Under the window, I keep a long 6 ft folding table for crafting. Using a folding table, gives me flexibility to rearrange this room quickly and easily depending on the needs of the craft. I’ve even added a second folding table at times to host craft time with my friends in this space.
Easy Way to Showcase Art
To the left of the window, you see large open frames on the wall where I hang more art that the boys create. The front on two of the frames opens like a cabinet so you can slide new art in and out.I got those at Target, but any of these frames would work the same. The other two are just open frames I bought at Michael’s. I put small nails into the wall inside the frames and then use small binder clips to hang the art.
Wrapping Up the Craft Room Tour
And now with one final turn, you’ll see we’re back to the big white cabinet where you picked up your paint smock on the way in! What do you think? Did you enjoy my little craft room tour?
If you were here taking my craft room tour in real life, maybe we’d make one of my all-time favorite crafts next? Could I interest you in making hand painted wine glasses or a burlap wreath? Or do you have a favorite craft you’d bring over for us to try? Please comment below and share, I’m always looking for new craft ideas!
While you’re here be sure to check out other home decor ideas on Kenarry: Ideas for the Home like these coat hooks and hat racks in our mudroom or the boys’ outer space bedroom. If you enjoyed our craft room tour, please share this with your friends or pin it for later:
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Carrie is the chief writer, crafter and cook here at Kenarry: Ideas for the Home. She’s an optimist by nature and enjoys sharing recipes, trying new craft ideas, planning for parties and events as well as organizing and decorating. When she’s not blogging, preparing meals or picking up around the house, you’re bound to find her hidden away in a castle under the stairs reading to her two young boys. Whether you’re cooking, crafting or creating for your family, follow Carrie on Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram to get inspiring ideas for your home.
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