studio tour

Some of you have asked for updated shots of my studio and now that I've, ahem, tidied up a bit, I'm happy to share. Here's the background: my studio was originally in this laundry room but it looked way different back then. We had tile squares on the floor, white walls and very little counter space. Then, we moved the whole thing into the spare room (now the nursery), but honestly? It was really too big. I had a large paper holder and big white cupboards filled with junk in that room.

When I got pregnant with Eloise, we remodeled the laundry room and moved my stuff back in there. And, I LOVE it. We put down wood flooring, bought cabinets from IKEA, adding a lot more lighting, painted, etc.

Here's the view standing in my play room looking in. BTW, we have a half door here so I can always see Ello playing. My washer and dryer in on the immediate right along with my clothes sorter. On the left hand wall is a long countertop with tons of drawers below.

Here's a shot of that left side wall. The first part is mostly my giveaway box, things that need to be mailed and my die cutting machines. The dies and other tools are in the drawers below. Next are those two office style cabinets (from IKEA also). The garage doors roll up and I have buckets filled with my tools, embellishments, my basket of Thickers, etc. Behind the glass doors above I have paper organizers filled with cardstock (by color), patterned paper and kits.

So, just past those two tall cabinets is my main work space. I mostly stand to scrap. I have a cork board for inspiration stuff (need to clean that off) and a magnet board for my assignments, contracts, etc. My paper trimmer, some everyday tools and a few favorite embellishments are right there handy for me.

Here's a little close up of my embellishment shelves. LOVE those red lidded jars - my friends and I hit every Ross in town to find enough in all the right sizes. I love that I can see what's inside, but nothing gets dusty. (My cutting mat and ruler for quilting are hanging there below the shelves).

Then on the right side, I have an EXPEDIT unit filled with albums and storage boxes. I recently added the desk part and two chairs to this unit and I really like it; especially when friends come over to crop. I just got a little file cabinet to slide in the spot on the right side under the window (where that pile of magazines is) for my business papers, receipts, etc. I'll need some advice on what color to paint the cabinet, it's industrial beige right now.

A close up of the top of my cabinet. I just redid this area; I wanted my idea books more accessible so I used my old typewriter and a bubblegum machine for bookends. Kind of fun.

AND, (this is a big deal for me)...I finally sorted all my published cards. I gave a ton away for our church Deconite committee and filed the rest in this accordion folder. Yay! I seriously used to have TWO drawers filled with cards. It's time for someone else to enjoy them.

So, if you've made it this far in my post...you deserve a chance for a prize! 'Cause you know what cleaning and purging means:

One of these flat rate boxes stuffed FULL of scrappy goodies. Good thing there is no weight limit on these bad boys because it's filled with paper, brand new embellies, rub ons, stamps and more. Leave me a comment about your work space - what you love or don't love - and I'll drop your name in the bucket. (You can still leave me diet lunch ideas on yesterday's post for extra chances to win - I already have some excellent suggestions there).

Whew! You all have a great day, okay?
Later. 

Comments

[lindsay]

my husband built me a wall full of peg boards, so now everything has a place in the open. no more digging through drawers or boxes under the bed. love your scrap space. i'm going to email you one of my favorite weight watcher crock pot meals. actually it's a family favorite. my husband and kids have NO idea it's a weight watcher recipe. it is THAT good and you get a HUGE portion.

[Cath]

You don't know small till you've seen our house. R.e.a.l.l.y small two bedroom twin with NO extra room for a studio. When son went to college last fall, I felt like someone had reached in my chest and ripped my heart out. But I was determined not to wallow in a pool of self pity. I took a card making class at my local adult school and I was off and running with a new reason to clean and organize all the art materials I'd collected for years meaning to do something with. It was a great way to take my mind off the empty chair at the table. I took over son's bedroom for my studio. Cramped, but I didn't care. It worked for me...until he came home for the summer. Now my boxes of stuff are strewn all over the house and I have NO PLACE to put them, let alone work on cards. And trying to find anything is a challenge. Well, having son home is shear happiness so cards will have to wait till the fall. Except I was just invited to a wedding anniversary party, and the first thing I thought was, "I ought to do a card..." I love your studio! What's one more box. I'll slipcover it and use it as an ottoman till the fall.

[charlene]

Love the color in your room! And you can roll over and switch the laundry--double tasking! I have a closet space now and love it, but I keep telling my teen daughter, just wait til you go to college and I'll have a whole room! just teasing her, but I can dream :)

Here's a good lunch--use a lo-carb flour tortilla (I like Mission Carb Balance--11 g fiber!) and fill with Romaine and shredded chicken and a sprinkle of lite cheddar and a little ranch dressing. Or fill with Healthy choice ham and lite cheese, warm in the micro and add lettuce and salsa. Yum! Even my teen likes this. Your salad looks yum!

[charlene]

oops I forgot--make brown instant rice in veggie broth instead of water, add steamed broccoli and a few toasted walnuts or slivered almonds and sprinkle of co-jack. Then salt and pepper to taste. This is awesome!

[Wynne Grpb]

wow! what a great place to work!

[Julie W]

I am very inspired with your space...especially since I am designing my space in a new home. I will definately be coming back here to get ideas!

[Alejandra]

I'm working on my area right now... we just move to a place were I can actually have my own scrap room, without having to share it with the laundry... I'm getting there... I love your idea about the red top containers... I recycle the jars from pasta sauce and deeps into my prima containers and I also have a pegboard to hang all the stickers and rubs one...

Thank you for the chance to win!

Ale

[Giovana]

Love you Craft Area! I share half of the office with my husband and my are it's not as big as your!! But I can't complain, I am blessed with what I have.
I love the blue walls, great color, my walls are yellow and my shelves are white, this combo was great before I painted the walls, now I think it looks too palid :)

I am a fan of light lunch (even though I am not, LOL) tuna salad, just a plain salad or a big fruit ;)

Hope you have a great day!
God bless.
Giovana

[Tracie Durfey]

Love your work space!! It's beautiful!! I have a 2nd bedroom that I use but am still working on getting it together!

[Jenn C.]

My "craft room" is the smallest room in the house and it would be plenty big if I got some shelving up, up I have none! That means whatever I am working on ends up all over the floor, futon, desk, or any other flat surface I can find. It usually always looks messy even when clean. I love that I have my own space, but I really need to make it neat and organized! Love your space, isn't ikea wonderful :)

[sheila]

this is a gorgeous work space-love the color choices and streamlined look!

[Stephanie Smith]

Well, honestly I hate my workspace right now. It's in our computer room, but everything else seems to accumulate in there as well. The walls are white. I need some color, and some better organization. Thanks for the chance to win the goodies. Love your space by the way.

[Emmastormy08]

One of our bedrooms is my craft room. I love having a room of my own to retreat to. I have a great desk set and TONS of bookcases for my stamps. Now the key is to find more time to get in there and play away! I LOVE your craft room...love love love the storage spaces that you have. You just may have inspired me to redo my room, grin. Have a great day!

[Marlene Hamer]

I smiled when I saw the color you painted your room. Mine is the same color! What is really funny is the fact our stories are very similar. My scrap room was in our spare bedroom and when our second son was born, we remodelled our back entryway to accomodate my space. I also have my dryer in my scrap room! When I see the question about what you listen to when you scrap, I want to reply 'clothes drying'! So, thank you for some great ideas for even more organization! Seeing the similarities in our rooms made me giggle.

[Rebecca MI]

I am still organizing my space. I was hoping not to have to share it totally with the one cat, but.... It has become her room. That means no plastic or paper laying about. I love your layout and lots of storage area. All neat and tidy.

[Lisa Padley]

Love your space, Kim!

I think the only thing about my crafty space is keeping it clean! I just recently redid my room and don't have everything where I want it to be yet ... the mess just seems to move from one spot to another while I "organize" LOL

[Deanna Gile]

Hi! Your space is super fun and really well organized. I don't have a scrapspace anymore. We moved to a small apartment and all my stuff is crammed into a closet. I use the dining room table to scrap now. Hope I win the goodies!

[Jamie]

I love the peg board my husband put up for me, it got all my stickers and rubons and other embellies out of drawers and up so i could see them, its the BEST!

[Jingle]

Your studio is awesome!!! I actually have a video tour of mine on YouTube. I have some Ikea goodness in there that makes me very happy! LOL!

[songbirdcindi]

I love your space, but I'm curious - my laundry room is just about the dustiest place in my house, what with all the lint from the dryer. Has that been an issue for you? I do have a separate workspace area, but I constantly struggle with organization. I probably need to get rid of things, but that's hard too!

[Tami]

LOVE your room Kim!! Honestly, there's more that I don't love about my space than I do love. I don't love that it doubles as our guest bedroom and I don't love that my wood mounted stamps are out of control and taking over the room. I do love that it's my happy place, regardless! :)

[Val (Mom2Men)]

My scramp room is in my laundry room too. I'm re-thinking my shelves above my desk and replaceing them with the same tall units you have.

Here is a link to my room.
http://grandma-extraordinaire.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-done-well-99-done.html

My color suggestion for your new beige rolling cart should be bright lime green.

[Cassandra]

I love your studio. You have really made the small space seem big and very usable. I am getting ready to rearange my scraproom and might have to use some of your storage ideas. I love the color you chose too, very bright and cheery. Don't you just love the Expedit shelve/desk system? I have one in white and LOVE it. That is great that it opens to the playroom so you can work while still being an attentive mommy!

[Janet Burenheide]

My sister in law gave us an old job site office trailer. We redid the floor, painted the walls, and hung shelves. I filled it full of my favorite "girly" things along with all of my craft supplies, and sewing suplies. I LOVE my room! It is so calming just to walk in the door. Even my husband loves hanging out in there!

[AnnElise R.]

I have an entire extra bedroom devoted to my crafting. And I love everything about it except that my table it standard height so I have to sit to craft. I'm a stander and a mover and would love to have counters like yours! Love your crafty-laundry-beautiful-room!

I'm no help on diet ideas. My idea of a diet is eating one brownie instead of two!!! :)

[C Simpso]

Love the clean lines of your new studio and the storage. I a big fan of the Ikea Bygel rail systems for hanging up my paper punches.

[Melissa Davis]

I love this! I have a room in the basement that I call my scrapbook room. My two daughters love to scrapbook too so they have a little table full of their stuff too. I only wish I had more time to spend down there and the money to make it look as great as yours!!

[Kristin E]

The red jars are killer! Favorite thing is your wall paint color- so cheery!

[Erica Hettwer]

I just pulled all my cardstock scraps out of the drawer that they lived in and slipped them in 2 gallon ziplocks organized by color. Each bag has either one or two colors and a Cropper Hopper vertical file paper divider to keep the bags sturdy, flat and to divide any bags that have two colors. I love this so much more than the way it was before.
Now if I could only figure out something good for my patterned paper scraps...
ps~I adore your room!

[Just Me & Z]

My work space is somewhat chaotic, but at least it's mine. :)
I moved into a house a year and a half ago with my daughter and I made the extra spare room my "craft" room. I love it that I have my own space, but it is hard to get any crafting done being a single mom to a 3 1/2 year old!
I have introduced her to the fine art of scrapbooking, so all of my leftover stickers and markers, diecuts and paper go right into her own scrap-box. She even has little ladybug scissors to cut!
When I do find time to scrapbook, I can get lost in my room for hours. It still has a long way to go as far as "decorations", but what I have set up so far I love. I have really tried to focus on the other rooms in the house (I finally had enough money to replace all of the gold lighting...uck!) and I am almost ready to start on MY room (and I don't mean my bedroom!) :) Can't wait to get started!
Thanks for sharing your amazing space. I love the blue walls with the red accents. It is so modern and retro, which I love.
Thanks again for giving us a glimpse into your craft world!

[Elizabeth B. Jensen]

Love your space and I miss seeing all your darling creations from my time at Paper Crafts! I love all my jars of odds and ends, they always seem to get me in just the right mood for creating!

[Ellie]

Ahh my work space.. Its gone from being in the living room to me kidnapping my little girl's room which now happens to me our playroom/stamp room... I use to have one HUGE table but since this room was so tiny it just had to go and I went to beloved IKEA and got me a smaller one which I forget who has one of these table but I LOVE it.. I feel way more creative when I come into my stamp room now and there is enough room to stamp and have a tea party what could be better :)

[Monica]

Your room is great. I love the colour of the wall and the drawers. Wishing my place would be MY place, but it's just a big room with lot of stuff everybody in the house putting in. But some day - *fadingawayindreams*

[Sue in Grapevine]

I, too, am a stand-up stamper/scrapper; so I love your big counter. Your whole room is so cheery & workable.
Does humidity from the laundry ever cause you a problem w/paper?

[SHELLY ARGUMEDO]

AWESOME ! ! I recently moved into a special craft room after my daughter moving out for college. I have A LOT of organizing yet to do.

[Bethieh]

I love my space! (Its off of our family room and it used to be the laundry room. Since the kids are bigger its okay to have to run to the bsmt to do laundry. Mace and Max are almost 10 and 7.) My room has orange and pick dots painted on the walls. The window framing is painted pink. A 6ft counter top and an extra rolling chair for my sis or a friend to work with me. My ribbon hangs on the wall and I have some old printers drawers for some of my favorite stamps. I have a lazy susan between the 2 chairs on the counter for tape runners, scissors, pencils, etc. A file of paper under the table by the chairs, and paper cutters on the shelf above us. I love it so much!

My diet tip: I used to munch on dry cereal. It was crunchy, fat free, and it felt like a treat! Also, water bottles with lemon pieces and then frozen.

Take care.

[Michelle]

I love your craft room/studio! I am in the process of taking over the dining room in our home... My husband is being very gracious about it - but I am definitely taking over! You are a definite inspiration! Thanks so much and keep inspiring us!

[Becky Thomas]

I am slowing taking over the dining room with my supplies. First the tablecloths moved out of the hutch, then the candles left the drawer of one cabinet. Stamps and paper moved in. I have my eye on my teenage boys' rooms though.... I don't want them gone but I'll definitely use one of their rooms when the time comes!

I sure loved taking the tour of your room. It's beautiful!

[Jennifer]

I wish I had a crafting area like yours...my crafting area consists of any space in the house that I can grab and work at...no specific area for me. Guess its time to look for a new house....

[Nicole]

WOW, that's a laundry room? My "laundry room" barely fits the washer and dryer and a shoe rack. My scrap space is either out of my closet or on my kitchen counters. One day - once we have our forever home - I hope to have an actual "craft" room!

[Stephanie J]

love your space! it's so bright & inspring!
My craft room, which I like to call my empire, is one of our extra bedrooms. My husband built an L shaped desk & another plain one. I love my room, but the only thing it's lacking is paint & wall art.
Thanks for the chance to win :)

[Renee]

The plan for this summer is for hubby & me to at last get my studio set up in the back bedroom. Your marvelous pix and ideas are SO inspiring for me! It is finally going to happen!

[Becky Oehlers]

I'm getting mine re-done now, too!!! I am so excited, but it is SUCH A DISASTER as the old plaster is coming down, and things are being framed...wow! I LOVE what you did!!!!!!

[jen shears]

I LOVE your space! :) I have a great play room too- but I wish I could keep it organized better! I have these two gorgeous shelves, that look great, but are too deep. So I'm working on a way to organize those- it's so nice to see what you've got without being overwhelmed by it!! :)

[Jaclyn Miller]

Absolutely LOVE Ikea, it is my bestest friend! I LOVE your room, and I LOVE that you can get laundry done while crafting! I just got done redoing my craft space (which just happens to be our dining room). You might recognize some of the organizational stuff. ;) Check it out: http://designsbyjax.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-craft-room-reveal.html

[Katie M]

I dislike that my craft storage is in our guest room, but the only real work space that I can use is downstairs on our dining room table. I am loving your cabinets!!

[Jenn Embry]

I love your space! It looks wonderful. I really like the wall color. Perhaps I'd get more laundry done if my scrap space were near the washer & dryer. Nah, probably not. ;) I share my scrap space with DH and my kids. I thought I would hate sharing at first, but it has really become a gathering place for our family which I totally love.

[Jennifer A]

I just got my own space last summer so I am still fine tuning, but I what I love most is being able to leave my layouts out for display before they head to the appropriate album!

[Katie]

I love your space. Everything is so neat and clean - the total opposite of mine! I just love the fact that I have a space. It's needs to be organized and decorated. It's a work in progress!

[Jamie Greene]

Your area is fantastic!!! My hubby is military so we move alot and so my area changes a lot! We just moved this spring to Louisianna and bought our first house so my area is currently the office/craft room. I am still setting up, it takes me awhile and I like to switch it up every now and then when I see something that inspires me!