Where I create

I have been wanting to share my little room with you all for a while now.  But the time needed to be just right (I mean, I needed to do a major clean up)  So I just spent the last weekend ( a long weekend here in Canada) and reorganized and tidied the whole room - yes, finally everything has a home.

There's a story behind this room.  We moved into this house 3 years ago, with the plan that one day we would renovate and redecorate.  At the very bottom of this post is a 'before' photo of my craft room.  Then, 6 months after we moved in we had a flood.  The entire basement needed to be gutted and replaced.

We found that a little insurance money can go a long way - lucky me!  So I got my dream room earlier than I ever imagined.  This room is totally me!  I absolutely love the colour purple more than any other colour.

And this is the only room where Brad didn't have an opinion about the decor.  I think I married the only man who actually notices or cares about home decor.  It took a while, but by the end of last summer this room was almost done. And I have been happily crafting here ever since.  So welcome to my little tour.

This little corner is for the obvious.  My Mother-in-law found an old sewing machine in her attic and I removed the antique and my new one fit right inside so now I have this cute little case.  I think I might paint it white and distress it this summer if I have time.  The desk is from Ikea and the chair was an old one I found on the roadside many years ago.  I painted it with white chalk paint and distressed it.

Next to my little corner is the fireplace.  One day we plan to put a gas insert into this baby, but for now it makes a nice home for my silhouette machine.  I just attach the cords and use it right there.  It's a great use of extra space that wouldn't be used otherwise.  Brad built the mantle and hearth and I tiled it with the rocks.  Now I think all I need is a nice decorative grill to hide the machine.  On the wall are some frames from Pier I, which I use to display some of my creations.

Here's a wider shot.  I have a dining room table from Ikea as one of my workspaces.  I use my computer here and I have some cork boards to put up ideas and inspiration.  I also have two other chairs for when my children come downstairs and create with me.

On the near wall I have my counters and cabinets.  

I found the ink pad storage at a thrift store for $5.   I painted and distressed it.  The other one I have jimmied together from an Ikea box, but I plan to get another ink pad storage shelf one day.  My big shot also lives here with all my electronics.   One of the things I really appreciate about this shelf is the undershelf lighting that my hubby installed - check out the photo below.

The top cupboards are kitchen cabinets from Ikea.   In there are my stamps and accessories.  Being a former Stampin' Up! Demonstrator means I have a ton.  The bottom drawers are little drawer sets from Ikea that my hubby hacked together to form a bottom cabinet.  In here I keep my silhouette cutting pads, my pens, my adhesives, bit shot dies - tons of stuff.  Once Brad hacked together the bottom drawers, we had a small space left over.  I am extremely lucky that my dad is so talented that when I asked him to custom make me this little storage unit, it was no problem.  In this unit I keep printer paper and photo paper.  On top of the unit is my printer, and the top drawer is actually a sliding shelf for my scanner.

The whole unit is on casters and I can roll it out for easy use whenever I wish.

At the other end of the counter is my paper cutter.  

Next to that is my massive paper storage.  We bought a whole bunch of these paper trays from Ikea and stacked them all up.  Brad built a little wooden frame around them all to keep them from bowing under all the weight.  On top of the paper storage is a little birdhouse that my Dad made and my Aunt painted for me many many years ago.  Next to this are some tiny little shelves I found at Home Sense which I painted and distressed with the wall paint.  They are another one of my little display areas.

And below that is my dear music cabinet.  I bought this at a thrift store for a few dollars.  

I painted it with chalk paint, distressed it and added the crystal knobs.  Inside are little shelves which used to hold phonographs and records.  They are perfect for my 12x12 patterned papers. 

Here's a before picture of the room when we bought the house 3 years ago.

I call it hunting lodge chic.  It wasn't my style.  That stone fireplace got covered up pretty quick!

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Please let me know what you think.

thanks again for stopping by!

Sandra