Small Craft Studio Tour Part II: Opening the doors of the Infamous Closets of Shame
Hello, Friends! Happy Saturday! I’m back today with my Small Craft Studio Tour Part II! This time I’m focusing on the infamous “Closet of Shame” where much of my crafty goodies hang out. I also have process photos of my husband and son building my fabulous work table as well as one photo of the room on the day we moved in so you can see what a daunting task it was to pull this space together.
The important thing to remember when viewing craft studio tours is this: everyone is different. Some people like to have everything out and piles of product everywhere. This is what works for them. I tend to be very organized and like everything to have a place. My studio really does look like this except for the moments when I am working on a project. Then it can get pretty messy. But I clean up the entire space after every single project because I cannot function in chaos. Dust doesn’t bother me…but mess drives me crazy!
Move in Day
Moving and setting up a studio is not for the faint of heart. I had been gradually adding to my crafty stash over the course of 10 years. Things come in one at a time. But when you move….ay yi yi! Even though I did a major purge before we moved (I reduced my stash by half!) it was still pretty overwhelming on move in day.
Ay yi yi! This is only part of the mess…as there were boxes in the hallway. I did take the time to really organize everything before the move, so that helped when it came to unpacking the studio.
One of the smartest things I did was to wrap my modular storage units with shrink wrap before the move. Each cloth bucket was wrapped, and placed in its cube. Then I wrapped the dickens out of each cube unit. My movers were able to move them with dollies and when I got into the studio, all I had to do was unwrap. You can see how much I love my buttons. They were the first items I unwrapped…because, peeps…you gotta have a little inspiration when you face a task of this magnitude!
The Evolution of the Work Station
My new space measures about 11 feet x 12 feet. Sadly, some of my cherished furniture pieces from our old house did not fit the new space. I had a very limited budget, so I had to think creatively. I actually moved everything OUT of the studio so I could study the room and sketch out a plan that would allow for ample work surface and a good flow. I woke up at 3 in the morning with a picture of the work station in my head. Sketch pad in hand, I mapped out a crude drawing and shared it with Dale.
The plan was to create a peninsula along the back wall of the studio. This made the best use of the room and since I had Dale build it at counter top height, it created room for all my Iris carts full of Graphic 45 papers to be tucked around the perimeter. It also gave me great storage UNDER the table for seasonal items and Etsy shop inventory.
This was once our kitchen table. Dale is measuring and modifying it to serve as the peninsula. Those white plastic doohickeys are pluming flanges that the PVC legs fit into. I wanted them all the way on the end of the table to facilitate storage.
Here are the flanges being screwed into place.
The legs are on the table! Hooray!
Next, Dale and our son Peter screwed a 2×4 into the wall studs then drilled down into that to secure the table. This table is so sturdy, I could dance on it if I wanted to! You can see the finished table in my Small Craft Studio Tour Part 1 on YouTube.
On with the Show! The infamous Closet of Shame!
Dale took out the wire shelving unit and built me custom shelving that would accommodate 12×12 paper pads. You’ll see it all in the video below.
So now you’ve seen my happy place. I spend most of my time here, and I love how functional it is. I hope I shared some ideas that you’ll be able to use in your own craft studio. It doesn’t take a fortune to build a space that works for you. Just think creatively and be willing to repurpose and reuse.
Thanks for stopping by!
