My blog is called "Creative Smiles" because my designs are the result of incorporating mistakes. With fumble fingers that drop whatever they are holding - repeatedly, it takes a lot of giggles, smiles and creative patience during my crafting process. xx

Craft Room Redo

(in December 2022, my craft room underwent another major adjustment, but I kept the same furniture. About two car-loads of "stuff" was carted away, making my room much more manageable)



Hi! My husband surprised me with a Craft Room Redo in 2014. Packing was very daunting, and "stuff" was in every room of the house during the changes. You can click on the photos to enlarge if desired, but I tried to fit as many as possible in as small a photo as possible.

It all started here, in our rural home...
This was taken when we still had cows - can you see them in the shade on the far left side? They look like tiny, black rocks.
The black "things" on the roof are solar panels.



BEFORE

First, the BEFORES (only hand-me-down furniture that was decades old)


The first piece of furniture we purchased 38 years ago was our triple dresser seen above and below.

That was in the days when solid wood was used, and much of the furniture sold in the USA was built in places like North and South Carolina and other states. Do you remember the "made in the USA" days? Or are you too young? (giggle)

And the 7-foot tall pine book case Jack built 25 years ago - nothing fancy, but sure does store a lot!

  
A 1960's super heavy wooden and formica desk from my mom's office, which required surgery with duct tape the past 2 years.
But it was heavy-duty and had been through a lot. I could put all my weight on it without being concerned that it might move.
It was perfect for those times I use a walker and require assistance.

  
Even the window seat contained make-shift storage and tools.
We don't have neighbors, so curtains were not necessary :-)


My computer desk is from my Mom's 1980s office - it, too, was very heavy duty with the "almond" color that was so popular in those days. The formica made it durable and easy to clean.

The heavy-duty filing cabinet/credenza was perfect for storage but was very bulky.

Jack built the stamp pad storage, which also holds the reinkers.

Fortunately, most of my wood-mount stamps had been sold 5 years ago.
The rest were displayed on "towers" Jack built, and on this "card display" case which we picked up for $15 at a store display close-out. The drawers were huge and held lots of "important stuff".


How do you store your punches? (closet doors and front and back of the entry door).
Jack built some 4" deep shelving units for more storage behind the entry door.
Those also had to be unscrewed from the wall and moved temporarily into the Master Bedroom.

The all-important die-cutting station shown below LOL - small area, yes?
The white towers are wooden - Jack made them about 10 years ago.


Two old, matching night stands to go with the 35-year-old dresser :-)

Farewell to the old...


Now comes the hard part - packing everything up:




 

 




NEW PAINT - NEW HARDWOOD FLOORS

My Stamp room actually has lots of natural light, but my photos did not capture it very well.

Next came the new paint, a grey-brown river rock color which is very outdoorsy, like my garden.

  

 

Remove the old stained carpet, and put in hardwood flooring.



MOVING BACK IN AND UNPACKING

A change to the new and recycled. 

We purchased 3 new bookcases and a new desk for the center of the room from IKEA's Hemne's group. (Sorry for the yellow tinged photos).



We kept the old heavy duty "almond" desks for practical reasons. Replacing them with comparable furniture was cost prohibitive for a "mere" craft room.
I'm sentimental. Therefore, the white "towers" Jack built were salvaged and used for storage.



After all the furniture was set up, my "super heavy duty" file cabinet was brought in (also from my Mom's old office suite). It takes up a lot of space, however, it is just the right height for a tall person such as myself. It has become my die-cutting, paper trimming, and scoring center.


The IKEA bookcases below are solid Pine with a grey polyester stain. They are actually a tad darker than the walls. I would love to have had the white counterparts instead, but they were made out of different materials, and not as durable. (isn't that strange? Same collection, but different materials)

It was nice that the bookcases hold the 12x12 iris drawers for paper!



Punches are hung back in their favorite places, minus several who now have new homes. 


All of my metal dies are stored magnetically in enclosed plastic binders on the one wide shelf. 
There is plenty of room to add more :-)


The remaining Stampin' Up! stamp sets are stacked on two shelves above.


I love my 27" iMac.



The closet is STILL a mess, but has fewer things in it.


Hopefully, the closet will be tackled next year. There were plenty of donations made to the local thrift store and to friends. It's a pleasure having a bit more work surface, too!
Thanks for visiting my little abode. Apologies for taking photos while it was dark outside.

UPDATE JUNE 1, 2016


Even though we may not know each other very well,
always I offer you my love and hugs.

27 comments:

Shona Erlenborn said...

This is fabulous Donna! What a difference. No excuses now - you had better get crafting!!

April said...

Your craft room is so nice and organized. Have fun in it!

April said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kim said...

De, I love your craft room and all of the sentimental pieces. I hope maybe we can stop by on our next trip back to Florida.

Huffs
Kim

Brenda said...

Love the before and after pictures.... have great dreams for my room (including a murphy bed) since it's our spare bedroom - or supposed to be LOL.... it will cut down on my space, but would love kitchen cabinet type built ins with a counter and over the counter storage too... of course, that's when I win the lottery - for now it's too scary to even photograph. A clean-up is in order again. Beautiful job Jack!

Wendy H said...

Your new craft room looks great Donna. You are so organised. I still have things in boxes from when I moved my craft room a few months ago. Perhaps having seen how nice yours is, it will give me the incentive to finish off mine.

Sandy (Cheesy) said...

I can hardly believe you've managed this is such a short timeframe! It looks marvelous, and I am sooo jealous! You make me look like a slouch! I am STILL trying to organize myself!
Can't wait to come for a visit.

Stampsnob. said...

It is beautiful BUT I would take your old room in a flash You are sooooo spoiled Maybe I should take jack......Lis

Lynne Platt said...

Donna every time we Skype I can't wait to get my new craft room as organized as yours. It is a lot easier when moving to a new house, I have to admit. I am only finishing a wall at a time - every time we go to Florida! See you soon.

Paula said...

Love seeing the before and after Donna. I love your new room and the wall color too. Isn't Ikea the best for furniture and such? Have fun in your new space.

Becky said...

Very nice. I'm jealous! :-)

MaryH said...

All I have to say is: WOW and can I borrow your so-talented husband?! I thought your 'before' was pretty well organized (comparing it to my own space!) but I'm awed by what it looks like now. Very pristine but such a lot of very well organized storage space. I like your plastic shoe bag storage. I have 2 of those hanging on the backs of the doors that go into our room. Love that closet storage too. It's great to be able to close doors and hide what you don't want seen. My Fla. closet was set up like that for a sewing room & worked well. You've both done a magnificent job with your re-do, and you will have such a grand time working in that beautiful room. Well done!! TFS & Hugs

Karen Petitt said...

Real wood furniture?! Oh my do I envy you that Donna and your new space is gorgeous huni! I still can't get over the fact that your furniture is real wood - that is so out of budget for most peeps in the UK! I love that your hubby made some storage for you too and you kept it to still use! Your computer thingymabob is fabulous! Everything is fabulous huni and I wish I could come on over to sit and craft with you! Have a lovely week Karen xx

Leslie Miller said...

Wow! I probably would have been happy with your old room, but the redo is fabulous! Great storage, love all the light. Your Jack is a pretty crafty guy, himself! My punches are stored on a curtain rod under my one window, with some leftovers in a drawer. I'm trying not to buy any new punches because I don't have anymore room. My small craft room is badly in need of a redo. Heck, I can't even get around to painting it. What a chore! Lovely new happy space, Donna, and thanks so much for sharing!

nwilliams6 said...

Lucky you! This is wonderful! You have some really great pieces in here and it looks so organized and wonderful! The computer is my favorite but your new cabinets are wonderful. You would flip out if you saw how I organize things which is not to organize anything - seriously! My craft room is a total disaster which is why I craft on my kitchen counter! LOL. congrats!

crafty-stamper said...

Fabulous craft room and what a lot of stash -we grow maigolds and french marigolds every year and we never plant any they just self seed every year
Carol x

Petra Swart said...

You are one lucky lady, Donna, to have such a lovely new craft room!!! - and it's not fair that only some women's hubbies can do such lovely woodwork!!!! (no way my husband can make me anything near to what you have!!!!) I so enjoyed spending time with you here, this is my first stop on your blog - I'm going to sit back now and enjoy what you have to offer on your blog!!! Oh, forgot to say - ...and I thought I had a lot of stuff!!!!!! (not nearly as much as 10% of what you have!!!! - but I have to say, in SA things are expensive and we don't have the variety available that you guys have overseas - you are so lucky!!!)

Have fun creating in your new craft room!!!

Diane said...

Wow what a wonderful craft room makeover. Great job.

Hugs Diane

KT Fit Kitty said...

WOW! I was impressed with your old craftroom! The new one is gorgeous too! It's wonderful to have your own space like this and I'm very excited about my new one although mine will be very bare-bones. Very impressive room, Donna, so happy you shared this so I can get some ideas for the future! Big hugs to you, my friend! Hope you are having more good days than bad...

JD/ Jill said...

This is my second look at your craft room. It is so nice and organized. I still have a triple dresser in mine that is probably about 60 years old it was my Mother's and I have it in the room that I use for crafting for over 40 years now. Went we redid the room two years ago. I thought about getting rid of it, but the cost of replacing it with (Neat New) cabinets similar to what you purchase...Just wasn't in our budget...So I was so happy when the contractor who put down our hard wood floors founs me two inexpensive upper cabinets to go above the triple dresser. That solution works for me, and it cost a lot less to do.
Hope you have many "Happy" hours crating in your room.

gobarb26 said...

Hi De. I love your "new" craft room. It is so organized. It is great to know where everything is. I have a wonderful craft room, but I have so much storage that I don't know to organize. I love organization, but I am just not! Your home and land look beautiful!
Love,
Barb Burgess ❤️

A Soul's Heartbeat said...

What a fantastic area to craft in and what a sweet husband you have to have supported your crafty addiction all these years. Enjoy your remodeled space it must bring you hours of enjoyment!

MaryH said...

I want to come play in your lovely craft room. I want to borrow Jack. I want to borrow you & your organization ideas! This is just beautiful, and I will love thinking of you enjoying this fabulous & so organized space. You've got lots of effective storage options packed into this, and I can guess it took lots of planning. Love the hardwoods too, and of course the great Ikea stuff. Actually I rather liked your idea of using the older dresser as storage too! But it looks very well put together the way you have it now, and just perfect for times when you have to be careful moving about. TFS

Christina Hor said...

I saw this craftroom redo page and just have to check it out Donna. My jaw just drop. You think your husband can fly over and do a make-over of MY craftroom? It's in a desperate need of a major make-over! LOL. - Hugs, Christina

Sue said...

Hi Donna, I have been drooling over your fantastic craft room and now I am sitting in a puddle:) LOL

You'll have years of fun in there. Sue

Mary said...

WOW! What a lovely crafting space... even though the updated room looks way cool... I have to say, I was impressed with the before shots as well. But then old furniture is something I like, especially if it has lots of cubby holes to place things!

So my hats off to the craft room designer... great job!

You're invited to come over to my blog http://createfulheartcards.blogspot.com I would appreciate your visit.... especially if its in the form of a comment. :)

Mary ♥

Poppyfield Card Crafts said...

Excellent craft room Donna, love to see items organised :)

Happy crafting

June