Seeking an Organized Craft Room

When we moved into our home 5 years ago this room had pink shag carpet, fake birch paneling, and pink plastic mini-blinds.

We ripped out the carpet and mini-blinds and painted the paneling.  I immediately filled it with our old computer desk and all manner of crafting supplies.

This is how it looked most days because I had no room to store things and the desk did not function very well.  My sewing table was made from an old file cabinet I painted and an old dining room table leaf that we found in our barn.  My ironing board was always in the way.

This is the other corner of the room.  This is all of the space my Hubs has to do our bills and paper work.  It used to be a closet.  The opening was covered with sliding mirrored doors.  We removed the doors and painted the interior to brighten it up.  We already had the desk which, thankfully, fit perfectly into the nook.

After many hours of pondering, visits to Home Depot and Lowes, and marking layouts on the floor with tape, we finally came up with a plan.

Here's what we came up with.  We bought an unfinished lower kitchen drawer unit and a 4x8 slab of thick birch plywood.  Hubs cut off the bottom of the drawer unit (reinforcing the back) and custom cut the plywood to make a work surface.  We used the existing file cabinet to hold the peninsula end.  You can see the masking tape on the floor.  We always lay out designs on the floor first, either with tape or with pieces of newspaper to see how it works.  The work surface is held in place temporarily with clamps and propped up with wood until it can be secured with braces and cleats underneath.  That's why my sewing machine is sitting on the floor, underneath the window.  The ironing board has been sent back downstairs and I'll be using something different.

Here's a view from the other corner.  I'm clearing off those shelves a bit.  I'm getting ready for my Craft Stash tomorrow afternoon.  By the way, if you'd like to come, there's still room for more guests.  It's at 2:00 at my house.  Email me for directions. 

This weekend, Hubs will be securing the work surface and putting trim around the edges.  I'm still trying to decide how I want to finish the raw wood.  Any suggestions?

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