Altenew Creativity Inspired: Craft Room Makeover

Altenew have a great contest on their blog at the moment to share the space where you create, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share my newly renovated craft room with you. I also love to see where other people create and am always looking for new organisational tips and ideas.

When my eldest daughter moved out last January I started to think about how I could use her space for extra storage since I had long outgrown my small craft room (which was 2.5 metres x 3.3metres) and I felt very overcrowded in my space and found that I was spending less and less time in there. 

Finally we decided that knocking the wall down (easy to do since the rooms are side by side) would be the best option and would double my current space. So the week before Christmas the builder came in and started the demolition. The whole project started on a Monday and was completed ready to move in by the Friday ... so quick! Just in time to get everything back in before Christmas and before my upcoming hip replacement surgery on 4th January because I knew I would be out of action for a while.

COLOUR: After having the same color in my craft room for almost 12 years I decided to change it up and went for a soft blue/seafoam colour which I am loving, as I find it such a calming colour. 

PLANNING: I used a room planning website (like planyourroom.com) in the weeks leading up to the renovation so that I could move the furniture around and work out my configuration on the plans before moving everything back in. This allowed me to know exactly how everything would fit and what extra pieces I needed to buy from Ikea to complete the new set up. The rest of the pieces I already had. 

WORK STATIONS: I decided to set up different productivity zones or areas in my room.. For example I purchased a new cabinet that was just the right height so that I could set my die cutting machines on top and use it as a die-cutting station, but the cabinet also provided a lot of extra storage. My cutting plates for my machines also sit within reach on a peg board directly above and extra die cutting equipment is in the cabinet below.

I decided on two desks, one a computer/office desk and the other for crafting. The office desk is also great if a friend wants to come and craft with me and it doubles as extra space for planning out kits for the classes that I teach. This combination gives me 3 metres of workable desk space! More than double what I had previously. I also decided to place them directly under the windows and I love the natural light that this gives me. It meant I didn't have a wall in front to store items, but adding drawers under the desk solved that problem. 

All of my colouring mediums are now in a trolley on wheels, which is easy to move around as I need it and can be stored out of the way when I don't.

I added drawers under my desk as I mentioned above, to allow me to put everything I use frequently close at hand. The drawers  hold things like my trimmers, stamping tools, most used inks, adhesives, pre-cut card bases etc all within reaching distance, yet out of site when not being used so that my workspace can remain clutter free. 

All of my Altenew stamps, dies, stencils and embossing folders are stored together on one shelf for easy access, since I am doing the Altenew Educator Certification Program and need them all close at hand. And I have a drawer that holds all of my Altenew Inks, papers and embossing powders etc. 

Here are a few more photos of my room and the various storage options I use. I removed the door from the closet so that I could place some open shelving and storage boxes for easy access.

All of my stamp & die storage is in these two bookcases with my Altenew all being on the top shelf. 

All of my 8.5x11 coloured cardstock is stored in these two tubs which is easy to reach and the lids help to keep the dust out. I also store them away from the window to resist fading. 

This bookcase is close by and holds all of my most used white card stocks, specialty papers, vellum, acetate etc. 

And to finish, I thought I would share a few photos of the renovation process and how the room looked before the makeover. 

My previous craft space.

The wall came down!

Almost ready!

I am looking forward to spending many hours in my new happy place, creating many more projects! Thanks for joining me and taking a look around my creative space.