A Tour of My Craft Room

I've never had a play room all to myself.  When my late husband and I bought this house - The Jewel of the Pines - he quickly claimed this room and was going to turn it into his flytying room.  You can see from the before pictures that his old childhood desk was there along with a mish mash of other furniture and boxes of supplies.  After he died I did claim some of the space as my own - hung wolf pictures and tracking charts after a wolf-watching trip in Yellowstone, moved in some excercise gear, etc.

BEFORE PICTURES:

AFTER PICTURES:

THE INSPIRATION:

The inspiration for the room was a t-shirt my brother and sister-in-law gave me after a trip to St. Augustine.  I just fell in love with the pastel colors of the beachside cottages in St. Augustive and Jacksonville.  My Mom had the same t-shirt and we ended up framing mine in a custom frame my Dad made for me from some old  planters that used to hang on my house.  We used Mom's t-shirt to make a pillow for my chair.

After watching WAY too many episodes of Trading Spaces I started naming the decorative themes of each room in my house. . .my "Western Sissy" living room, "Americana Barn" den, "Elegant Prarie" bedroom and my "Coastal" craft room.

A TOUR. . .

As you walk in the door from the laundry room, you'll see my treadmill complete with the "media center" up above it.  Dad's a genious in getting everything mounted and hiding all the cords so it's all nice and neat.  The TV and stereo keep me entertained when I walk.  Wish I could say I've been on it every day or even every week but this year has been sort of a downward spiral on the health side of things.  But soon, very soon, I'll get it warmed back up again.

Looking to your right is the custom storage cart Dad built.  It stores my exercise ball, hand weights and miscellaneous craft supplies.  It also serves as an extra work space and can roll around to wherever I need it in the room.  How talented is my Dad?!!

I ended up just doing an inexpensive white blind with a box valence above.  Dad made the box and then he, Mom and I covered it with foam and some really cool material Mom and I found at JoAnn's that matched the colors in the room just perfectly.

We bought pre-fab cabinets and a counter top.  Dad made the custom cabinets above so that I could store everything in plastic shoeboxes.  One of these days I'll get around to labeling them - it would be so very Martha Stewart-ish!

When I'm really settled in for a big day of crafting, I pull the storage cart/desktop over to the other work area and surround myself with tools and paper.  How much fun!!!

As you turn back toward the door, there is a whiteboard and a bulletin board where I do all my sketches and list making and hang all my inspiration cards and clippings.

Thanks for taking the tour.