Today I have 3 recent photos of Fred and George to share with you. They…
My Craft Room Re-Do
I’m pretty sure you all know I live in an old colonial style home. Our bedroom is on the first floor and we have 3 additional bedrooms upstairs. A few years back we did some rearranging with those rooms. Hannah moved into the bedroom on the back of the house, giving her more room and more privacy. The middle bedroom became a guest room. And Hannah’s old bedroom became my craft room.
I’ll pause for a moment while some of you get over your jealousy.
Are you better now?
Anyway, at the time Dale painted the room for me. It’s got some interesting angles so we went with red paint on the straight walls and taupe on the slanted and low walls. I moved some furniture from other rooms around and wound up with an old bureau and an old chair. I set up my sewing machine and brought my spinning fiber bench into the room. We bought a kitchen island at Ikea and I was set.
It was pretty good but I wasn’t really invested in the room and it got messy.
See? That’s junk piled on top of the center island thingy.
So this fall I made up my mind to clean up and organize and reclaim the space.
It was pretty good once I got the junk put away. That bureau is full of my fabric stash. And I love having my swift and ball winder set up all the time.
I had this chair in the corner and, while it looked fine, I never sat there. It’s not a very comfortable chair and it just didn’t give that cozy feeling I wanted. There was no place for yarn storage so all my yarn was still downstairs on the bookshelves in the room that’s truly Dale’s office.
So we made a plan and after several trips to Ikea I had a much better space to use. We moved the bureau of fabric into the attic and added two new bookcases for yarn storage and books. We also bought a new and very comfortable chair for that corner. Wanna see?
Here’s a view of the whole room from the doorway. You can see that the island piece is a great spot for wrapping gifts.
And here is my new oh-so-comfy chair from Ikea. We were all set to buy it at full price for $199 when we checked the discount department and found the exact same chair for $135 instead. The reason it was discounted? It was assembled. I think Ikea is the only store in the world that charges you less for having something assembled. The chair is perfect for spinning and I have sat there so many times already! It’s wonderful.
The bookcases are on either side of the window and they hold (almost) all my yarn and knitting books. There’s even an empty section on this one. Room for expansion! Yay!
And in this corner is my spinning bench/drawer which holds all my spinning fiber, along with a couple of Longaberger baskets full of handspun and cotton. It’s all neat and organized and great.
My space is so much more pleasant and I’m truly invested in the room now. It’s easy to keep it neat and tidy and I love spending time in there.
The only thing missing? Heat. Damn it.
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That’s looks beautiful. My goal for the new year is to reclaim the sewing corner of our bedroom and you’ve inspired me.
Love it! It looks like tiny yarn store. 🙂
That is a great ending about the heat!! Made me chuckle. Love the room
and doesn’t it feel great when you are organized and neat? Where are your
book shelves from or did Dale build them?
Such a great craft room! Could you get a little space heater to use when you are in there?
Were you the Little Princess, you could have come upstairs to find that fire blazing! I have a wonderful electric lap blanket that I enjoy in the morning hours. Cheap. Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Your room is perfect!
I think I just viewed Heaven!
The room is a wonderful space and nicely laid out with your bookshelves full of yarn, the swift and ball winder and a cushy chair. Perfection! A place for everything including you. Can you use a little space heater when you’re in the room?
Mhmmph … total craft space envy! I love the room, it’s cozy and warm (well, it’s warm in spirit anyway) and looks like a lovely place to curl up and knit or spin. At least heat rises, right?
What a wonderful cozy space! I love the fireplace.
Wow. It looks like a really, really nice yarn shop. How amazing to have that upstairs in your house.
I have heat but no craft room. I’m not sure I’d trade at least not today. /sigh
Love it! I’m majorly jealous. I have a workroom, but it’s a quarter of that size, and I can’t admire my yarn at all. Poor me. It’s real warm though.
Very Nice!!! I love the cute fireplace with the “always-burning-fire”!! Very cool!! My sewing/craft room is only about 10×10, so I have to always keep it tidy! I wish I had a nice room like yours 🙂 ! I also like the slanted angles of the room. I used to have a sewing room years ago with them and although you have to figure them into planning around, I think they add so much interest in a room! I miss mine.
What do you keep in your island?? I love this piece!!! Thanks for sharing your craft space!!!
One thing I like about living in an older home is that the rooms are sometimes more flexible — less specific in their use — more adaptable to and comfortable with change. You’ve done a wonderful job, making it your own!! Wishing you heat!
I am so jealous Carole…..I love your craft room. wish that was something in my future…lol. and it really is so much better with the shelves from Ikea and being able to look at your yarn. Ikea is wonderful for those things. Expedit the book shelves right?
nice warm colors too…….love the red and tan together ….
stay safe and warm…Hugs from South Texas. Birgit
This is the greatest craft room I have ever seen! I am drooling with envy. I am going to get mine in shape now. In two years it has turned from a craft room to a storage room. Thanks for the inspiration.
Happy Holidays!
I have a wool nook with a huge bank of windows, but being roughly half the size of your craft room, JEALOUS! 😛 Oh… your room is gorgeous, and I wish you much joy of it in the months that are not sweltering or freezing. It’s a beautiful room just made for creation.
I may have to revisit this to inspire me to stick with the ‘after the holidays I’m culling through the craft stuff’ plan. It’s really lovely. I’m just looking at all that wool ‘insulation’ in that room and wondering how you could worry about heat. ;^) Inspiration to knit/spin faster perhaps?
Carole,
I am SO jealous (except for the part about no heat)!! This room is an inspiration for some re-organization I plan to do when the holidays are over. I have just purchased a new sewing machine (it was about time – I’d had the old one for 40 yrs.!), and I am looking for a table to put it on. I also need storage for knitting and sewing projects, and this definitely gives me some ideas. Hope you create many wonderful items in this room.
It looks like a really beautiful yarn store. I can see that you don’t have a moth problem like we do. Doesn’t get any better, except for the lack of heat.
I’ve taken over some of my daughter’s room for my stash and easel now that she’s in college and I’m glad that she’s ok with that.
Wow – that’s lovely. Drooling with envy, here. And I’m getting ideas for when we get a new house…
I will never get over being jealous of such a beautiful room!!! And who needs heat when you have a nice warm wool sweater and wool socks? What a lovely room!
Your room looks great! No heat? Are any of your bedrooms heated?
I can totally relate to a messy craft room. Mine was looking great for a while but now it’s a mess again.
Wow, what a gorgeous transformation! I love those shelves filled with colorful yarn…it’s so cheerful! And you just need a good space heater for the room and you’ll be all set!
What a beautiful space! It looks so cozy and inviting–plus it looks like you’ve got lots of natural light. Thanks for sharing your inspirational space.
It looks great! I’m just a little jealous.
Okay – so totally in love. STUNNING!
i have a goal for the christmas holiday! thanks carol for sharing. I find that my “room” becomes cluttered with everyones things buy mine. Do you worry that your yarn will fade? and tell me how that soft comfy chair works for spinning? I always figured a straight chair… maybe that is why i don’t spin as much as i’d like.
thank you for sharing yourself with me this holiday! Merry Christmas
It looks so orderly and welcoming. Who wouldn’t want to work there, even without heat (and a big blanket!).
SO BEAUTIFUL! I am totally jealous.
That room is truly a dream come try for crafters!
Lovely room! It is very inspiring. You did a great job. I sat in one of those chairs recently – they are VERY comfy.
As far as heat – Ann & Hope outlet had portable electric “woodstove” for $120. Might be perfect for that room. If it makes you feel any better – my craft room has an awful draft that makes if feel like there’s no heat!!
Speaking of my craft room – it needs to be reorganized again over the holiday break.
That’s a great before & after! Nothing like a functional space to inspire you 🙂
You and Dale did a great job! I love the colors you chose for the walls. Lots of natural light is great too! I think you need more sock yarn though. Heh.
Oh, it’s WONDERFUL!! So cute and cozy. It does look like a little yarn shop. I love, love, love the dark red walls. That’s one of my favorite wall colors. Larry painted the ceiling beams in our upstairs rooms red, but sadly they’re bright red. Christmas red. It’s a bit weird.
I have a little Vornado room heater, and I like it a lot – though I haven’t needed to use it much in this house.
I was all set to move in until you said there was no heat! That might fly in Alabama, but not in your neck of the woods.
I just turned green and died of jealousy.
LOVE it! Get a space heater – we’ve got one in our basement multi-purpose room that throws a surprising amount of heat.
I am so jealous. That is a great fibre space. Someday I hope to have one place to collect all my fibrey stuff but mine will definitely have heat.
It looks great! We just found out that I’m going to have to give up my craft/knitting room within the next year! Something about a surprise addition to my family, and everyone deserving their own room. At least my husband will be motivated to create a space for me in our garage!
WOW! Must be hard leave once you’re up there! Just beautiful Carole!
Sill trying to get over that jealousy. What a gorgeous space!
That is a beautiful room. Love the colors and the light. I would move in and never leave, even if there is no heat!
Making me want to go clean up my craft/scrap space in the basement – but maybe another day. It’s cold down there! 🙂
Get some heat in there and I’ll be right over 😉
What a lovely collection of yarn.
That is really a beautiful space…so comfy cozy. I am so ready to have my apartment completely organized…another month at the max!!!
Ooh. Ooh, ooh, ooh; we’re going to IKEA tomorrow, ostensibly to get elder daughter a kitchen table for Christmas. Maybe there will be something for me, too!
It looks great! I ditto the space heater idea. They really are affordable and work well. I’m also concerned that your yarn will fade in the sun. Maybe some “curtains” for your bookcases to cover the yarn when you’re not around.
I am loving the look of your yarn in the IKEA shelves. I may have to make a trip there myself!
Even without heat, I am green with envy! What a nice space you have created for yourself. I think I would spend many hours in there if I were you…even if I had to imagine being warm enough by looking at the fireplace. How did Hannah live in that bedroom without heat? The room that I was hoping might turn into my craft space has just been reclaimed by the son who is moving back home, so I will have to keep waiting and wishing for a while longer.
Heat? Who needs heat when you have all that wool?! Beautiful room. I recognize the Expedit bookshelves 🙂
It looks fabulous! Buy a space heater, and you’ll be just ducky. I finally got a $20 one from Amazon. It sits under my desk. I keep the house at 65 now when I work, and I am toasty warm with my new dish heater.
Very nice! I’ll be doing some craft room reorg over the holidays. You’ve just inspired me to get up and do some cleaning right now, though.