Crafting a Closet

Oh Golly Gee, Golly My!

When Hubby (finally) equipped his man cave my scrapbooking area (a fold up table set up alongside one wall) was relocated. 

To this:

Yes, it is a closet.  And, now it is a highly organized, creative space, for ME.  

Several years ago in a home improvement store magazine, there was a picture of the crafting space of my dreams!  In a closet.

 I held on to it, in the closet that would one day become my own.  Yes, I know, this is the point where I should post a picture of my muse.  However, when the project was done I threw it away.  Sorry, but after holding on to it for so many years the project did not feel complete until I threw it away.

The storage accessories are all a mixture of items found around the house, bins, tins and baskets, and new items I bought to help finish it out.  

I can spread out, and leave it out without fear of meddling children

The laminate counter, custom cut at a big box home improvement store, and the adjustable shelves were the large cost items for this project.  The counter cost a little extra because of the arch cut out in the center, so the chair could roll into the closet when the doors are closed.  (see the above picture for the cut out.)

 The shelves are adjustable, and a combination of two brands.  Originally, I had wanted to install floating shelves, but they were a little more expensive, and finding the correct size at the right price was becoming a nuisance.  I am glad we went with these.

Aesthetically, they are not as nice as the floating shelves, however I would have had more holes than drywall by the time we finished installing them.  Flexibility beat out aesthetics this time around. 




I love peg board!  Paint it your favorite color, and hang.  Easy, functional, cheap, and cute.  The pegs and baskets came from the garage organization section of a big box home improvement store.   So simple, and cheap.

           

The color painted onto the peg board is one of my favorite colors, Benjamin Moore HC-146 Wedgewood Gray.  I love this color.  You will find it in several rooms around my house. 








 Every last square foot of this closet is crammed full.  Paper storage is underneath the counter, as well as my travel bag (if you scrap, you understand the importance of these bags), and my mom's old sewing machine.

And, a trash can, a very important tool for scrapers.

Oh, there is my step stool.  I keep forgetting where I moved it too.

This storage cubby was a left over from the kid's playroom, before we went with a new organizational system.  It turned out to be a great spot to store idea books, paper, and an a sundry of other craft items, that are also used by the kids.

I am thinking we need another storage cubby, maybe a tower, placed where the towel bar is now.  The closet is packed so full the storage is not functional.  Plus, there is a large tub, sitting somewhere in our basement, filled with more craft supplies needing a home. 





Now, let me show you my most favorite part of my new scrapping space:

 I can close the doors.  No one can see my mess.  No one is getting into my supplies, and creating a mess.