Wednesday, December 28, 2011

24 Reader Space: A Crafty and Colorful Closet!

Is there ever too much of a good thing?  Like too much cake?  Or too much love?

I don't think so.

That's why when I saw another closet office that is totally incredible, I just had to share it!  But wait for it... she did it all on a budget of $50!!

Christy wrote:

Hi Jen,

I just posted yesterday on my blog about how I have always wanted a room of my own to be inspired and create.  We don't have an extra room in our home for me to do that, however, I just finished turning a small closet in our master bedroom into an art/craft/sewing workspace and storage area.  I spray painted a few mismatched containers to save on some money and to make them more pleasing to the eye.  I also shopped my house for many other storage solutions.  There were some fun {Pinterest/blog inspired} projects along the way as well: a pendent light made from an old lamp shade, a shower caddy used for additional storage and a glass painting.  

I have a few hobbies that I like to do often: sewing, photography, and crafting with the kids.  But I also have those hobbies that I do occasionally {doll making, soap making, painting} and I am not willing to "purge" all of my supplies.  Although, I did purge a great deal of those supplies before moving recently.  I really needed a space to keep it organized in way that made things easily assessable to me.  My space was limited, but I feel like it functions well.  I was able to utilize the space to its fullest, use many things we already had, and complete the project for just a little over $50.  

I keep going back into our room, pulling back the curtain, and smiling. 

You can read the entire post on my blog here.

Thanks!
Christy


Here is the closet Christy started with:


With creativity, resourcefulness and motivation, she now has this fabulous space to craft!


"We found the wall color in the “oops” section at Lowes for $5 and it is a perfect match!  How awesome it that?!  We purchased the wood to make the work surface and an additional shelf {$30}, then painted them with white paint we already had.  The top shelf holds my fabric.  The stacking containers {which I stole from my kitchen} hold smaller pieces of fabric.


I did purchase the wire bin {$2.50} for this project from the Target $1 bins.  All the other containers I already had.  I had 2 mismatched photo boxes and a large shoe box that I spray painted green {$4 for the spray paint}.  Painting mismatched items the same color created cohesiveness and saved me some money.  The containers needed some sort of label, so I used some pink round stickers that I had in my stash.


The green painted containers store art supplies.

Using a shower caddy to hold more items is genius!  I found the idea on Pinterest.  Here is the original source: Better Homes and Gardens.  The white acrylic cups are from Target {$1.49 each}.


There is enough room for my sewing machine and serger.  To protect the surface, I used non adhesive contact sheets {$5} in opaque, with a slight texture from Walmart.


That giant button was the idea of my {secretly} creative husband.  The girls had this stool from Ikea, but the legs kept coming off of it.  So, we gave it a new life as a cute giant button by drilling holes through it and “threading” with ribbon.


I actually bought this chair before we moved into our house at Target for $29.  It adjusts up and down, which in nice for a shortie like me.


There was not a light inside this closet and I needed some task lighting.  When we were organizing the garage, we found the hardware for a hanging light within our extension cords.  Perfect!  I then covered a lamp shade with some fabric and ribbon.  Fun and free lighting.



 A canvas ITSO bin organizes the little things:


I had so much fun creating this space and I cannot wait to use it.  Well, I have already sewn on a few patches, but that does not really count.  One more before and after?"


I have a perma grin after reading this.  And looking at that oh so fun space!!

  • She essentially created a whole extra "room" in her home for $50.  That is why these closet makeovers are forever genius!  
  • She used spray paint to unify storage containers!
  • She used many things that she already had on hand.  She was extremely resourceful when creating this space!
  • The purple paint!  I can't get enough of a great pop of color!
  • Shower caddy storage at a workspace?  Goes to show that you should never look at an item and settle to use it for it's original intent!
  • The canvas bin acts as a storage drawer, that she put organizers inside of to hold all of the little things.  I love that solution, as her new workspace didn't come with built in storage.
  • I can't stop looking at the fun light fixture.  It's beyond words fantastic!
  • Her husband was a helping hand, and offered the most creative solution to that old broken stool.  Seriously, a button?  Amazingly smart.  
  • She now has the coolest craft closet around.  A place to escape and sew.  A place to bring a smile to her face!  

So many thanks to Christy for writing and sharing her incredible space with us!  I am definitely feeling inspired to continue working on our studio after seeing this, she really got my wheels spinning with some of her fresh ideas!

What's your favorite part?  Who is running to grab some paint?  Anyone else turn an office into a workspace and LOVE it?!


ATTENTION!!  Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition?  Have an awesome organizing story to share?  I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life.  Please send your story and photos to iheartorganizing@gmail.com and I would heart to feature them right here, on the blog!!  Photos should be high resolution and unedited.  Please include a description of the project, including any costs, inspiration, and how it has changed your life and routine for the better!  Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice!  Only love goes on at this blog!  More info HERE.


24 comments:

  1. That's incredible!

    I love the idea of using the shower organizer to hold things. What a great idea. The button is too cute also!

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  2. UH-MAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW! I can't believe she did ALLLL of that for $50! I am so impressed!!! Love the colors, love the big button, love that she used spray paint to make everything uniform, love that hanging shower gadget for her supplies. I'm loving this blog! It puts my organization OCD in overdrive ;)

    Hope you have a wonderful New Year!

    xoxoxo

    Kelly

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  3. I love the shower caddy idea! I did that in two of my closets and it's perfect. I bought two inexpensive ones at Target for 2 dollars each in their dollar section and they are perfect for holding all the random items that don't really have a good place to go.

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  4. I love love love this! It just makes me smile!

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  5. Wow!! I'm so impressed! The shower caddy idea blows be away! I wish I could look at something like that & see another use for it. :)
    Thank you for sharing this with us!

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  6. Thanks again Jen for choosing my closet for your reader space! Oh, and my husband smiled pretty big when he read the comment about him. : D

    Thanks for all the sweet comments!!!

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  7. I heart this sewing space!! It is super cute. I love how she used a small space and made the most of it. The button is cute too. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Great looks - here's a few hints for fabric.

    To get the fabric to stack better, fold the fabric selvege to selvege so it is about 22" wide. Using a wide ruler (6" by 24" works well, fold the fabric around the ruler. When you are at the end, tuck the fabric over so there is a "clean" edge, pull the ruler out and fold in half. You'll have a 6" wide by 11" long piece of fabric.

    I'm short so for my taller shelves, I use a clear plastic 16qt box. I stash like fabrics together and label the outside. It's easy to know which box to get down.

    liz

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  9. Wow I LOVE it!! I am going to pin this and do this in my spare room!!! I've always wanted my own space and using the cupboard in there is just genius!!! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  10. This is wonderful inspiration for me to get my 'craft room' in order. I am so lucky to have the space, but I have SO many different things, wool, crochet hooks, sewing machine, fabric, card making stuff, stamps, bills, get the idea....it is all just a mish mash at the moment. I have square shelving about the bench, so I am going to separate everything and organise it so it doesn't take me so long to find things, and will be an enjoyable space to create.....thank you again, perfect timing.....

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  11. Wow she did such a great job!! Love the colors and how she spend such little money!!

    I am in the process of organizing my craft room - I will have to send you pictures when I am done! Hopefully it will look half as nice as her craft closet!

    Sarah from The House That Ag Built

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  12. How cool!!!!!!!!! Only $50????? Gosh, I wish I could do that! First I need to declutter then I can move on to creating "crafty spaces".

    ~Lorraine
    Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies

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  13. Thanks Liz for the fabric folding trick!

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  14. Love you Daughter! Very smart!!

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  15. Okay, It's me! Kiss the kids!

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  16. Wow! I love the shower caddy on the wall!

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  17. I am about to make over a closet for my craft space so this was perfectly timed. thank you for the inspiration.

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  18. what a steal on the "oops" paint - love that color!

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  19. I love the idea of spray painting boxes to coordinate! I recently organized our closet shelves using a variety of Amazon, shoe, and Costco boxes. Not at all pretty, but very functional! I was trying to think of an inexpensive/easy way to pretty it up and this just might be the ticket! Thanks for a great idea!

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  20. Wow! Have to say the shower caddy is my favourite thing. Genius!

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  21. absolutely beautiful and functional closet redo!

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  22. This is a beautiful space! I totally thought that button was made from a Frisbee. We might have to try that out for our daughter's dress up space! :) Way to go both you and your hubby!

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