When we moved into our bungalow six years ago, I had always planned on transforming this sad, sad little spot in our basement into a functioning Craft Corner.
In the ensuing years, I’ve collected odds and ends – chairs, tables, small storage cabinets – with the idea of putting it together, slowly, bit by bit. And then finally, two summers ago I thought I was ready to put all my efforts into it. I began by painting over an old hand-me-down Ikea desktop from grad school (oh the blood, sweat and – mainly – tears that desk has seen!) and then had hubby add table legs to it. I then cleaned up an old vintage table that used to be my childhood dining room table in the hopes of making it my ‘new’ crafting surface. I was on a mission: sleeves rolled up, bits of paint on my old yoga pants, crouched on the basement floor, pulling things apart, putting them back together…I was determined!
And then…I got distracted.
Well, maybe not distracted as much as uncertain – uncertain about how to organize and style an unfinished corner in our basement. Did I want shelving units or wall-mounted shelves? Where should my easel and paint supplies go? Where should I place my ‘new’ vintage table given space restrictions? Do I want plastic, cardboard or basket storage containers? What about all my yarns!? And perhaps the biggest question on my mind: can an unfinished corner of the basement stay unfinished and yet become a stylish and cozy space to create?
And when uncertainty creeps in, I have a lot of moments of “oh look, flying cats!” to distract me 😉
But just last month, after bending – and bending – my husband’s ear, we came up with a visual concept and layout that I can wrap my head around: light and bright, a bit vintage, and lots and LOTS of storage!
And while there are still a few lingering questions about how to make an unfinished space stylish, I am up to the challenge!
So now that I’ve come this far (it’s only taken 6 years 😉 ), I am eager to move even further towards achieving a functioning craft corner. And as with any big project around the house, my husband and I will be working together to get the job done (God help us 😉 !)
So as we move forward on my little craft corner, I promise to post progress pictures along the way. With a general concept in place and plenty of internet inspirations before me, I am now more excited than ever 🙂
In scouring the web for inspirational photos, I’ve seen plenty of lovely craft room ideas – many of which are large, spacious and beautiful. Yet none have captured my attention as much as the smaller craft spaces. I don’t know if it’s the ‘cute as a button’ feel they exude or if it’s the creative use of a small space that appeals to me, but these spaces are inspiring! They make me see the possibilities that can be achieved in the smallest of rooms, including my little craft corner of the basement.
So here they are, my top 10 Small Craft Rooms that have inspired me and, I hope, will do the same for you:
1. Cheerful Pops of Colour
Source: The Crafted Life
2. Pretty Pastels
Source: Decor8
3. Light & Airy
Source: LBG Studio
4. Fresh & Eclectic
Source: Fjeldborg
5. Cool & Vintage
Source: Eclectically Vintage
6. Rustic Charm
Source: The House That Kat and Fred Built
7. Vintage Dream
Source: Apartment Therapy
8. Sweet Sewing Corner (with a yarn storage cabinet!)
Source: Kotbury
9. Bold in Black & Gold
Source: Design Sponge
10. Back to Basics: Black & White
Source: Fabric Paper Glue
Not all of us can have an entire room dedicated to crafting, so why not carve out a craft corner somewhere in your home, whether it is your bedroom, your office or, like me, somewhere in your basement?
Happy crafting 🙂
10 Comments
Samara Thiessen
February 29, 2016 at 6:21 amThese are beautiful!! I cannot WAIT to have a home of my own and be able to do this 🙂
Jelica
February 29, 2016 at 8:00 pmI agree Samara – I am so inspired by these spaces. They are cute as a button and oh-so-stylish too.
Debbie Rodrigues
April 18, 2016 at 6:11 amI have a dream of having a she shed. I have a Pinterest board about it to let my imagination run free.
I am not a crafter, but if I didn’t need to mess up my desk every time I wanted to do some sewing, I’d surely spend more time behind my machine.
Beautiful inspiration!
I’m pinning it for later.
Jelica
April 18, 2016 at 8:21 amI love the idea of a ‘she shed’ – so clever! We don’t have a shed (not even a ‘he shed’) but my husband has a couple of great work spaces that I use from time to time. I’ll have to check out your Pinterest board for inspiration!
Adrian
May 3, 2016 at 2:16 amThat looks pretty and very organized. My craft room looks like a BOMB went off most of the time. Then when I clean it up, it only stays that way for a day or so. Thanks for sharing.
Jelica
May 3, 2016 at 8:29 pmLOL! I completely understand. My dining table often stands in as a craft space and it ain’t pretty 😉 In the meantime, the basement craft corner is coming along. We’ve managed to carve out some time to put up all the drywall which is a miracle given our schedules and I hope to do some mudding and taping soon. Never thought I’d hope to ‘mud’ and ‘tape’ anything, but it’s all for a noble cause 😉
Patti Esterline
January 1, 2017 at 12:28 ami am struggling to figure out where to put all my things in my tiny craft room. I can not wait to see your finished work. Please do go into detail on how you stored things. In the mean time Happy crafting!
Jelica
January 15, 2017 at 9:22 amHi Patti, I will definitely post updates in future. Right now, we’ve put up the drywall and I’ve organized my yarn and started bagging up other items, but we are so far behind where I thought we’d be! When we have some interesting ‘reveals’ I will post these. Happy crafting to you, too 🙂
Cate
March 14, 2021 at 9:47 amSo glad I saw this site. I’m in the process of considering moving my sewing area. Excited to see your steps along the way. So encouraging. How did you two learn how to mud? Or are you having someone else do that part? I think I’ll be losing my sewing room to grandkids and thus going to our finished attic. However, it’s sorta like starting over on the organizing. And where to have a design wall?. That one I still don’t know. Looking forward to your posts ;-).
Jelica
March 24, 2021 at 2:04 pmHi Cate! We hired a contractor to do all the mudding and laying down the flooring. We painted the room ourselves. Here is the final result of that endeavor: https://aprettyfix.com/craft-room-mood-board/ And since then, I’ve been able to slowly build up the space to where it is today: https://aprettyfix.com/craft-room-organization/ It’s been a slow process, but I’m really happy with the result. I’m always tweaking, but that’s part of the fun of it 🙂